Exploration & Trade World History

Spice Trade ► 1300s – Europeans dependent on spices such as pepper, cinnamon, & nutmeg ► Spices used for flavor, preserving meat, perfumes, cosmetics, and medicine ► Spice trade was controlled by Arab and Venetian merchants

Why explore? ► Overland routes were controlled by Mongols and Muslims ► Merchants sought a profitable trade with Asia ► Church leaders wanted to spread Christianity and halt Islam ► A new “worldly” view had emerged as a result of the Renaissance

Technology necessary ► Accurate maps ► Sailors trained in navigation ► Oceangoing ships (caravels averaged 65 long, could sail against the wind, had shallow drafts, and had a large cargo hold) ► Hourglasses ► Compass ► Astrolabe

Prince Henry the Navigator ► Son of King John I of Portugal ► Sponsored many Portuguese voyages of exploration ► Founded a navigational school on the coast of Portugal ► His explorers ventured into the Atlantic and down the west coast of Africa ► Discovered the Azores, Madeira, & Cape Verde Islands

Mercantilism ► Became the national economic policy of several European nations ► Mined gold & silver overseas to increase their amount of bullion ► Increase in trade sought to maintain a favorable balance of trade

Mercantilism ► Governments sold monopolies & set tariffs ► Colonies – set up to provide raw materials to the mother country (to make self sufficient) ► Joint stock companies like the Dutch East India Company thrived while colonies in the Americas benefited

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Slave Trade AP World History

African Advantages ► Slavery provided profit for a few collaborators, which did nothing for Africa’s overall development ► In times of famine, some Africans avoided starvation by selling themselves into slavery ► African kingdoms such as Dahomey rose to power because of the slave trade AFRICAN MERCHANT SELLING SLAVES TO A EUROPEAN

African Disadvantages ► Slavery tore apart communities and families ► Slavery depopulated the labor base ► Slavery hindered African economic development ► Enslaved Africans were transported in brutal conditions, shackled together in chains, and forced to lie in rat- infested filth

African Disadvantages (cont.) ► Enslaved Africans were treated as commodities ► Africans received only trinkets and guns as part of the triangular trade ► Some Africans began to lust after European merchandise and would sell other Africans into slavery to satisfy their appetite ► The enslaved Africans were beaten, branded with irons. and given very little food or clothes

European Advantages ► Slavery was a profitable trade ► Slavery was a bountiful source of cheap labor to help run plantations ► Slavery helped build a capital base which fueled the Industrial Revolution

European Disadvantages ► Slavery was morally repugnant ► Slavery compromised the efforts of Christian missionaries ► The majority of Europeans in Africa died from tropical diseases