4.2 New Forms of Social Organization and Modes of Production

Period 4 – Global Interactions, c. 1450 CE to c. 1750 CE

Although the world’s productive systems continued to be heavily centered on agricultural production throughout this period, major changes occurred in agricultural labor, the systems and locations of manufacturing, gender and social structures, and environmental processes. Adapting to the Little Ice Age, farmers increased agricultural productivity by introducing new crops and using new methods in crop-and field rotation. Economic growth also depended on new forms of manufacturing and new commercial patterns, especially in long-distance trade. Political and economic centers within regions shifted, and merchants’ social status tended to rise in various states. Demographic growth—even in areas such as the Americas, where disease had ravaged the population—was restored by the 18th century and surged in many regions, especially with the introduction of American food crops throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. The Columbian Exchange led to new ways of humans interacting with their environments. New forms of coerced and semicoerced labor emerged in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, and affected ethnic and racial classifications and gender roles.

Key Concept 4.2.II.B clarifies specific gender issues related to slavery practices.

Illustrative examples, coerced labor:

• Chattel slavery
• Indentured servitude
• Encomienda and hacienda systems
• The Spanish adaptation of the Inca mit’a

Illustrative examples, new elites:

• The Manchus in China
• Creole elites in Spanish America
• European gentry
• Urban commercial entrepreneurs in all major port cities in the world

Illustrative examples, existing elites:

• The zamindars in the Mughal Empire
• The nobility in Europe
• The daimyo in Japan

Illustrative examples, gender and family restructuring:

• The dependence of European men on Southeast Asian women for conducting trade in that region
• The smaller size of European families