AP World History UNIT 4 REVIEW [Everything You NEED to Know!]

Summary

This AP World History review covers Maritime Empires from 1450 to 1750, focusing on European expansion's causes, including technological advancements like the magnetic compass and ship innovations. It discusses the growth of state power, mercantilism, and the joint-stock company's role in expansion. Key players like Portugal, Spain, France, England, and the Dutch East India Company are highlighted. The script also addresses the Columbian Exchange's impact, including disease transfers and the spread of food crops. It touches on resistance to European imperialism, the rise of African states, and changes in labor systems, social hierarchies, and belief systems due to global interactions.

Takeaways

• 🚢 **Maritime Technology**: European adoption and innovation of maritime technology, such as the magnetic compass and the caravel, facilitated their global ascendency.
• 🌍 **State Power Growth**: The centralization of power in European monarchs led to significant roles in economic decisions, influencing interregional trade and expansion.
• 💰 **Mercantilism**: A state-driven economic system where the goal was to maintain a favorable balance of trade, leading to overseas colonization to enrich the empire.
• 🏭 **Joint-Stock Companies**: Limited liability businesses funded by private investors, often chartered by the state, played a crucial role in European expansion and trade monopolies.
• 👑 **Portugal's Early Expansion**: Led by Prince Henry the Navigator, Portugal established a trading post empire around Africa and the Indian Ocean.
• 🌟 **Spanish Empire**: Spain's claim to a vast world colonization started with Christopher Columbus's voyages, leading to the transatlantic trade and the establishment of colonies in the Americas.
• 🌾 **Columbian Exchange**: The transfer of diseases, food plants, and animals between the eastern and western hemispheres had significant environmental and demographic impacts.
• 🛡️ **Resistance to European Dominance**: Various forms of resistance, such as Japan's isolation policy, the French Fronde, and Maroon societies in the Caribbean, opposed European imperialism.
• 🔄 **Continuity and Change in Trade Networks**: While European states disrupted the Indian Ocean trade network, there was significant continuity in overland routes and labor practices.
• 🏭 **Labor Systems in the Americas**: New labor systems like chattel slavery, indentured servitude, and the encomienda system were introduced, significantly altering the demographics and social structures of the Americas.

Q & A

What were the three main causes of European expansion during 1450 to 1750?

The three main causes of European expansion were technological advancements in maritime technology, the growth of state power, and economic factors such as mercantilism and the establishment of joint-stock companies.

How did the adoption of maritime technology contribute to European exploration?

Europeans adopted maritime technologies like the magnetic compass, astrolabe, and the lateen sail from other cultures, which significantly improved their navigational capabilities. Additionally, innovations in shipbuilding, such as the Portuguese Caravel, allowed for more efficient and effective sea travel.

What was the significance of the Portuguese Caravel in the context of European expansion?

The Portuguese Caravel was a smaller, faster ship that allowed for better navigation in inland rivers and shallow coastal areas. Its design, along with the addition of cannons, made it an effective tool for exploration and establishing control over trade routes.

How did the growth of state power influence European imperialism during this period?

The growth of state power led to the centralization of authority in the hands of European monarchs, which in turn enabled them to make significant economic decisions, such as sponsoring exploration and trade initiatives, that expanded their empires.

What is mercantilism and how did it drive European exploration?

Mercantilism was an economic system where states sought to maximize their wealth by increasing exports and minimizing imports, often through colonization. This system motivated European states to establish overseas colonies to create closed markets for their goods.

Can you explain the role of joint-stock companies in European expansion?

Joint-stock companies were businesses funded by private investors and chartered by the state. They allowed for the sharing of risks and rewards among investors and were often granted monopolies by states, which facilitated the expansion of European influence through trade and colonization.

Who was Prince Henry the Navigator and why is he significant?

Prince Henry the Navigator was a Portuguese prince who sponsored exploration and navigational advancements. He is significant because his efforts led to Portugal becoming a major maritime power and initiating the Age of Discovery.

What was the Colombian Exchange and what were its effects?

The Colombian Exchange refers to the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World following Columbus's voyage. It had profound effects on the histories of the involved peoples, most notably in the widespread exchange of diseases, food crops, and the introduction of enslaved Africans to the Americas.

How did the introduction of new diseases impact the indigenous populations of the Americas?

The introduction of new diseases such as smallpox, measles, and malaria by Europeans had a devastating impact on indigenous populations, who had no immunity to these diseases. This often resulted in significant population declines, sometimes reaching up to 90% in affected communities.

What were the main economic motivations behind the establishment of European colonies in the Americas?

The main economic motivations included the desire for direct access to valuable resources like spices, gold, and silver, as well as the establishment of new markets for European goods. Colonies also provided a source of raw materials and a destination for the sale of European manufactured products.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Maritime Empires and European Expansion

This paragraph discusses the key factors that led to the rise of Maritime Empires between 1450 and 1750, focusing on the causes of European expansion. It is broken down into three main categories: technological, political, and economic. Technological advancements included the adoption and innovation of maritime technology, such as the magnetic compass from China, the astrolabe from ancient Greece and the Arab world, and the lateen sail from Arab merchants. Political causes were linked to the growth of state power, with European monarchs becoming more influential, leading to centralization of power and significant roles in economic decisions. Economic motivations were driven by mercantilism, a system where states sought to maximize wealth by exporting and minimizing imports, and the joint-stock company, a business model that allowed for state-chartered trade monopolies. The paragraph also introduces the AP World History review guide as a resource for further study.

05:01

🌍 Main Players in the Maritime Empires

The second paragraph delves into the main players involved in the Maritime Empires, starting with Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator, who initiated the exploration down the Atlantic coast of Africa. Portugal established a trading post empire around the coast of Africa and the Indian Ocean. Spain, seeking a western route to the spice trade, sponsored Christopher Columbus, leading to the discovery of the Americas. The Spanish established vast colonial empires and initiated the transatlantic trade. France sponsored westward expeditions, resulting in a presence in Canada and access to the fur trade. England, under Queen Elizabeth I, began sponsoring exploration to the Americas, establishing colonies like Virginia. Lastly, the Dutch, after gaining independence from Spain, challenged Spanish and Portuguese control over the Indian Ocean trade and established the Dutch East India Company (VOC), which dominated the spice trade.

10:02

🌱 The Columbian Exchange and Its Impact

This paragraph explores the Columbian Exchange, which refers to the transfer of diseases, food plants, and animals between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. It highlights the devastating effects of diseases like smallpox, measles, and malaria on the indigenous populations of the Americas. The transfer of food and plants, such as wheat, olives, grapes, maize, and potatoes, had significant effects on populations in both the New and Old Worlds, contributing to population growth and changes in dietary habits. The paragraph also discusses the transfer of animals like horses, which had profound effects on the indigenous peoples' ability to hunt and their social structures.

15:03

🔥 Resistance and Adaptation to European Imperialism

The fourth paragraph addresses the resistance to European imperialism, both in Asia and within European states themselves. It discusses how Tokugawa Japan, after initial contact with Western powers, eventually isolated itself to maintain control and unify the country. The Fronde in France was a series of rebellions against the centralizing power of the monarchy, which was attempting to finance imperial expansion through increased taxation. Additionally, the paragraph covers maroon societies in the Caribbean and Brazil, which were communities of runaway slaves that resisted colonial control. The paragraph also notes that the expansion of maritime trading networks fostered the growth of some African states, such as the Asante Empire and the Kingdom of Congo, who participated in these networks and gained power and wealth.

20:04

🌐 Continuity and Change in Global Trade Networks

This paragraph examines the continuity and change in global trade networks during the period of Maritime Empires. Despite the European dominance, Middle Eastern, South Asian, East Asian, and Southeast Asian merchants continued to use the Indian Ocean network, and overland routes like the Silk Roads remained under Asian control. The paragraph also discusses how peasant and artisan labor continued to be significant, with increased production of goods like cotton and silk to meet the growing demand from expanding trade connections. In the Americas, the economies were largely based on agriculture and mining, leading to the use of various labor systems, including the Mita system continued from the Inca Empire, chattel slavery, indentured servitude, and the Spanish Encomiendas and Repartimientos systems.

25:04

📜 Social and Religious Transformations

The final paragraph discusses the social and religious transformations that occurred due to the contact between the New and Old Worlds. It highlights how states responded to ethnic and religious diversity, such as the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal and their reception in the Ottoman Empire. The rise of new political elites, exemplified by the Casta system in Spanish America and the Manchu dominance in the Qing dynasty, is explored. Lastly, it touches on the struggles of existing elites, like the Russian boyars under Peter the Great, and the changes in belief systems, including the spread of Christianity and the emergence of religious syncretism, such as Vodun, blending African and Christian beliefs.

Keywords

💡Maritime Empires

Maritime Empires refers to the naval powers that controlled trade and territories across the oceans during the period of 1450 to 1750. In the context of the video, European nations like Portugal and Spain are highlighted as they utilized advanced maritime technology to establish global trade routes and colonies, significantly altering the world's power dynamics. The video discusses how these empires were driven by technological innovations, political centralization, and economic motivations.

💡Technological Innovation

Technological Innovation is the process of creating and implementing new tools or methods. The video emphasizes how European adoption and innovation of maritime technology, such as the magnetic compass, astrolabe, and the caravel ship, enabled them to navigate the seas more effectively and eventually dominate global trade routes. These innovations are portrayed as a turning point that shifted Europe from a peripheral to a central player in world history.

💡Portuguese Caravel

The Portuguese Caravel is a type of ship that was central to the expansion of the Portuguese maritime empire. The video describes it as a smaller, faster ship that allowed for better navigation in inland rivers and shallow coastal areas, which was crucial for establishing control over trade routes. The caravel's design, including the addition of cannons, exemplifies the technological advancements that facilitated European exploration and colonization.

💡Mercantilism

Mercantilism was an economic theory and practice that dominated in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century. The video explains that mercantilist states believed in accumulating wealth by maximizing exports and minimizing imports, often through the establishment of colonies. This economic system created a strong incentive for European nations to expand their empires and engage in overseas colonization to secure resources and trade advantages.

💡Joint-Stock Company

A Joint-Stock Company, as mentioned in the video, is a business entity that is funded by shareholders who assume limited liability for the company's debts. The video uses the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as an example, illustrating how joint-stock companies were chartered by states and played a significant role in financing exploration and trade, leading to the expansion of European influence and wealth during the period of maritime empires.

💡Columbian Exchange

The Columbian Exchange refers to the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World following Columbus's voyage. The video discusses the exchange's environmental and demographic impacts, such as the introduction of new diseases to the Americas that led to significant population declines among indigenous peoples, and the transfer of crops like maize and potatoes to the Old World.

💡Resistance

Resistance in the video refers to the various forms of opposition against European imperialism and colonialism. Examples given include Asian states like Tokugawa Japan resisting Western influence, local rebellions in France known as the Fronde, and maroon societies of escaped slaves in the Caribbean and Brazil resisting colonial rule. These instances highlight the struggles and agency of non-European groups in response to the expansion of maritime empires.

💡Global Balance of Power

The Global Balance of Power is the distribution of political, economic, and military influence among various global actors. The video discusses how the rise of maritime empires shifted this balance in favor of European states. The establishment of global trade networks and colonies allowed European nations to accumulate wealth and military strength, thereby altering the world's power dynamics and setting the stage for their dominance in subsequent centuries.

💡Castas System

The Castas System was a social hierarchy in the Spanish colonies that ranked individuals based on their perceived 'purity' of blood or race. The video explains that this system was used to organize colonial society and maintain control by the Spanish elite. It erased the cultural diversity of indigenous peoples and created a rigid social structure that privileged those with more Spanish ancestry, reflecting the broader changes in social hierarchies during the period of European expansion.

💡Creole Languages

Creole Languages are languages that emerge from the blending of different languages due to prolonged contact between different linguistic communities. The video mentions the emergence of Creole languages in the Americas as an example of cultural synthesis, where European, African, and sometimes indigenous languages mixed to form new tongues. This reflects the complex interactions and exchanges that occurred as a result of the establishment of maritime empires and the Columbian Exchange.

Highlights

European expansion from 1450 to 1750 was driven by technological, political, and economic factors.

Adoption and innovation of maritime technology, such as the magnetic compass and the caravel, facilitated European ascendency.

European monarchs' centralization of power led to significant involvement in economic decisions and interregional trade.

Mercantilism, characterized by state-driven economic systems, motivated European states to expand empires through colonization.

Joint-stock companies, like the Dutch East India Company, played a crucial role in state and merchant interdependence for expansion.

Portugal's maritime empire focused on establishing trading posts, or 'factories', to control trade in Africa and the Indian Ocean.

Spain's colonization efforts in the Americas led to the establishment of the encomienda system and the search for new trade routes.

The Columbian Exchange resulted in the transfer of diseases, food plants, and animals between the eastern and western hemispheres.

Indigenous populations in the Americas were devastated by introduced diseases like smallpox, measles, and malaria.

The introduction of new crops in the Americas, such as maize and potatoes, contributed to population growth and health.

Resistance to European imperialism was seen in Asia, with Japan's isolationist policies and the French Fronde rebellion.

Maroon societies, composed of runaway slaves, resisted colonial control and maintained autonomous communities.

African states like the Asante Empire and the Kingdom of Congo grew wealthy through participation in global trade networks.

The Indian Ocean trade network continued to be used by Asian merchants despite European dominance.

The opening of the Atlantic system of trade led to significant changes in labor systems, including the rise of chattel slavery.

The growth of the African slave trade had profound social effects, including gender imbalance and cultural synthesis in the Americas.

Religious syncretism occurred as a result of the blending of Christian beliefs with indigenous and African religions.

Social hierarchies changed as states responded to diversity, new political elites emerged, and existing elites struggled with state power.

Transcripts

all right let's review everything you

need to know about unit 4 for AP World

History which is all about Maritime

Empires from 1450 to 1750 and the juicy

developments there on to appertaining so

if you're ready to get them brain cows

milks let's get to it okay first let's

talk about the causes of European

expansion during this period and we're

going to make it nice and tidy and break

it into three categories technological

political and economic so the first

cause of European exploration was

European adoption and innovation of

Maritime technology now this is kind of

a big deal because prior to this period

Europe as I've said before was kind of

like the butt bread in the loaf of world

power you know everyone touches it but

nobody really wants it but during this

period Europeans gained the knowledge

and technology that facilitated their

ascendency on the world stage at first

they adopted some Maritime Technologies

from the classical Greek Islamic and

Asian world for example they adopted the

magnetic compass which was first

developed in China and also they adopted

the astrola from ancient Greece and the

Arab world which helped Sailors know

their latitude and they adopted the

latine sale which was used by Arab

merchants on the Indian Ocean which

enabled them to take wind on both sides

and not just from behind really what you

need to remember here is that these

adopted tools made a possible for

Europeans to navigate on the Seas and

later take over everybody's crap however

it wasn't all adoption of old

Technologies by Lord buttre no Europeans

made Innovations of their own and here

we need to focus on ship building and

I'll give you one example behold the

Portuguese Caravel now as we'll see in a

moment the Portuguese were the first

movers in the maritime Empire project

and this was their ship design it was

much smaller than the massive Merchant

ships like Chinese junks in the Indian

Ocean and that meant they were better

able to navigate Inland Through Rivers

and shallow coastal areas additionally

they were fast and once the Portuguese

loaded cannons onto these sweet bippies

they had everything they needed to take

over the Indian Ocean train we could

also talk about the Portuguese Carrick

or the Dutch flout but you only need to

know one example but you also need to

remember that European Sailors improve

their understanding of regional wind

patterns both in the Atlantic and Indian

oceans and if you're sailing that's uh

real important oh and by the way I

should mention that this video is part

of a larger resource called the AP World

heimler review guide which has

everything you need to get an A in your

class and a five on your exam and met

it's got whole unit review videos like

this one that are not here on YouTube

and then note guys to follow along

practice questions practice exams and

answer keys for every dang bit of it it

is the fastest way to study for your

class and for your exam in May so you

know have a look okay now the second

cause of European Imperial expansion was

the growth of state power you see during

this period it's going to be important

to understand that European monarchs

were growing far more powerful than they

had ever been before and that was at the

expense of historically powerful groups

like The nobility and so with this

centralization of power monarchs now

played a much more significant role in

the economic decisions of their state

and perhaps one of the most significant

decisions had to do with interregional

trade you see as Europe started emerging

from the backwaters of world history

many folks especially among the upper

classes started demanding spices from

Asia and some other Goods as well but

there was a big fat problem with that

you remember all those landbased Empires

we met back in unit 3 well they're still

here during this period and they

happened to control the landbased

trading routes over which those lovely

spices were exchanged and that meant by

the time they got to Europe the prices

were jacked way up and so even the

fanciest of Fancy Pants Europeans were

like butter my backside and call me a

biscuit what you make this pepper out of

unicorn Hooves or something so that

meant European States had a big

incentive to find other routes namely

seab based routes to Asia which would

allow them to trade on their own terms

and then the third cause of European

exploration was economic and I've got

two terms you need to know here first

let me introduce you to mercantilism now

merism was a state-driven economic

system that characterized these Imperial

European States during this period And

basically what you need to know here is

that mercantilist economics saw the

world's wealth like a pie and the goal

was to get as much of that pie as

possible now the thing about pie is that

there's only a fixed amount since

mercantilism measured wealth in gold and

silver then yeah there's only so much of

those minerals in the world and so in

order to get the biggest piece of that

Pi States main goal was to maintain a

favorable balance of trade which just

means they organized their economies

around exports and avoid Imports as much

as possible and why well if you're

exporting Goods that means gold and

silver are coming in and if you're

importing Goods that means gold and

silver are going out anyway the point to

remember here is that this system

created a strong motivation for

expanding Empires through overseas

colonization because once a colony was

established it created a closed market

for exports from the Imperial country in

other words in this Arrangement colonies

existed only to enrich their Imperial

parents and then the second economic

tool of European expansion was the joint

stock company now by definition a joint

stock company was a limited liability

business often chartered by the state

that was funded by a group of private

investors what I mean by limited

liability is that those investors who

pulled their money to finance the

exploration could only lose what they

invested or you might say their

liability was uh limited and here's

where I tell you that this whole SE

based Empire building project could only

be successful if the state and its

mergence were tied together in mutual

interdependence what I mean is States

relied on Merchants to expand their

influence in far off lands while

Merchants relied on states to grant them

monopolies on various regions of trade

and it was joint stock companies that

made this power and wealth hugfest work

but I should also mention that it's the

states that primarily use this new kind

of company that prospered during this

period and those that stuck with state

sponsored voyages like Spain and

Portugal were gradually decreasing in

power and influence now you should at

least know one of these joint stock

companies by name and I reckon I'll

introduce you to the Dutch East India

Company which you'll sometimes see

abbreviated as the VOC it was ched by

the Dutch state in 16002 and included in

that Charter was a monopoly on the

Indian Ocean trade and as we'll see in a

minute the Dutch positively dominant

ated the Indian Ocean which expanded

Dutch influence there and made the

company's investors richer than a

dwarfish minor in Middle Earth such a

nerdy joke but I stand by It Anyway both

the British and the French developed

their own joint stock companies as well

and that was one of the primary means by

which they extended their influence also

and this fervor to insert themselves

into the Indian Ocean created powerful

rivalries among European States in order

to ascend to that top spot and that

rivalry led to attacks on each other's

trading ports and shifts and all kinds

of fun stuff okay now that we understand

the causes of the rise of seab based

Empires let's meet the main players and

for this we're going to need to rewind

the clock a bit since all that

mercantilism and joint stock company

talk came after this anyway the first

European state to get its power pants on

was Portugal thanks to the leadership of

our boy Prince Henry the Navigator who

brought together Sailors map makers and

ship Builders to figure out how to sail

down the Atlantic coast of Africa and

initially Portugal's interest lay in the

gold trade in West Africa but by the

1440s they had their eyes on entering

the Indian Ocean now to that end they

established what's known as a trading

post Empire around the coast of Africa

and throughout the Indian Ocean and this

is a unique kind of Empire like when we

think of overseas these Empires we tend

to think of colonies and you know that's

not wrong we're going to get to that but

colonies in case you've never

established one yourself and don't know

are expensive so the Portuguese strategy

was to Simply set up barebones trading

posts which they called factories and

all these places which serve to control

trade throughout the region they were

largely able to do this if you'll recall

from earlier because of their fast ships

like the caravel and the carck which

were loaded with cannons and can blow up

any Challengers quick fast and in a

hurry but that barebones Trading Post

kind of empire was not how Spain did it

and I reckon we ought to sit with them

for a spell you see by the time Spain

started thinking about Maritime

expansion Portugal already had control

of the Indian Ocean R and so the Spanish

Crown decided to sponsor Christopher

Columbus to sail across the Atlantic in

search of a western route to the spice

tram and you probably know the story by

now Columbus sailed West and instead of

finding a route to Southeast Asia

instead ran into two massive continents

that no one in Europe had previously

known about ins side note to the end of

his life Columbus was like I found a

route to Asia but it became pretty clear

through Voyages of other explorers that

it was not in fact Asia oh he's crazy

y'all anyway Spanish voyages to the new

world multiplied it establish their

claim to a vast world colonization not

just the establishment of trading post

and it marked the opening of the

transatlantic trade which would

eventually become even more prosperous

than the Indian Ocean trade but I don't

mean to imply that the Spanish were

uninterested in the Indian Ocean trade

no they went ahead and set up their base

of operations in the Philippines but

instead of setting up pidley Trading

Post they went full Colonial over the

territory and in order to establish and

maintain control there the Spanish used

the same methods that they used over in

the Americas like tribute collecting and

coer labor and so to put it mildly

Portugal and Spain were getting all

kinds of rich off this Arrangement and

that is when other states looked at the

pie and said oh we got to get us some of

that and I'll introduce you to the big

three that rose up during this period

first was France who sponsored Westward

Expeditions in order to find a North

Atlantic sea route to Asia they also

didn't find it mainly because it doesn't

exist but they did establish a presence

in Canada which gave them access to the

incredibly lucrative fur trade with

indigenous peoples in the region the

French Empire in the Americas was

similar to the Portuguese in the Indian

Ocean since their Holdings were small

and mainly focused on trade and that's

about the time that England came to the

Imperial party so after Queen Elizabeth

the first rose to power and like a boss

defeated Spain's attempts to invade

England she took Vantage of Spain's

weakness and started sponsoring

exploration into the Americans so she

commissioned Sir Walter Raleigh with the

Venture and established England's first

colony on Rowan Oak Island called

Virginia as it turns out it was kind of

a disaster and wouldn't begin to turn

around until 1607 with the establishment

of Jamestown in Virginia and again the

British weren't just interested in the

Americas they were for sure interested

in chomping on the popsicle of power and

the Indian Ocean too and for them India

was the prize but as it turned out they

lacked sufficient Naval power to take

over the subcontinent from the mugal and

had to be content with establishing a

few trading posts along the coast don't

feel too bad for him because later in

the 18th century their Naval power would

be uh substantial and those trading

posts would be transformed into full

colonial rule in India then not to be

out Imperial by other states the Dutch

joined the party as well so it was

during this period that the Dutch gained

independence from Spain and it wasn't

long before they became the most

prosperous state in Europe and with all

that Newfound power and wealth they sent

their fancy flouts to challenge Spanish

and Portuguese control over the Indian

Ocean trade and spoiler alert the Dutch

vocc very much came out on top and while

they also dabbled in colonizing the

Americas like here in New Amsterdam it

was mainly Dutch control of strategic

locations throughout the Indian Ocean

and their Monopoly over the spice trade

that increase their power and influence

okay now let's focus on one of the most

significant effects of this flurry of

Maritime Empire building across the

Atlantic namely the Colombian Exchange

Now by definition this refers to the

transfer of new diseases food plants and

animals between the eastern and western

hemispheres and I'm going to give you

some examples of each but before I do

let me just emphasize that the Colombian

Exchange refers to environmental

phenomena so don't get a confused with

things like the triangular trade or

anything like that so first let's

consider the transfer of disease but

before I tell you what they are you need

to understand why this was such a big

deal see because folks throughout afro

Eurasia had been in contact from

Millennia they had developed immunities

to diseases transferred among them

however because of the isolation of the

indigenous peoples of the Americas the

diseases Europeans introduced were

devastating so first and foremost

Europeans introduced small poox and

measles into the indigenous populations

of the Americans they spread fast and

were incredibly deadly and as they

spread through the Caribbean and Central

America and then into South America they

cut some populations in half and in some

cases it killed 90% of the peoples who

were infected and then the third disease

was malaria which was carried by disease

vectors like mosquitoes and all in all

while European states were growing

exceedingly wealthy and Powerful through

their empires in the Americas the

introduction of these diseases meant

that indigenous populations were

devastating and it's no wonder why they

refer to this as the great dying okay

now second let's consider the transfer

of food and plants which had major

effects on populations both in the new

world and in the old world so European

settlers brought wheat and olives and

grapes among many other things which

were Staples of European diet and then

eventually they also introduced African

and Asian Foods like rice and bananas

and sugar and while indigenous Americans

mostly maintain their tradition

traditional diets they also Incorporated

some of these new foods which varied

their diets and therefore slowly

increased their lifespan but going the

other way crops from the Americas like

Ma and potatoes were introduced to

Europe Africa and Asia and that

contributed to healthier populations

which led to longer lifespans and the

result was a population explosion after

1700 additionally the millions of

enslaved Africans who were forcibly sent

to the Americas introduced Foods as well

including okra and rice now as demand

increased in Europe for these American

crops sprawling plantations were

established in the Americas that focused

on cash cropping and what's cash

cropping says you well says it's a

method of Agriculture that focuses on

growing crops usually a single crop

primarily for export so for example in

the Caribbean sugar cane was grown in

abundance with the work of enslaved

African laborers and then exported to

Market in Europe and the Middle East and

third let's consider the transfer of

animals Europeans introduced pigs and

sheep and cattle to the Americas but by

far the most consequential animal was

the horse Not only was the horse used

for agricultural work but it also

enabled indigenous Plains peoples to

hunt Buffalo far more effectively and

thus better feed their population okay

now by this point we've established that

the global balance of power was

beginning to sh shift towards European

States who were busy establishing

Maritime Empires throughout the world

but I hope you didn't think everybody

was happy about this don't be crazy no

there were plenty of examples of

resistance and I'm going to tell you

about several of them first there was

resistance from some Asian States

against the intrusion of Western powers

in the Indian Ocean and here let's meet

Tokugawa Japan now Japan had just

emerged from a real contentious period

in their history and was experiencing

some Unity under a Shogun from the

Tokugawa Clan and at first when the

Portuguese and the Spanish and the Dutch

came knocking on Japan's door the Shogun

was relatively open to it because he was

very interested in trading for gunpowder

weapons which helped enormously with

Japan's unification but here's where I

tell you that in addition to economics

one of the big motivations for European

imperialism was the spread of

Christianity and so by the second half

of the 16th century a growing number of

Japanese people had converted to

Christianity and the Shogun began to

perceive that development as a threat to

the hard one unification of Japan and so

the sh gun went ahead and booted all

those Christian missionaries from Japan

and suppressed this foreign Western

religion sometimes with brutality and

violence as a result Japan almost

completely isolated itself from the

growing influence of European Commerce

in the Indian Ocean only maintaining

trade with the Dutch second we can see

resistance on the local level in

European States themselves and here I'm

going to introduce you to the frond

which occurred in France so in response

to the newly adopted political doctrine

of absolutism which concentrated all

political power under the Monarch a

series of rebellions known as the frond

occurred starting in 1648 basically in

order to finance Imperial expansion

several new edicts were passed that

increased taxation among French subjects

and so the French nobility whose power

had been under threat from The Growing

Power of the monarchy got all kinds of

fed up and led peasants and spontaneous

rebellions that lasted for 6 years but

in the end this resistance was crushed

and bonus the monarchy increased in

power even more and then third we need

to consider resistance from the enslaved

and here I'm going to introduce you to

the maroon Societies in the Caribbean

and Brazil so in most European colonies

in the Americas enslaved Africans were

forced to labor on plantations but also

in most of those colonies small pockets

of free blacks existed which were mainly

made up of runaway slaves and these were

known as maroon societies now from all

you know about European colonial power

it shouldn't surprise you to find out

that Imperial authorities were uh not

fond of these communities and so for

example in Jamaica Colonial troops

sought to crush these maroons societies

but the free blacks led by a fiery woman

called Queen Nanny rebelled and fought

back and so in a surprising turn of

events the colonial militia could not

find a way to win this battle and so

they signed a treaty in 1738 recognizing

the freedom of this community of

Imperial resistance now here's where I

tell you that Europeans were not the

only folks prospering as a result of

their Maritime Empire frenzy and the

expansion of networks of Exchange in

fact the expansion of Maritime trading

networks also fostered the growth of

some African States who participated in

them thus connecting these states to the

global economic linkages these networks

represented and that's true even if the

network becoming increasingly European

since and I shouldn't surprise you if

you've been with me since unit 2

remember that when we were talking about

the Silk Roads and the Indian Ocean

Network and the trans Saharan routes

there were certain cities and states

that grew in power and prosperity mainly

because they were located in strategic

points along those networks and it's the

same story here and there are two

examples you need to know specifically

from Africa first is the Assante Empire

here in West Africa they were able to

provide highly desired Goods that

European Traders were after things like

gold and ivory and enslaved people and

that economic partnership made the

Asante so rich that as we say here in

the South them boys buy a new tractor

every time they run out of gas that

wealth further enabled the Assante to

expand their military and consolidate

political power over more and more of

the region and then second is the

kingdom of the Congo here in southern

Africa they made strong diplomatic ties

with the Portuguese and provided them

with things like gold and copper and

again enslaved people and interestingly

similar to the way some African leaders

converted to Islam in the last period in

order to facilitate trade with other

Muslims the king of the Congo converted

to Christianity in order to facilitate

trade with Christian states that were

knocking on his door and although the

economic relationship would later

deteriorate in the beginning it led to

the expansion of the hgal State's power

and wealth okay now let's turn the

corner and talk about how both change

and continuity occurred in networks of

exchange during this period and that

sounds about as boring as licking tree

bark in order to guess the species well

you're wrong this is exciting so let's

start with the Indian Ocean Network the

big change during this period obviously

is the entrance in massive power grabs

of European States into this network but

even so there was significant continuity

as well Middle Eastern South Asian East

Asian and Southeast Asian Merchants who

had been using this Trade Network for

centuries before the arrival of the

Europeans continued to use it even if

they now had to dodge all those European

cannonballs in fact European entrance

into this Trade Network increased

profits not only for Europeans but also

for many of these Merchants who had

always used the network for trade

additionally long established Merchants

like the gujaratis continued to make use

of the Indian Ocean trade even while

Europeans sought to dominate the

Gujarati significantly increased the

power and wealth of the mugal Empire

through their ongoing participation in

the Indian Ocean train and it was

precisely because of the continued power

of folks like the Gujarati that the

Portuguese never achieved full

domination in the Indian Ocean and then

another significant continuity is that

despite growing European dominance on

the sea Overland routes like the Silk

Roads were still almost entirely

controlled by various Asian landbased

Powers most notably Ming China and then

the Ching after it and the Ottoman

Empire as well also peasant and Artisan

labor continued and even intensified in

many regions as demand for food and

consumer goods increased as a result of

multiplying trade connection for example

as the demand for cotton increased

throughout Europe peasant farmers in

South Asia increased their production

for export and in many cases increased

their standard of living and the same

was true of silk production in China

okay now let's shift and talk about

change in continuity in the west

although to be honest it was mostly

change over here and why well unlike the

Indian Ocean Network the opening of the

Atlantic system of trade was completely

new thanks Columbus and although

Europeans would for sure grow wealthy

and Powerful in the Indian Ocean it was

the movement of goods wealth and

laborers between the eastern and western

hemispheres that made them stupid rich

and Powerful in terms of goods sugar was

King and to that end Colonial

plantations in the Caribbean specialized

in the growth of sugarcane which was

exported across the Atlantic to satisfy

Europeans growing demand for That Sweet

Tree in terms of wealth silver was King

the Spanish when they weren't busy

decimating entire indigenous populations

with their nasty germ got busy mining

Silver in the Americas which was then

transferred back to the Royal coffers

and that had a big effect back in Europe

first that silver was used to purchase

luxury goods from China which both

satisfied the Chinese demand for silver

and further developed the

commercialization of their economy that

we looked at back in unit 1 second the

goods that silver purchased were then

traded on the Atlantic system further

enriching all who participate and then

regarding labor on the Atlantic system

much of it came from coerced labor

whether it was forc indigenous labor

indentured servitude or African slavery

and eventually it was enslaved Africans

that made up the bulk of the Imperial

labor force in the American regard the

massive changes that occurred in the

opening of the Atlantic system was

maintained by the global flow of silver

and trade monopolies granted by states

to joint stock companies we're just

tying everything together like it feels

good doesn't it oh no all right let's

just keep going now since I just

mentioned labor you're going to need to

know some changes and continuities in

labor systems as well and first let's

start in the Americans as I mentioned

before the economies established in the

Americas by Europeans were largely based

on Agriculture and Mining which is to

say they were all farmy farmy over there

and with that new Arrangement Europeans

made use of both existing labor systems

and introduced new ones now one example

of an existing labor system that was

continued during this period was the

Midas system if you weren't sleeping

through unit one you'll remember that

this system was developed and deployed

by the Inca Empire and basically it

amounted to requiring their subjects to

provide labor on state projects for a

certain number of days per year so when

the Spanish showed up and got their

Conquistador on they went ahead and use

the Midas system for their silver mining

operations which was dangerous and

sometimes deadly work for the indigenous

people forced into it and to be clear

the Midas system of the Spanish was not

an exact copy of the Inca version the

Inca used the system for the good of

their people while the Spanish used it

to force people to work private mind for

the good of individuals and the Spanish

state but despite some continuity it was

changes in labor systems in the Americas

that arguably made the biggest impact

and there are four of these new labor

systems you need to know first was chatt

slavery which describes a kind of

slavery in which the purchaser has total

ownership over the enslaved person

additionally chatt slavery was

race-based and hereditary and to be

clear slavery is not a new phenomenon

that pops onto the scene fully formed

out of nothing like Athena popping out

of Zeus's head Greek mythology joke

nailed it no before 1500 the African

slave trade was a regular feature of

Exchange in the Mediterranean and Indian

Ocean networks and trans Saharan

networks as well and in those networks

enslavement was not race-based and

enslaved people often assimilated into

the cultures where they were but with

the rise of chatt slavery in the

Atlantic system things uh changed first

of all because the main economic engine

of Imperial empires in the Americas was

difficult agricultural work and Mining

Europeans purchased male slaves 2 to one

which significantly impacted the

demographics of various African States

second the size of the transatlantic

slave trade was far more massive than

its Indian Ocean and Mediterranean

counterparts like over the course of

about 350 years over over 12.5 million

Africans were sold to plantation owners

in the Americas and then third and most

distinctive was the racial component of

the Atlantic slave system in the

Americas slavery became identified with

Blackness and that provided the

justification for the brutality of

Slavery to be identified as black was to

be less than human and to be less than

human meant that plantation owners could

treat their workers with violence and

keep a clear conscience and they did

both and look I am going to get to other

new labor systems but we need to dwell a

little longer on the African slave trade

because the significance was all out of

proportion to the others that I'm going

to mention so here I just want to

mention three social effects of the

growth of the African slave trade that

you need to know the first effect was a

profound gender imbalance especially in

West African States since men were

preferred to women for the difficult

agricultural work in the Americas men

were sold into slavery at a rate of 2 to

one that leads to the second societal

effect namely the changing of family

structures and the main manifestation of

that was the rise of polygyny which

describes the phenomenon of men marrying

more than one woman that's not hard to

understand when you remember that in

many places there were twice as many

women as there were men and then the

third social effect was cultural

synthesis that occurred in the Americas

and a good example here is the growing

emergence of Creole languages in places

like the Caribbean and Brazil and creole

languages are basically mixed languages

and in this case various Creole tongues

were developed as a synthesis of

European and African languages and in

some cases indigenous languages okay now

let's get back to the new labor systems

that represented change in the Atlantic

world and we'll go faster through these

so second there was indentured servitude

which describes an arrangement in which

a laborer would sign a contract that

bound them to a particular work for a

period of time usually s years then at

the end of the contract they could go

free and do whatever it is they wanted

to do we see this form of Labor

especially in the British colonies in

North America where many lower class

workers in Great Britain signed

indentures in order to finance their

journey across the sea to the new world

and then the third new labor system

comes to us from the Spanish namely the

encomenda system the Spanish use this

system to divide indigenous Americans

among Spanish settlers who were then

forced to provide labor for the Spanish

in exchange for food and protection it a

little like the feudalism that you

learned about in unit one but as the

encomenda system declined not least

because of the widespread abuses that

were taking place the Spanish cooked up

a fourth system of Labor known as Henda

and technically speaking Henda is not a

labor system but we're going to put it

here for Simplicity so in this system

indigenous laborers were forced to work

on the fields of large PL ation known as

not surprisingly hendes and that

amounted to a situation that was not

much different than slavery there are

some similarities between these two

Spanish systems but the main difference

you should remember is this in comenda

had nothing to do with land ownership

and everything to do with controlling

the indigenous population Henda on the

other hand centered on land ownership as

the main vehicle for controlling the

indigenous population okay now we also

need to consider how all this contact

between New and Old Worlds created the

occasion for the change of belief

systems and here we're going to focus on

Christianity and the Americans now

recall that in building these massive

honking seab based Empire one of the

main motivations of States like Spain

and Portugal was to get everyone

everywhere to worship Jesus himself and

so to that end both States sent Catholic

missionaries many of whom were Jesuits

to their colonies in order to convert

the indigenous people and that way

religion became a significant

justification for the conquest of the

Americans because hey we all know that

when Jesus said that he came to bring

peace and not a sword well he didn't

mean that anyway through the efforts of

these missionaries there was much

conversion but it's not quite as tidy as

that in some cases indigenous groups

outwardly adopted Christianity but

privately continued to practice their

own religious beliefs and in some cases

when this was was discovered it was met

with violent retaliation from Colonial

authorities and ultimately the effect of

all this was a religious syncretism that

resulted in a blending of some Christian

beliefs and practices with indigenous

beliefs and practices additionally

indigenous African religions

participated in the syncretism party too

for example vodun was a new faith that

resulted from the blending of African

animist beliefs with Christian doctrines

and practices in the Americans and

finally we need to talk about changing

social hierarchies during this period

And I know what you're thinking oh heer

you saved the best for last dang

straight I did and so there are three

categories of change in social hierarchy

that you need to get cozy with and I'm

going to give you an example of each

first you need to understand how States

responded to ethnic and religious

diversity and here let's talk about the

differing treatment of the Jews during

this period in Spain and Portugal you

might recall that they were all about

the Jesus and since Spain had just

completed the Reconquista which expelled

all Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula

Christianity now Reigns supreme but

there was still a minority of Jews

living in the Kingdom some of whom had

converted to Christianity and some of

whom had not and so in order to remove

the Temptation for those converted Jews

to convert back to Judaism Spain went

ahead and booted all the Jews from their

land and many of them sought refuge in

Portugal who as it turned out was

becoming more politically intertwined

with Spain and so Portugal expelled the

Jews as well but on the other side of

the spectrum we have the treatment of

Jews in the Ottoman Empire so hearing

news of this expulsion ottoman Sultan

mhmed II opened his Empire to the

displaced Jews who then immigrated and

drove and because of the relative

tolerance of the Ottomans toward Jews

some of them Rose to prominence in the

ottoman Court While others contributed

to the economic and cultural environment

okay now the second category of changed

to social hierarchies was the rise of

new political Elites and I'm going to

give you two examples here first in the

Americas the Spanish imposed this new

social hierarchy known as the castus

system in their colonial Holdings

essentially this system organized

colonial society into a series of ranks

based on race and ancestry and what

level of person landed at really

depended on how much Spanish blood they

had running through their veins and the

important thing to remember here is that

prior to the imposing of the Casta

system native peoples were part of a

wide variety of linguistic and cultural

groups but the Casta system erased much

of that cultural complexity and ordered

their society by the standards of a

small minority of Spanish Elite and

another example here is the transition

from the Ming to the Ching dynasty in

China now recall from unit three that

the Ching was a estblished by

non-chinese folks namely the Manu and in

doing so they reserved all the best

bureaucratic positions in the empire for

ethnically Manu people to the exclusion

of ethnically Han people and finally the

third category of change in social

hierarchies involved the struggles of

existing Elites in various States you

see Elite members of various societies

had always exerted significant influence

on political and economic policies but

with the increasing power of monarchs

this influence began to wne for example

let's consider the Russian boards who

made up the aristocratic landowning

class in Russia and they exerted great

power in the administration of the

empire for Cent but when the absolutist

Peter the Great Rose to power in Russia

he wanted to take all the power he could

from those boards and keep it for

himself and when the boards oppos this

curtailment of their power Peter went

ahead and abolished the rank of boar and

required anyone who wanted bureaucratic

employment to serve the state directly

all right if you're feeling saucy you

can click here and grab my AP World hler

review guide which has everything you

need to get an A in your class and a

five on your exam in men and you can

click here to review all my other unit

four videos if you need some help on any

particular topic I appreciate you coming

around and I'll catch you on the

flipflop I'm Lou