Ch 13 Strayer 2e Nave Lecture
Robert W. Strayer
Ways of the World: A Brief Global
History with Sources
Second Edition
Chapter 13
Political Transformations: Empires and Encounters,
1450–1750
Copyright © 2013 by Bedford/St. Martin’s
I. European Empires in the Americas
A. The European Advantage
1. Geography and winds: Europe had a decided advantage for access to the Americas as it was a short trip across the Atlantic and the winds were steady and favorable, unlike the shifting monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean.
2. European marginality, land-hunger, and social drives: European weaknesses, such as being on the margins of the trade networks, being relatively poor, and needing more land to feed the population recovering from the Black Death all served as push factors to drive Europeans overseas and toward the Americas. Almost all social groups had some reason to favor expansion: The poor and the elites wanted to gain land wealth, merchants wanted markets and imports, the church wanted to spread the faith, knights wanted glory, and everyone wanted gold.
3. Organization and technology: The near-constant, interstate rivalry manifested itself in competition on the seas. These conflicts ensured that the states and trading companies had the organization to take on the project of overseas expansion.
Europeans built upon technology gained from contact with the Muslim world to create an increasingly efficient fleet of ships.
4. Local allies: Europeans also found local allies, such as the Aztecs and the Inca, who were eager to fight against empires.
5. Germs: The single greatest advantage was one the Europeans did not understand but carried with them wherever they went: a whole host of infectious diseases.
I. European Empires in the Americas
B. The Great Dying
1. 60–80 million people without immunities: Estimates are that the New World had a population of between 60 and 80 million people. As they had been isolated from the diseased, rich Old World for thousands of years, they had not developed
Ways of the World: A Brief Global
History with Sources
Second Edition
Chapter 13
Political Transformations: Empires and Encounters,
1450–1750
Copyright © 2013 by Bedford/St. Martin’s
I. European Empires in the Americas
A. The European Advantage
1. Geography and winds: Europe had a decided advantage for access to the Americas as it was a short trip across the Atlantic and the winds were steady and favorable, unlike the shifting monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean.
2. European marginality, land-hunger, and social drives: European weaknesses, such as being on the margins of the trade networks, being relatively poor, and needing more land to feed the population recovering from the Black Death all served as push factors to drive Europeans overseas and toward the Americas. Almost all social groups had some reason to favor expansion: The poor and the elites wanted to gain land wealth, merchants wanted markets and imports, the church wanted to spread the faith, knights wanted glory, and everyone wanted gold.
3. Organization and technology: The near-constant, interstate rivalry manifested itself in competition on the seas. These conflicts ensured that the states and trading companies had the organization to take on the project of overseas expansion.
Europeans built upon technology gained from contact with the Muslim world to create an increasingly efficient fleet of ships.
4. Local allies: Europeans also found local allies, such as the Aztecs and the Inca, who were eager to fight against empires.
5. Germs: The single greatest advantage was one the Europeans did not understand but carried with them wherever they went: a whole host of infectious diseases.
I. European Empires in the Americas
B. The Great Dying
1. 60–80 million people without immunities: Estimates are that the New World had a population of between 60 and 80 million people. As they had been isolated from the diseased, rich Old World for thousands of years, they had not developed