Notes from "Big History"

Chapter 11 on Connecting the Globe

1450-1800 CE: The intensification of trade and commercial networks (high-seas trade and
the rise of the Mongols of the sea (F))
Previous attempts to connect the hemispheres were not
permanent; early explorers didnt have the resources to
establish themselves like the Spanish/Portuguese, p. 188
Vikings in 1001, Newfoundland
Polynesians?
Mansa Muhammed of Mali?
Basque fishermen, 15C Newfoundland

By 1500. . .
1%
population was hunter-gatherers
20%
landmass governed by states
with laws, bureaucrats

In 1500, worlds biggest trade system = Silk Route / Monsoon Marketplace, p. 189
of all humanity, 260-300 million people
Across Eurasia and Africa
Europeans desperately trying to gain a larger share vs. Muslims
o Crusades, Reconquista
o Eager for gold in Africa
o Looking for a place to grow sugar (which they discovered in Syria)
o 1453 Ottoman Turks took Constantinople, further thwarting land routes
Factors promoting European control of the seas:
Portuguese caravels: smaller, lighter ships with triangular/lateen sails that could go
against the wind, *armed* with cannon, p. 190
Prince Henry the Navigator, p. 190
Spanish & Portuguese state sponsorship
Reconquista = confiscation of Jewish/Muslim lands gave funds to Spanish crown, p. 191
On race/racism in Europe, p. 191 (A)
Columbus Voyages:
Took with him an Arabic translator, hoping to meet the Mongol Khans of China, p. 192
Voyage 1: Hispaniola, meeting the peaceful Taino natives, p. 192
Voyage 2: Returned with more people to establish a permanent colony, more terrible
behavior, p. 193
Voyages 3-4: Highlight CCs ineffectiveness as an administrator, p. 193
Conquest by Spain & Portugal
1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, Spain/Portugal, p. 193
1519-1529: Story of Cortez and the conquest of the Aztecs, p. 194
Note: Cortez acted illegally, w/o authorization from King Charles I

Environmental impact of 400 years of Spanish colonization in Mexico, deforestation and

erosion made land useless for agriculture, p. 194-195
Story of Francisco Pizarro and the conquest of the Incas, p. 195
+ Interesting details about the economic motivations of Spanish conquistadors, p. 195
Disapproval of conquistador behavior from theologians, the king of Spain, Bartolome de
Las Casas
Why were the Europeans able to conquer the Amerindians so easily? P. 196 (B)
#1 reason = disease (C)

The Global Exchange / Columbian Exchange

Influx of gold and silver to Spain and Portugal (~$6 billion worth today), p. 197-198
Forced labor killed 4/5 Amerindian miners
Caused inflation in Europe, which diminished the wealth in other societies, undermining
Islamic/Ottoman power/wealth, p. 198
African gold diminished in value (less demand); tilting balance towards slave trade from
Africa, p. 198
India and China benefited from European desire for their goods, and as much as 2/3 of
global silver flowed to China, p. 198
European per capita sugar consumption increased from 4 pounds in 1700 to 18 pounds in
1800, p. 198
Pages 201-202: Details about crops, animals, diseases, people that were exchanged in
both directions
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, pp. 198-199
In the new global exchange, African societies had the disadvantage; all they produced
that the world wanted was slaves.
Sub-Saharan Africans had been exported as slaves to the Middle East and China for over
1,000 years, but the slave trade increased in size and significance.
African chiefs sold their own people to buy cloth, iron, tobacco, alcohol, guns, etc.
Europeans needed slaves in tropical American to raise sugar and tobacco
Africans were cheaper than Europeans, and they were resistant to malaria, which they
brought with them.
Europeans did not capture slaves themselves, p. 199
In 350 years of the TAST, 12-15 million slaves were shipped (85% survived the journey)
Destination: 40% Brazil, 40% Caribbean, 5% US, 15% Spanish America
By the 1820s 5x more Africans than Europeans had come to the Americas
o Comparison: Muslim slave trade in east Africa enslaved 2.1 million in the same
350 years, of 14-15 million over the course of 1200 years
o Possibly as many people were enslaved within Africa as were shipped west and
east. p. 199
Impact on Africa: In terms of loss of people, the impact of slavery on Africa proved far
less than that of disease on the Americas. p. 199

Contrast to Spain/Portugal: English, French, Russian, Dutch involvement, pp. 199-201

English were slow to get involved, partly because the English government did not
provide as much support as Spain/Portugal; main product = salted fish
French focus = furs, in exchange for which Amerindians got fabrics, guns, alcohol, metal
tools
Russians expanded through Siberia Pacific Alaska, California
Dutch New Amsterdam
While Spain and Portugal tried to keep their colonies as royal monopolies,
French/Dutch/English developed economic institutions that would reshape the world
capitalism: banks, stock exchanges, as wealthy private investors found ways to
reduce risk and increase profits
Merchantilism: when governments support trade efforts and ventures of private
citizens, p. 201 (like the Dutch East India Company given a legal monopoly over Dutch
trade in the Indian Ocean)
Banking and usury Deutoronomy says one may charge interest only of strangers.
Catholics reasserted this restriction (Sp/Portugal?) while Protestants (Jean Calvin) took
the opposite position that 5% interest is reasonable
The Major Empires, pp. 202-205
Qing Dynasty China (1644-1911)
o Population explosion: from 100 million in early 1600s to 350 million by 1800
o 1/3 of all humanity!
o Controlled/restricted trade with the West, which desperately wanted Chinese
things
o Environmental impact of population growth: erosion, deforestation
Moghul India (1526-1857)
o Muslim Turks, descendants of Mongols
o 100-150 million
o Like China, great demand for Indian products
o In the 17th century, Moghul state revenues were four times those of France.
o Power declined after 1707 due to challenges from Hindu regional powers
Ottoman Empire (1400s until after WWI)
o 20-25 million people
Safavid Empire (Iran/Persia until 1722)
Hapsburg Empire
o Family origins in Switzerland, gained territory/power through marriage.
o Charles I of Spain = Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
The rest of Europe = political fragmentation that created an unusually competitive situation
and possibly a self-generating process of technological change. p. 204

Religion, Science, and Warfare, pp. 205-208

Moveable, reusable metal type printing press distinguished Europe from the rest of
the world (except Korea, since 13C, but reading restricted to very few elites),
interesting reasons why it *didnt* emerge in the great empires, p. 205 (D)
Effects of the printing press, including Protestantism
Challenges to religion and status quo in other places, too:
o Wang Yangman in China (1472-1529), challenged Confucian elitism (failed)
o Guru Nanak (1469-1539), challenged Hinduism, founder of Sikhism
In Europe the challenge to authority went to the point of forming a new attitude:
Dont rely on authority at all but subject every idea to experimentation and reason.
Galileo, p. 206
Warfare advances = very costly; the largest empires spent 70-90% on cannon, huge
fortifications, and other war machines
^This led to the development of banking, with Europeans ignoring Biblical restrictions on
usury (but not Muslims)
Trade on the high seas distinguished the period from 1450-1800. p. 207
Economic growth during this period = < 0.25% annually, for a total increase of 2-3x,
mostly due to population increase, since all energy = muscle power
China and India remained at the economic center with almost 80% of the worlds goods
and services until the mid-18th century. p. 208
Only Europe and China built oceanic navies, and China retracted its. Thus, Europeans
are labeled the Mongols of the sea, p. 208 (F)
**18th century = the beginning of modern age in terms of population growth rates, p. 207 (E)
Unanswered Questions at the end of the chapter:
What impact did the TAST have on Africa? McNeills say not much; but Patrick Manning
argues otherwise. (G)
Did any Europeans protest the treatment of the Amerindians? Yes, notably Bartolome
de Las Casas.
Why did capitalism emerge in parts of Europe rather than in India or China? India and
China didnt need it. (H)

(A) p. 191: On race/racism in Europe

(B) p. 196: Why were the Europeans able to conquer the Amerindians so easily?

(C) pp. 196-197: #1 European advantage

(D) p. 205: the invention of moveable type, why Europe?

(E) p. 207: The beginning of the modern age in terms of population growth

(F) p. 208: Europeans = the Mongols of the sea

(G) p. 208: the impact of the TAST on Africa

(H) p. 209: Capitalism why Europe?