World History II Blog

Chapter 14: Economic Transportation  “The World Hunt”: Fur in Global Commerce  In the early modern era first joined silver textiles and spices as major items of global commerce. Their production had an important environmental impact as well as serious implications for the human societies that generated and consumed them  By the 1500 European population growth and agricultural expansion have sharply diminished the supply of fur-bearing animals such as beaver, rabbits, sable, marten, and deer Much of the early modern era witnessed a period of cooling temperatures and harsh winters, known as the Little Ice Age.  The cost of a good-quality beaver pelt quadrupled in France between 1558 and 1611.  The price increase translated into strong economic incentives for European traders to tap the immense wealth of fur-bearing animals found in North America. At the same time, the collapse of Native American populations in North America caused by the Gre...

Chapter 14: Economic Transportation  Europeans and Asian Commerce  Cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, and above all pepper were widely used condiments and preservatives → most immediate motivation  Other products such as Chinese silk, Indian cotton, rhubarb for medicinal purposes, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires → great demand  This growing interest in Asia was the most general recovery of European civilization following the disaster of the Black Death in the early 14th century.  Some of the cities in England, the Netherlands, and northern Italy were becoming centers of international commerce, giving birth to economies based on market change.  The source of supply for much-desired goods came from Muslims.  A problem for Europeans was paying for Eastern goods. They were required to pay cash, gold, or silver for things like Asian spices or textiles.  The shortage of trade played a big part in the intense desire for precious metals, which at...

The Americas, Aztec, and Inca empires flourished before they were included in rival empires all across the Western Hemisphere.  BIG TRANSFORMATIONS took place:  old societies were destroyed  new societies arose as Native American European  Africans came into sustained contact with one another for the 1st time  The Spanish focused their empire-building efforts in the Caribbean in the early 16th century, turned to the mainland, with stunning conquest of the powerful , but fragile Aztec & Inca empires.  The Portuguese established themselves along the coast of present Brazil. Europeans extended their empires to encompass most of the Americas.  Portugal, Spain, Britain, and France → closer to the Americas than any potential Asian competitor  Fixed winds of the Atlantic blew steadily in the same direction Innovation in mapmaking, navigation, sailing techniques, and ship design, this enables Europeans to penetrate the Atlanti...

Introduction to Part 4 The introduction to part four of the textbook, The Ways of the World, talks about world population and how it doubled between 1400 and 1800, this is about 374 million to 968 million, this was occurring even as various diseases produced a demographic catastrophe. Modern population growth began experienced by China, Japan, and Europe as Eurasia recovered from the Black Death and Mongol wars and as the foods of the Americas. Japan was one of the most urbanized societies in the world, including Tokyo. They housed about more than a million inhabitants and they ranked as the world's largest cities. As time went by, people started to go to distant markets instead of using their local communities. There were stronger and cohesive states. Various local societies turned into larger units while promoting trade, manufacturing and a common culture within their borders. Military power grew as the gunpowder revolution began around the world. Withing variou...