Chapter 13 Political Transformations Empires and Encounters 1450 1750 A The European Advantage 1 Geography and winds I European Empires in the Americas Countries on Atlantic rim of Europe Portugal Spain Britain France were closer to Americas than Asian competitors Fixed winds of Atlantic blew stead in same direction Winds provided a different maritime environment than alternating monsoon winds of Indian Ocean European innovations in mapmaking navigation sailing techniques ship design enabled their penetration of Atlantic Enormously rich markets of Indian Ocean provided little incentive for Chinese Indian or Muslim participants to venture beyond own waters 2 European marginality land hunger and social drives Economies could expand only by adding territory Growing desire for grain sugar meat fish meant they needed more land Rulers were driven by the enduring rivalries of competing states Growing merchant class sought direct access to Asian wealth to avoid reliance on Muslims Nobles commoners found opportunity to gain wealth status Persecuted minorities were in search for new start to life All motives drove the imperial frontier to the Americas 3 Organization and technology States trading companies enabled effective mobilization of human material resources Seafaring technology allowed them to cross Atlantic with ease transporting people supplies across great distances Ironworking technology gunpowder weapons horses initially had no parallel in Americas but many people acquired them 4 Local allies Divisions within b t local societies provided allies a Aztec Empire resented Mexica joined Hernan Cortes in Spanish assault on that empire b Inca elite welcomed Spanish invaders as liberators willingly settled with them to share rule of Andean farmers miners Violent dispute b t 2 rival contenders for Inca throne brothers Atahualpa Huascar helped European invaders 5 Germs Most significant advantage b c Native Americans had no immunities Diseases decimated society after society In Caribbean Virginia New England the rapid buildup of immigrant populations combined with diminished native numbers allowed Europeans to outnumber locals within a few decades B The Great Dying 1 60 80 million people without immunities Greatest concentrations of people lived in Mesoamerican Andean zones dominated by Aztec Inca Long isolation from Afro Eurasian world lack of most domesticated animals meant absence of acquired immunities to Old World diseases smallpox measles typhus influenza malaria yellow fever 2 Old World diseases When they came in contact with European African disease Native Americans died in appalling numbers up to 90 of population People of Caribbean islands virtually vanished within 50 years of Columbus arrival Central Mexico pop 10 20 mill declined to 1 million by 1650 Died from plague or hunger Could not get up for search for food everyone else was too sick to care for them so they starved 3 Demographic collapse Similar situation in North America Not until late 17th century did native numbers begin to recuperate from catastrophe not everywhere C The Columbian Exchange 1 People brought germs plants and animals Great dying created an acute labor shortage made room for immigrant newcomers Wheat rice sugarcane grapes many garden vegetables fruits weeds a Transformed landscape made possible European diet way of life Horses pigs cattle goats sheep a Made possible ranching economies cowboy cultures 2 Corn and potatoes to Europe Africa and Asia Provided nutritional foundation for immense population growth Calories from corn potatoes brought human numbers from 60 million in 1400 to 390 million in 1900 Provided cheap reasonably nutritious food for industrial workers Potatoes allowed Ireland s population to grow until airborne fungus from Americans destroyed the crop condemned many to starvation Chinese supplemented traditional rice wheat to corn peanuts sweet potatoes In Africa corn was used as cheap food for human cargos of transatlantic trade Corn underwrote some of Africa s population growth partially offset population drain of slave trade 3 American tobacco and chocolate Chinese tea and Arab coffee How to manuals instructed Chinese users on smoking techniques while tobacco became gentleman s companion Tea from China coffee from Islamic world spread globally 4 Silver slaves and sugar Silver mines of Mexico Peru fueled transatlantic transpacific commerce encouraged Spain s unsuccessful effort to dominate Europe enabled Europeans to buy Chinese tea silk porcelain Plantation owners of tropical lowland regions needed workers found them by millions in Africa Slave trade brought workers to the colonies sugar cotton trade distributed fruits of their labor abroad created a lasting link among Africa Europe Americas while scattering African origin peoples throughout Western Hemisphere 5 Europe the biggest winner Wealth of colonies precious metals natural resources new food crops slave labor financial profits colonial markets provided one of the foundations on which Industrial Revolution was built Also provided an outlet for rapidly growing population II Comparing Colonial Societies in the Americas A In the Land of the Aztecs and the Incas 1 Encomienda repartimiento and hacienda Encomienda Legal system in which Spanish crown granted to particular Spanish settlers a number of local native people from whom they could require labor gold or agricultural produce to whom who they owed protection instruction in the Christian faith Repartimiento Replaced encomienda with slightly more control by the crown Spanish officials Hacienda By the 17th century legal system that took shape by which the owners of large estates directly employed native workers 2 Creoles and peninsulares Purity of blood Creoles Spaniards born in America Peninsulares Those born in Spain Purity of blood Iberian obsession that focused on potential liaisons with Jews Muslims in Spain alleged threat to female virtue derived from Native American African men in the colonies 3 Mestizo and castas Mestizo mixed race initially b t Spanish men Indian women Castas Division of separate groups into castes based on racial heritage skin color 4 Indians Indigenous people of Mexico Peri Subject to abuse exploitation as primary labor force for mines estates of Spanish Empire required to pay tribute to Spanish overlords Their empires were dismantled religions attacked forcibly relocated into larger settlements Many learned Spanish converted to Christianity moved to