Change in Labor Patterns1450-1750

The Effect of Linked Economies

The ShiftWhy?

A. For the first time in history, labor patterns shifted in one place due to pressure from another place.

1. Due to linked economies (which means?)a. Reorganization of world into places which produced

raw materials and those which produced manufactured goods.

b. Western commercial success had negative effects in Eastern Europe, Africa and Americas.

c. China, the Islamic World and India were not (well, hardly anyway) affected by these trends…yet.

New Encounters

A. Americas1. Indian state run labor gangs: slaves or miners

2. After debates over the possession of souls by Indians, slavery was not allowed for locals, but the encomienda system emerged.

3. System faltered due to mortality (disease)

4. Silver productions– mita system

5. Decline of Indigenous population

Labor Shortage emerged

A. Need for labor for plantation crops1. Africa: Source of slaves as Portugal and others

established trading ports (Cape Verde Is.)a. Horses for slaves? Explain.b. Why slaves from Africa? Why not Eastern Europe, Asia

etc.?

2. Expansion of plantation complex as European appetite for sugar and silver increased which in turn led to increase in slave trade.

3. Interior Africa meanwhile was relatively undisrupted by the slave trade Arab traders continued to conduct a luxury good trade, most people were peasants, introduction of new foods from Americas

Labor Conditions Worsen

A. Eastern Europe1. Peasants forced into serfdom

a. in Poland and Russia wheat exports increased and more of the burden fell on serfs.

b. Serfs had to do large amounts of service for landlords.

c. Their response was often working slowly and maintaining large numbers of traditional festivals.

d. Serfdom not abolished in Russia until 1861… late for Europe, but comparable to ending of slavery in the US (Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863, Slave Trade ended in 1808).

Americas and Africa

A. Planters and miners in the Americas relied on coercive labor to produce raw materials

B. Africa became a supplier of slaves for Caribbean plantations and Americas

1. Slave conditions: Middle Passage, lifetime of servitude, hopelessness.

C. Boom economies led to greater exploitation it was easier to buy a new slave than to treat him/her well.

Continuity??

A. Slow change in labor systems in China and Middle East

1. In China, continued population growth and higher agricultural efficiency. An increased home labor force for agriculture meant there was no need for forced or imported labor.

2. In Middle East, slavery continueda. Military slavery under the Ottomans (janissaries)b. With southward Russian expansion, Slavic slaves

decreased and African slaves increased with Islamic expansion there (including larger numbers of women…Why?)