Unit Summary

In the last unit, students investigated the state of Afroeurasian trade and power before the voyages of exploration and the technological developments in ships and navigation that enabled the European voyages. They examined the Chinese voyages of exploration led by Zheng He and the initial Portuguese voyages around Africa to India and Calicut. Now they turn to the Spanish and Portuguese voyages across the Atlantic begun by Columbus. As a result of these voyages, new oceanic routes connected nearly every inhabited part of the world. The Early Modern Period witnessed greater global connection and exchange, as European conquests and encounters in the Americas linked both hemispheres in significant ways.

People, plants, and animals were introduced to places where they had previously been unknown. This “Columbian Exchange” led to profound changes in economies, diets, social organization, and, in the Americas, to a massive devastation of Native American populations because of exposure to new disease microorganisms originating in Afroeurasia. The Columbian Exchange marks the important biological exchange of disease, flora, and fauna between both hemispheres. Students investigate the transfers of American crops such as maize, potatoes, and manioc to Afroeurasia, as well as addictive substances such as tobacco and chocolate. From Afroeurasia, the Americas acquired horses, cows, pigs, and sheep. Introduction of new staple crops helped increase the population in much of Afroeurasia, and the imported animals and plants transformed the landscapes of the Americas. The Colombian Exchange also occurred across the Pacific Ocean: American crops transplanted to China grew the Chinese economy, while the chili pepper sent to Southeast Asia affected food preparation, the economy, and culture. The diffusion of Afroeurasian diseases to the Americas had catastrophic demographic consequences. The mortality of as much as 90% of Native American population allowed European newcomers to conquer territories in the Americas. Migration by Europeans and forced migration of Africans to the Americas led to a radically different population mix and the emergence of new hybrid populations and cultures. Africans enslaved and forced to migrate outnumbered Europeans in the Americas until the nineteenth century. The loss of so many people caused severe economic and demographic disruption in tropical Africa. The effects of the Columbian Exchange were profound environmental change and huge human population shifts.

European voyages to the Americas and the Indian Ocean transformed world trade networks. The Spanish extracted precious metals, gold and especially silver, and the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English extracted raw materials, such as lumber and furs, from their American colonies and shipped them to Afroeurasia. Europeans set up plantations to grow cash crops that were exported to Afroeurasia. The result was a massive influx of wealth into Europe. However, Asia remained the world’s most productive center of agriculture and manufacturing until near the end of this era. Chinese products were so highly desired in the European market that a substantial portion of the silver taken from the New World ended up in China as payment for Chinese products exported to Europe. European states and merchants also took over the shipping of products around the world’s oceans and seas, gradually replacing the merchant fleets of other regions. These European states frequently battled with each other to dominate shipping routes, trade cities, and lands with desirable resources. The Portuguese battled Indian, Arab, and Southeast Asian shippers in the Indian Ocean, but the Portuguese were soon themselves attacked and replaced by the Dutch, who took over the spice islands of Southeast Asia. French and English fleets and pirates battled Spanish fleets in the Atlantic and Pacific. Ocean trade expanded and became more militarized as the Europeans took over shipping. Students analyze maps to see how the more important voyages of exploration led to the development of global trading patterns and the location of European colonies by 1750.

Europeans did not take over China, India, Africa, and most of Asia until the nineteenth century. For this entire period, therefore, the major Afroeurasian centers – China, India, and the Islamic World – were too strong for Europeans to conquer. In lands where states were not as strong, Europeans established colonies. European armies used gunpowder weapons to defeat local resistance. Europeans became the government rulers and officials and changed the laws. They also took desirable land away from the native owners and gave it to Europeans. Often the Europeans used the land to grow tropical commercial crops for sale in Afroeurasia. Sometimes the European government and army forced the native people to work for the Europeans as well. Finally, European Christian missionaries spread through the colonies trying to convert local people to Christianity. Some states, such as Spain and Portugal, supported these missionaries and helped to force local people to change their religion; other states, such as the Netherlands, did not pay much attention to missionary activities.

Although many states had conquered Sites of Encounters in the past, colonialism was a new form of interaction between cultures that was unequal and exploitative.

In addition to conquering areas where there were divisions among many states, such as Sumatra, Java, Malaysia, and the Philippines, or where there were no states, such as the Caribbean islands, Spanish conquerors took over both the Aztec and Inca empires in the early sixteenth century. There are many explanations that historians have given for their defeat at the hands of small numbers of Europeans. Two key factors aided European military efforts. The first was the introduction of infectious diseases, such as smallpox and measles, which were endemic in Africa and Eurasia, but against which American Indian populations lacked even partial immunities. These diseases began to ravage societies in both North and South America shortly after the Spanish invasions got underway. The second factor was Spanish success at allying with local groups, notably the Tlaxcalans, who wished to free themselves from Aztec rule. The Spanish needed the natural resources of the region, with a goal of sustaining their own economic and political systems in the “Old World.” Many human social factors including greed, religious fervor, and disease left the Spanish in control of vast lands in Central and South America, eventually propelling the empire to expand into the lands to the north, including California.