Columbian Exchange and Commercial Revolution

•Columbian Exchange•Mercantilism•Capitalism

Contact between Contact between any two peoples any two peoples geographically geographically separated from one separated from one another results in an another results in an ‘exchange’ of ‘exchange’ of physical elementsphysical elements

The three main The three main elements are: Plants, elements are: Plants, animals and animals and microbesmicrobes

In the exchange that started along the coast of Newfoundland and was made widespread by Columbus, Disease was the most negative for Indian peoplesFatality rate over a period of two to three generations was 95% for many tribal groupsIn some cases, as in the Mohegans case, the fatality rate could be 100%

The Exchange can be positive or negative in its effects

Europeans believed that it was God’s will that Indians died

There was no germ theory at the time of contact. Illness in Europe was considered to be the consequence of sinIndians, who were largely “heathen” or non-Christian were regarded as sinners and therefore subject to illness as a punishment

New World Microbes

Not all pathogens traveled from Europe to the AmericasSyphilis, polio, hepatitis and encephalitis were new world diseasesAfrican slaves were less vulnerable to European diseases than were IndiansEuropeans succumbed to Malaria easily

Old World Diseases

European disease was particularly virulentSmallpox, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, chicken pox, bubonic plague, scarlet fever and influenza were the most common microbial diseases exchangedNearly all of the European diseases were communicable by air and touch. The pathway of these diseases was invisible to both Indians and Europeans

Disease raced ahead of people

In most cases, Indian peoples became sick even before they had direct contact with EuropeansTrade goods that traveled from tribe to tribe though middlemen were often the vector of diseaseThere is little or no evidence to think that Europeans intentionally infected trade items for trade with Indians to kill them

Smallpox in the Americas

All of these exchanges then, of microbes, plants and animals had a dramatic effect on the environment of the New World, and by extension, a dramatic, and often negative effect on the economies and cultures of Indian peoples.

The “Columbian Exchange”The “Columbian Exchange”

Syphilis

MAI ZE Vanilla TOMATO Peanut

POTATO Cassava Pineapple Cocoa

Quinine Tobacco Pumpkin Turkey

Sweet Potatoes Peppers Avocado Squash

Whooping Cough Diptheria

Malaria Measles Typhus Flu

Smallpox Pigs Sheep Cattle

HORSE Wheat Pear Citrus Fruits

Oats SUGAR CANE Peach Grape

Barley Honeybee Turnip Onion

Rice Banana COFFEE BEAN Olive

GUNS

Liquor

Trinkets

Mercantilism

• an economic theory that states that the world only contained a fixed amount of wealth and that to increase a countries wealth, one country had to take some wealth from another either through having a higher import/export ratio or in actual conquest of new lands and resources.

Mercantilism• Between 1600 and 1800 most of the states of western

Europe were heavily influenced by a policy usually known as mercantilism.

• essentially an eff ort to achieve economic unity and political control.

• Generally it may be thought of as a collection of policies designed to keep the state prosperous by economic regulation.

• These policies may or may not have been applied simultaneously at any given time or place.

Bullionism (gold)

Bullionism was the belief that the economic health of a nation could be measured by the amount of precious metal, gold, or silver, which it possessed.

The rise of a money economy, the stimulation produced by the influx of bullion from America, the fact that taxes were collected in money, all seemed to support the view that hard money was the source of prosperity, prestige, and strength.

Bullionism dictated a favorable balance of trade. That is, for a nation to have gold on hand at he end oft he year, it must export more than it imports. Exports were later defined to include money spent on freight, or insurance, or travel.

Each nation tried to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Those who founded new industries should be rewarded by the state.

Treasuresfrom the Americas!

Treasuresfrom the Americas!

Favorable Balance of Trade

Regulated commerce could produce a favorable balance of trade. In general, tariffs should be high on imported manufactured goods and low on imported raw material.

What was needed to maintain mercantilism

Regulation of international trade State intervention Monopoly Protection of manufacturers Strong state government

Mercantilism, Purpose of Colonies

Fleets

Sea power was necessary to control foreign markets. A powerful merchant fleet would obviate the necessity of using the ships of another nation and becoming dependent on foreign assistance. In addition, a fleet in being could add to a nation's prestige and military power.

Production

Thriving agriculture should be carefully encouraged. Domestic production not only precluded imports of food, but farmers also provided a base for taxation.Colonies could provide captive markets for manufactured goods and sources of raw material.A large population was needed to provide a domestic labor force to people colonies.

Need to keep wealth at home

Luxury items were to be avoided because they took money out of the economy unnecessarily.State action was needed to regulate and enforce the above policies.

England

Mercantilist policies adopted during the reign of Elizabeth were continued in the seventeenth century under the Stuarts and Oliver Cromwell. Elizabethan laws were passed to discourage idleness, to reward industrial enterprise with monopolies, and to control the commerce by means of Navigation Acts.Elizabeth gave her justices of the peace the authority to fix prices, regulate hours, and compel every able-bodied subject to work at some useful trade.

Lead to:

Competition between nationsNavigation and other Trade ActsAvoidance of tariffsNeed for large labor forceSlave TradeConflict on the seasLarger Ships more maneuverable ships

England vs. SpainEngland was late in joining the competition for Asian trade, but England also reached out. In the New World England and Spain were bound to come in conflict. England had participated little in the process of exploration yet insisted that its occupation provided a legitimate claim to title. Of course, Spain claimed that discovery provided the claim to title. The Spanish not only desired to monopolize the trade of their colonies, but the also wished to prevent the English from establishing a foothold which would constitute a base for penetration of Spanish territory. Generally speaking, the English disliked the Spanish.

New Colonial Rivals (slave trade)New Colonial Rivals (slave trade)

Trans-Atlantic Slave TradeTrans-Atlantic Slave TradeTrans-Atlantic Slave TradeTrans-Atlantic Slave Trade

““Coffin” Position Below DeckCoffin” Position Below Deck““Coffin” Position Below DeckCoffin” Position Below Deck

Slave ShipSlave ShipSlave ShipSlave Ship

Mercantilism in History

Between the 15th and the 18th centuries in Europe, powerful states were created and were dedicated to the pursuit of economic power and wealth.Governments organized their then-limited capabilities to increase the wealth of the country.Mercantilist governments promoted…

exports over importsindustrialization over agriculturethe protection of domestic production against competition from importsthe intervention in trade to promote domestic employment

Mercantilism in HistoryJean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-83) an advisor to Louis XIV, argued that states needed to accumulate gold and silver to guarantee power and wealth.Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) advocated policies to protect the growth of the state’s manufactures.Friedrich List (1789-1846) advocated strong government intervention for economic development and government aid to technology, education and, like Hamilton, to industry.

Mercantilist Perspective Views of human natureRelationship between individuals, society, state and marketRelationship between domestic and international society

Humans are aggressive and have conflictual tendenciesGoal is to increase state power, achieved by regulating economic life; economics is subordinate to state interests.International economy is conflictual; insecurity of anarchy breeds competition; each state defends itself.

• Individuals and corporations invest money - using their capital, not labor, to make more money

• Production, distribution, and exchange of goods are controlled by private individuals or corporations, not by the state

• Prices are set by supply and demand in the marketplace, not by the government

The Rise of Capitalism

• Individuals pooled their resources to form companies larger than any one individual or family could finance

• Shares of the company (stock) were issued• Stockholders shared in the profits of the

company in proportion to the percentage of the stock they held

• Some, such as the East India Company, were endorsed and given special treatment by the government

Joint Stock Companies

Impact of Commercial Revolution

sixteenth century change the social structure of the West

Produced proletariat¹people without access to real propertyworked in domestic manufacturing, as agricultural labor, or as unemployed, urban poorcreated greater divisions between estates signified by popular risings of sixteenth and seventeenth centuriesdistrust of poor reflected in witchcraft hysteria.

absolute monarchy of the seventeenth century Balance between monarchy and nobles shifted in favor of the monarchyloss of feudal independencemonarchs gained new powersmore ambitious military organization marked by professionalized armies, improved methods of tax collectionappointment of bureaucracies more commondecline of parliamentary government

use of mercantilism as state-controlled economic system.