The Commercial Revolution
Europe’s Economy
• Nation = basic economic unit
• Nations competed for markets and
trade goods
• New commercial enterprises needed
to:
–Invest money
–Speed up the movement of
wealth
–Reduce risk
Partner Review Question
• What commercial
enterprises were created
to meet these needs?
New Business Methods
• Raising capital – Overseas
traders needed $ to finance trips
–Family Bankers – Medicis of
Florence, Fuggers of Augsburg
–Gov’t Chartered Banks – issued
bank notes and checks, exchanged
foreign currency
New Business Methods
• Joint-stock companies –
individual merchants combined
resources, sold stock/shares in an
overseas trading venture
–Share profit/risks among many
–Some joint-stock co.’s had gov’t
support/monopoly on trade (EX:
Dutch East India Company)
Group Discussion Question
• What were some of the
impacts/results of the new
commercial activity and
trade that was flowing into
Europe?
Results of Commercial Revolution
• Inflation – gold and silver flowed
into Europe, prices rose very
quickly (= inflation). Hardest hit
was Spain (never recovered) and
China/Japan (exchange of New
World silver for goods)
• More capital available – new
business created
Results of Commercial Revolution
• New centers of trade –
Atlantic Ocean countries
(Portugal, Spain, England, the
Netherlands) replace Med.
Sea cities (Genoa, Venice) as
leaders in world trade
Results of Commercial Revolution
• Development of
mercantilism – new economic
theory
–Nation’s power depended on its
wealth (amount of bullion, or
gold & silver it possessed)
Results of Commercial Revolution
• Development of
mercantilism (cont.)
–Colonies existed solely for the
benefit of the mother country
(provide raw materials, markets
for finished goods)
Results of Commercial Revolution
• Development of
mercantilism (cont.)
–Nation to possess a favorable
balance of trade – export more
goods than it imports, bullion
received for exports more than
paid out for imports = surplus of
bullion
Results of Commercial Revolution
• Capitalism = goal is solely to
make profit, expand business,
develop new ventures
–Entrepreneur = individual who
combined $, ideas, raw
materials, & labor to make
goods and profits
Results of Commercial Revolution
• Change in European society
–Merchants pass nobility in both
wealth and power
–Middle class expanded – more
leisure time, coffeehouses
popular as gathering places for
businessment
Results of Commercial Revolution
• Change in European society
(cont.)
–Peasants did not see any real
benefits from the Commercial
Revolution – life was still rough
The Columbian
Exchange
Global Exchange of Goods,
People, Ideas, and Diseases
The Columbian Exchange
• Europe’s growing population =
demand for more goods and
services
• Trade expanded
worldwide
exchange of people, goods,
technologies, ideas, diseases
• Became known as the
Columbian Exchange
Partner Review Question
• What was exchanged on the
Columbian Exchange? Be
specific in saying where items
came from and where they
went.
The Columbian Exchange
Europe
Americas
Wheat
Grapes
Livestock
Christianity
Disease
Slaves (from Africa)
Corn
Potatoes
Chocolate
Tomatoes
Beans
Tobacco
Asia
Silk/Spices
Sugarcane
Coffee
Tea
The Columbian Exchange
• Effects
–Cultural Diffusion- Local
cultures integrated European
beliefs (and vice versa)
–Large movement of population
(slavery, Eur.migration to New
World)
–Decline of Native American pop.
due to disease (EX: smallpox)
The Columbian Exchange
• Case Study: Sugar
The Great Circuit
A “Triangular Trade Network”
Sugar,
Molasses,
Cotton,
Tobacco
GREAT CIRCUIT
EUROPE
AMERICAS
Knives,
Swords,
Guns, Cloth,
Rum
AFRICA
Middle Passage
Enslaved Peoples, Gold
(some going back to Europe)
Triangular Trade Networks
Triangular Trade Networks
The Atlantic Slave
Trade
And the Middle
Passage
Sugar,
Molasses,
Cotton,
Tobacco
GREAT CIRCUIT
EUROPE
AMERICAS
Knives,
Swords,
Guns, Cloth,
Rum
AFRICA
Middle Passage
Enslaved Peoples, Gold
(some going back to Europe)
Facts about the Atlantic Slave Trade
• Africa is a continent and not a
country. Not 1 unified people, but
many rivals.
• European technology (until the
mid 19th century) was not strong
enough to gain more than a few
isolated parts of the coast, and
not the interior.
Why was there an Atlantic Slave
Trade?
• The slave trade was
partially under
control by Africans
themselves. Most
slaves were the
victims of war.
Why was there an Atlantic Slave
Trade:
• Since Africans practiced slavery,
Europeans showed up and
offered to trade in humans, they
had no problem with it.
Why was there an Atlantic
Slave Trade:
• Since many Native Americans
died due to European diseases,
settlers in the New World colonies
needed labor to work the large
plantations (West Indies/southern
N. America) and encomiendas (S.
America).
Why was there an Atlantic
Slave Trade:
• It was THE VIEW OF THE TIME
that Africans were better able to
work in tropical climates, were
resistant to European diseases,
would be less likely than Native
Americans to run away, and were
not as intelligent as Europeans.
Slavery in Africa vs. Slavery in
America
In Africa:
-Slaves were victims of war or debt.
-Slaves had basic rights. (buy your
freedom, to marry, keep your family
together)
-Slavery lasted 1 generation. (If a master
and slave had a child, the child became
an heir.)
Slavery in Africa vs. Slavery in
America
In America:
-Slaves were victims of race.
-Slaves were denied basic human rights
(such as buying freedom, marrying,
keeping your family together)
-Slavery was cross-generational. (If a
master and a slave had a child, the child
was a slave.)
Key Event: 1636 Barbados Slave
Codes
• Laws specifically crafted to state that
slavery was a permanent thing for all
Africans on that Island.
• Later adopted in total or part by many
other English colonies.
• Shows the transfer of slavery as an
economic practice to a racial
practice.
The Slave Trade – 3 parts
1. The Interior.
The middle leg
Individuals kidnapped of the Triangular
or prisoners of war in Trade routes
West Africa and
marched to the shore.
2. The Middle
Passage. Crammed
into slave ships and
sent across the
Atlantic.
3. The
Caribbean.
Sold at auction
and sent to final
destination.
(Most in South
America.)
Uncertainties
• #s: Traders, especially after the British
banned the slave trade in 1804, didn’t
keep good records. Best estimates are 811 million people.
• Death Rates. Most suggest 20% died in
voyage.
• Severity of Lives. (greatly depended on
location, owner, work.)
Source: Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World,
1400-1680, by John Thornton
Reactions of Africans to
European Exploration