CHY4U The West & the World Unit 2 Lesson #6 Colonial Expansion & Emerging Capitalism Background The

The original colonial powers of the 16th century, Spain & Portugal, were joined in the 17th century by the British, French and the Dutch. By the 18th Century, European nations were trading extensively using Atlantic trade routes with an expanding network or colonies and overseas markets.

Background Although still primarily rural and agrarian, the economy of Europe would begin to move toward the urban industrial economy of the 19th century.

Beginnings of the Industrial Revolution The generally accepted date for the beginning of the British Industrial Revolution is between 1760 and 1780, but this was not the beginning of steam powered factory style manufacturing. The economic system of the 18th century contained the seeds of industrialism but was still a largely merchant capitalist system.

Rural vs Urban Economy A majority of Europeans still lived in rural areas and agriculture was still the single greatest economic activity and source of wealth. Cities were still relatively small While London and Paris each had populations between 600,000 and 700,000, the next larges cities in Europe did not exceed 200,000.

Rural vs Urban Economy By 1789 there were only 50 cities in all of Europe with more than 50,000 people.

Domestic or Cottage Industry Industrialism does not equal Urbanization in the 18th century. Most manufacturing was carried out in rural areas by peasants or part time farmers. Although most people lived in rural areas, they were not fully devoted to agriculture.

Domestic or Cottage Industry The Domestic System of manufacturing had people working out of their own homes using raw materials delivered to them.

National Comparisons England was not, as most people assume, the leading manufacturing nation of Europe before 1800. England, Russia and France produced nearly equal amounts of iron and manufactured goods before 1800. Frances larger population (double) made it Europes leading industrial centre.

Importance of Trade Trade is divided into 2 classes, domestic and foreign. Domestic trade is within a country, town to town, etc. Foreign trade includes trade between countries and their colonies.

Importance of Trade Domestic trade had much greater volume and importance in the 18th century but foreign trade was where the largest enterprises were active, where the highest profits were made. The value and wealth associated with foreign trade made it increasingly a cause of rivalry and war between European powers.

Asia Asia This lead to a drain of European gold stocks and Europeans were always searching for new sources of gold. Spanish exploitation of South and Central American gold was running out. The British made a huge discovery of gold in Ghana, which became know as Africas gold coast. Europeans still wanted Asian goods: Spices: pepper, ginger & cinnamon Linens: silks, cotton Chinaware and porcelain The Chinese, however, did not want anything that the Europeans produced. Europe could not trade for what they wanted, they had to buy it using gold.

America By the 18th century American trade grew to be larger than Asian trade based on one main commodity sugar. In 1650 sugar cane was brought from Asia to the West Indies by Europeans, this revolutionized the American economy. The new American economy was centered on the plantation system of production.

The Plantation System Sugar The 18th century was the golden age of the West Indies sugar economy. From 1713 to 1792 Britain imported 162 million worth of goods, mostly sugar, from its West Indies island colonies alone. Over the same period Britain imported only 104 million worth of goods from India and China combined! The plantation system developed first in the West Indies and spread throughout the Americas. Plantations were huge colonial farms, owned by Europeans, that produced cash crops such as sugar, tobacco, cotton and indigo. Plantations were dependant on slave labour

Sugar Jamaica, Barbados, St. Kitts and Haiti (a French colony largest sugar producer) exported more than the mainland of North America and Asia combined. The explosion of the sugar economy and its reliance on slave labour drew Africa into Europes expanding economic system.

Africa & Slavery The rise of the plantation economy after 1650 and throughout the 18th century made slavery a fundamental economic institution. Slavery formed the labour supply of a highly capitalized aspect of the world economy during the 18th century. Between 1700 and 1786; 610,000 African slaves were brought to Jamaica alone.

Africa & Slavery From 1650 to after 1800, over 9 million slaves were taken from Africa by European slave traders (see page 221 for a breakdown). Slave labour was the main reason for the commercial and industrial development of both England and Europe as a whole as it created the profits for early industrialists.

Inclusion of Central & Eastern Europe Central Europe (Russia & Prussia) increased enormously during this period. British imports from Russia increased 15x from 1700-1790 while exports increased 6x. Russian & Prussian nobles bad become Europeanized and desired Western luxury goods.

Inclusion of Central & Eastern Europe In exchange they traded grain, timber and naval stores (stuff used to make ships) This lead landowners in Central & Eastern Europe to become more harsh in their treatment of the serfs, not unlike the treatment of slaves on the plantations of America.

Conclusions Europeans were able to take advantage of the natural resources of the Americas, the gold and labour of Africa, and the luxuries of Asia to create a global network of trade and production centred on Europe. This emerging global network led to the increasing wealth of Europe and to the development of modern capitalism.

Conclusions The wealth generated by this global trading network would be invested in the economic development of Europe alone, creating the foundation for industrial development. It also lead to the foundation for the economic imbalances of the modern world.