1400-1800
Chapter 3

Section 1

• Beginning in 1400’s, desire to explore called 3 G’s
(Gold, God, Glory)
A.
Other countries wanted trade controlled by Italy and Arabs for three centuries
• Spices most valued item
• Quicker route to Asia meant they could take out middleman (Arabs, Italians)
B. New technology – compass, faster ships, astrolabe, better mapmaking skills made traveling by ship easier, safer
• Most new technology came from Muslims and
Chinese
C. Sparked by Renaissance curiosity and sense of adventure
D. Desire to spread Christianity
• Europeans saw this as their sacred duty to convert others

Portugal Leads the Way
A.
Leader in developing and applying new sailing technology
B.
Had strong government support led by Prince Henry (Henry the
Navigator)
C.
1419 Henry established a sailing school for sailors, ship makers, navigators to perfect their trade
• By 1460 Portugal was the first country to establish trading outposts along the coast of Africa and push into the Indian Ocean
• Traded Africans European goods for gold and ivory

• Portuguese needed to reach Asia by sea and had to sail around the southern tip of Africa
• 1488 Bartolomeu Dias reached the
Cape of Good Hope and explored the southeast coast of Africa
• 1497 Vasco da Gama sailed to
Calicut, India and returned to
Portugal with silk, spices and gems that was worth 60 times more than the cost of the voyage
• His voyage gave Portugal a direct sea route to Asia

• Spain Also Makes Claims
• 1492 Spain sent Christopher Columbus to find a route to Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic
• Columbus thought he reached the Indies, really opened the way for European colonization of the Americas
• Immediate impact was that it increased tension between Spain and Portugal

• 1494- Treaty of Tordesillas
Pope stepped in to keep peace between two countries
• Line drawn from North to south across globe dividing eastern and western hemispheres
• Portugal gets everything east of Line of Demarcation
• Spain given all lands west of
Line of Demarcation

• Trading Empires in the Indian Ocean
• Portugal took control of the spice trade from Muslim merchants after da Gama’s voyage
1.
1509 extended control over region by defeating Mughal navy off the coast of India
2.
1510 Portuguese capture port city of Goa, India; it became center of their trading empire
3.
1511 Portuguese seize control of Strait of Malacca, gave them control of the spice Islands
• Portugal began to break the Muslim domination of Eastern trade
• Brought back goods at 20% of the prices charged by Arab and
Italian traders
• More Europeans could afford items

• Success of Portugal attracted other European countries
• 1521 Spain claimed Philippine Islands
Dutch Traders
• Around 1600 the Dutch and English became a sea powers
• English and Dutch began to take away Portuguese power
• Each country formed an East India Company
• Each company had power to print money, make treaties and raise armies
• Dutch East India Company most powerful in region
• 1619 Dutch establish trading post in Java and took
Straits of Malacca and Spice Islands from Portugal
• Dutch began to expand across the region and their capital in Europe, Amsterdam became a leading commercial center
• By 1700 Dutch controlled most trade in Indian Ocean

British and French Traders
• By 1700 English and French began to gain a foothold in region
• English focused on India and developed a successful business in the cloth trade (established British East India Company)
• France tried to establish a foothold in India but was not as successful
• European countries took control of port cities but their influence did not extend beyond the ports
• Their influence was not felt by most people in Asia

Section 2

 China was the dominant power in Asia and Europeans wanted to trade with them
Ming Dynasty
 1368-1644 Ming Dynasty ruled China
 Korea and Southeast Asia paid tribute (payment by one group to another to show submission) to Ming emperors,
China expected Europeans to do the same
 Hongwu was the first Ming emperor after he defeated the Mongols in 1368
A.
Reformed agriculture by increasing rice production, encouraged growing cash crops (cotton, sugarcane) and encouraged fish farming
B.
Encouraged a return to Confucian traditions and moral standards
C.
Improved government by returning to a merit based government system
 When problems developed Hongwu became a ruthless tyrant executing all of his enemies

• After death of Hongwu his son Yonglo took over
• He moved royal court to Beijing (built the
Forbidden City)
• Also had a curiosity of the outside world
• 1405 began seven voyages of exploration and trade under commander Zeng He
• Expeditions traveled long distances, many ships, many people and huge ships
• Trips were used to show Chinese superiority, because of voyages 16 countries sent tribute to China
• Chinese officials complained that voyages wasted money and after 1433 China began a period of isolation

• Trade policies of 1500’s reflected isolation
• To keep influence of outsiders to a minimum
• Only the government could conduct trade through 3 ports- Canton, Macao and Ningbo
• European demand for goods led to smuggling
• Helped improve economy of China- led to increase in manufacturing of ceramics and silk making
• Commerce and manufacturing seen as lower class jobs and not held in high regard in China, kept
China from industrializing
• Government supported agriculture
• Taxes were low on agriculture and high on manufacturing

Qing Dynasty
• By 1600 Ming rule began to weaken, government corruption, civil strife, famine and high taxes led to rebellion
• 1644 Manchus from northeast China seized power and ruled until 1900
• People resisted rule by non-Chinese Manchus
1.
Kept order by keeping traditional social structure and restoring Chinese prosperity
2.
Expanded China into Taiwan, Central Asia, Mongolia and Tibet
3.
Lowered taxes and reduced government expenses
4.
Welcomed Jesuits into royal court to learn about European life
5.
Kept policy of isolation from foreign trade

• Foreign countries that wished to trade with
China had to trade only in special ports and pay tribute
• The Dutch accepted the Chinese restrictions and the Chinese accepted the Dutch as trading partners
• The Dutch brought silks, porcelain, and tea
• By 1800 tea made up 80% of shipments from China to Europe
• The British refused to follow the Chinese trade restrictions
• China rejected their offers by sending a letter to the king of England that they did not need the British

• 1600s and 1700s were a time of peace and prosperity in China and the lives improved for most Chinese people
 Most Chinese were farmers and under the Qing irrigation and the use of fertilizer increased
 Also new crops from the were introduced by
European traders (corn, sweet potatoes)
 Food production increased and the population exploded
 Chinese families favored sons over daughters
• Sons were in charge of religious rituals, and raised their own families in their parents homes
• As their parents grew older they help them farm
• Females were not as valued but they did have the responsibilities of children’s education and managing family finances

Section 3

• 1300’s Japanese unity was shattered by warring shoguns
• By 1467 the country was separated into hundreds of separate domains
• 1467-1568 known as period of “warring states”
• Samurai took control of feudal states and offered peasants protection for their loyalty
• Warrior chieftains known as daimyo and used samurai as warriors
• Emperor in Kyoto was just a figurehead with no power
• Daimyo lived in fortresses and fought each other for control of land

• Many daimyo tried to seize and control power
• Oda Nobunga –was the first to use soldiers with muskets to defeat rival samurai (1575)
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi- took control and tried to conquer Korea, when he died the troops returned to Japan (1590)
• 1600 Tonkugawa Ieyasu takes control of country by defeating his rivals and earning the loyalty of other daimyo
• He moved the capital to Edo (Tokyo)
• Kept daimyo tamed and helped centralize power in Japan
• To keep daimyo in check he made them live in the capital every other year and when they were gone they had to leave their families behind as hostages, had them help build his castle in Edo
• Founded Tokugawa Shogunate that held power until 1867

• Japan enjoyed over 250 years of stability under Tokugawa shoguns
• Farmers produced more food and population rose, even though they lived lives of misery
Society was very structured a.
Ruler was shogun and supreme military commander b.
Below him was the landholding daimyo who controlled samurai warriors c.
Artisans and peasants were next with merchants at the bottom
• 4/5 of society were peasants
• Merchants became more important as the economy expanded
• Confucian ideas ruled society and the ideal citizen depended on agriculture not commerce
• However the farmers paid the most in taxes, many abandoned land and moved to cities for economic opportunity
• Mid 1700’s Japan shifted from a rural to an urban society
• Edo was the largest city in the world

• Contact Between Europe and Japan
• Europeans began to arrive in the 1500’s
• 1543 first Europeans were shipwrecked Portuguese sailors and merchants soon followed with clocks, tobacco, firearms
• Japanese welcomed traders and missionaries
1.
Europeans introduced new technologies and ideas
2.
Japanese merchants eager to expand their markets welcomed Europeans
3.
Daimyo welcomed traders for their guns to gain an advantage over their rivals
• Guns changed the tradition of the Japanese warrior whose principal weapon was the sword
• Cannons changed the way castles were built
• Fortified castles attracted merchants and artisans and caused the growth of towns across Japan

•
• Catholic Jesuits, Franciscans and Dominican missionaries came to convert the Japanese
• By 1600 they had converted over 300,000 Japanese
• Missionaries teachings went against traditional Japanese beliefs and by 1612 Christianity was banned and
Tokugawa Shoguns focused on ridding the country of them
•
Christians
• All Christian missionaries were kicked out of China and all
Japanese had to demonstrate faithfulness to some branch of Buddhism

• Persecution just one part of attempt to control foreign ideas
• Shoguns did not like the introduction of European ways, but they wanted
European trade
• 1639 Japan sealed the borders of the country except one port, Nagasaki (a man made island in the harbor)
• Only Dutch and Chinese were allowed to trade there
• Tokugawa shogunate had a monopoly on all trade for over 200 years
• During this time Japan remain basically closed to outsiders and Japanese were forbidden to leave
• During this time Japan developed a self-sufficient country free from European intervention