Ap Euro Essay Outline
1) The 18th century is known as the era of the Global Economy. Describe the world economy in the first half of the 18th century and assess the effects of the economic, political, and social trends.
I. Intro
II. Economically, the old regime was marked by a scarcity of food, agrarian economy, slow transport, little iron production, unsophisticated finances, and sometimes commercial overseas empire. (And mercantilism)
Mercantilism and the Atlantic Economy A. European maritime exapansion in the 18th century 1. COLONIES a. raw material b. Gold and silver extracted from the rich minds in Peru and MesoAmeic and Spanish Empire 2. World trade became fundamental to the European economy a. Sugar became the most important commodity produced in the Atlandtic trade; tobacco, cotton and indigo b. Spain and Portugal revitalized their empires
B. Commercial Revolution (A shift from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic) i. causes ii. The key development in the period was the growth in population. This significant population expansion was very important for economic productivity in an age in which manpower was still far more important than labor saving technology. The expansion of Europe’s population also provided for additional consumers, which meant that there was greater incentive to bring more food to market. a. population growth thus more consumers existed b. Price revolution: long slow upward trend in prices (increased food prices, increased volume of money, and the influx of gold and silver c. increased prices meant increase in supply of goods d. rise in capitalism (laissez faire :entrepreneurs invested money in their own business ventures (middle class bourgeoisie led the way) iii. Banking a. Fuggers in Germany and the Medici in Italy iv. The Hanseatic League evolved from within the German states in the Middle Ages that eventually controlled trade in much of northern Europe well into the 16th
I. Intro
II. Economically, the old regime was marked by a scarcity of food, agrarian economy, slow transport, little iron production, unsophisticated finances, and sometimes commercial overseas empire. (And mercantilism)
Mercantilism and the Atlantic Economy A. European maritime exapansion in the 18th century 1. COLONIES a. raw material b. Gold and silver extracted from the rich minds in Peru and MesoAmeic and Spanish Empire 2. World trade became fundamental to the European economy a. Sugar became the most important commodity produced in the Atlandtic trade; tobacco, cotton and indigo b. Spain and Portugal revitalized their empires
B. Commercial Revolution (A shift from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic) i. causes ii. The key development in the period was the growth in population. This significant population expansion was very important for economic productivity in an age in which manpower was still far more important than labor saving technology. The expansion of Europe’s population also provided for additional consumers, which meant that there was greater incentive to bring more food to market. a. population growth thus more consumers existed b. Price revolution: long slow upward trend in prices (increased food prices, increased volume of money, and the influx of gold and silver c. increased prices meant increase in supply of goods d. rise in capitalism (laissez faire :entrepreneurs invested money in their own business ventures (middle class bourgeoisie led the way) iii. Banking a. Fuggers in Germany and the Medici in Italy iv. The Hanseatic League evolved from within the German states in the Middle Ages that eventually controlled trade in much of northern Europe well into the 16th