1 overseas exploration
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What is History?
• The systematic study of the past
• Radical and revolutionary change versus continuity
Historiography
• The writing of history
• Historiography is always subjective
Why the term “Western Civilization”?
• Term first used by 18th century historians
1. Located to the West of the other great ancient civilizations: China and India
2. Due to the gradual movement westward: Mesopotamia/Egypt…Greece… Rome …Western Europe…the Americas
Trade Networks - Timeline• Before 1500 – European, Asian, African,
Central and Southern American trade well established
• At 1500 – European traders establish a connection between Western and Eastern Hemispheres
• After 1500 - Europeans attempt to subordinate pre-existing systems of trade from their own European headquarters
Overseas Exploration: Causes• Break the Islamic-Italian cartel
• Increase the availability of goods
• Geoeschatology
• Adoption of new technologies
– Better shipbuilding
– Quadrant
– Astrolabe
– Magnetic compass
– Gunpowder
Top Left: Shipbuilding
Bottom Left: Quadrant
Bottom Right: Astrolabe
• By 1511 the Portuguese mastered the Spice routes
• By 1513 Portuguese trade extends to China and Japan
Christopher Columbus
• Born in Genoa, Italy 1451
• Sailed for Spain in 1492, reached the Caribbean islands
• Voyages by Spain and Portugal follow; Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494
Amerigo Vespuccimap 1507
• Born in Florence, Italy 1454
• Medici business agent
Rare map sells for record $1M at auction(April, 2005)
• Spain and Portugal original holders of colonies
• Portugal’s holding will be edged away by France, Britain and the Netherlands
• British colonies will end up being most successful in the Western Hemisphere
Circumnavigation of the World
Overseas Exploration: Consequences• European diseases decimate native populations
in West. Hem.
• Spread of Christianity
• Institution of the African slave trade as replacement labor
– Supplied through inter-tribal warfare
– Stifled progress of emerging African economies
– Instilled in Europeans a sense of racial superiority
Europe on the Eve of Exploration• Young: 45% under 15
• Poor, malnurished, sick, anemic
• High rate of infant mortality and birth defects
• Lack of liquid capital
• Stagnation of the internal consumer market
• Society fixed
• Scholasticism as a logical tool dominated intellectual life…placing things in already existent and static categories
Europe Post-Exploration: Economy
• Gold and silver arriving from the Western Hemisphere – Spanish Conquistadors and Mining
• When the amount of currency increases, the value of salaries and rents drops
• The Price Revolution• No longer advantageous to hold currency, best to be
in trade• Land-holders no longer the dominant economic
class
Europe Post-Exploration: Food
• New plants from the new world allowed for a more balanced diet
• Caloric Revolution: the potato • Protein Revolution: corn• Variety: tomato, squash, beans, peppers,
pumpkins• More food meant lower food price, everyone
eats more• Corn and potatoes introduced to China and
Africa and affected those populations
Industrial Materials
• Long term significance
• Raw materials that will later be used to fuel the Industrial Revolution
Europe Post-Exploration: Knowledge
• Reports from “New World” of animals and plants that did not fit neatly into categories
• Turned from logical investigation (deduction) to observing, recording, measuring and testing (induction)
Impact on European Society
• Italy loses her trading monopoly
• Increased demand creates worldwide capitalism
• Christianity and Western values will become global