精選artVIChapter精選

1、 The discovery of America . certainly madea most essential change. By opening a n ewa nd in exhaustible market to all the commodities of Euro pe, it gave occasion to newdivisions of labour and improvements of art, which in the narrow sphere of ancient commerce,could never have taken place. The silve

2、r of the new con ti nent seems in this manner to be one of the principal commodities by which the commerce betwee n the two extremities of the old one is carried on, and it is by meansof it, in great measure, that those dista nt p arts of the world are conn ected with one ano ther. Adam Smith. The e

3、arly modern period from 1500 to 1763 was one of the more critical p eriods in huma n history. It was at this time that Euro pean explorers made the great discoveries that disclosed new continents and thereby heralded the global p hase of world history. During this p eriod also the Euro peans bega n

4、their rise to world p rimacy because of their leadershi p in overseas activities. Certain global interrelationships that developed during these centuries naturally becamestronger with the passage of time. Hence the years from 1500 to 1763 are the p eriod whe n global unity got un der way the p eriod

5、 of tran siti on from the regi onal isolatio nism of the pre-1500 era to the European global hegemonyof the nineteenth century. The purp ose of this cha pter is to an alyze the p recise n ature and exte nt of the global ties that devel oped in various fields (see map of World of the Emergi ng West,

6、1763, p. 382). I. NEW GLOBAL HORIZONS The first and most obvious result of Europes expansion overseas and overland was an unp recede nted wide ning of horiz ons. No Ion ger was geogra phic kno wledge limited to one regi on or con ti nent or hemis phere. For the first time, the sha pe of the globe as

7、 a whole was known and charted (see map of Wester n Kno wledge of the Globe, 1 to 1800 C.E., p. 350). This was largely the work of the western Europeans, who had take n the lead in transoceanic exploration. Before the Portuguese bega n feeli ng their way dow n the coast of Africa in the early fiftee

8、nth century, Europeans had accurate information only of North Africa and the Middle East. Their knowledge concerning India was vague. It was still vaguer regard ing cen tral Asia, east Asia, and sub-Sahara n Africa. The very existenee of the Americas and of Australia let alone Antarctica was, of cou

9、rse, un sus pected. By 1763 the picture was altogether differe nt. The mai n coastl ines of most of the world had become known in vary ing degrees of detail, in cludi ng the Atla ntic coast of the Americas, the Pacific coast of South America, the whole outl ine of Africa, and the coasts of south and

10、 east Asia. In certa in areas European kno wledge went bey ond the coastl in es. The Russia ns were reas on ably familiar with Siberia, and the Spani ards and Portuguese with Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America. North of the Rio Grande the Spani ards had explored con siderable areas

11、in their futile search for gold and fabled cities, and further north the French and English ranged widely, usi ng the canoes and the river-lake routes known to the In dia ns. On the other hand, the Pacific coast of North America was largely unknown, and Australia, though sighted on its west coast by

12、 Dutch n avigators, was almost wholly uncharted. Likewise, the interior of sub-Saharan Africa was almost compietely bla nk, and so was cen tral Asia, about which the mai n source of in formatio n still was the thirtee nth-ce ntury acco unt of Marco Polo. In general, then, the Europeans had gained kn

13、o wledge of most of the coastl ines of the world duri ng the p eriod to 1763. In the follow ing p eriod they were to pen etrate into the in terior of continents and also to explore the po lar regi ons. II. GLOBAL DIFFUSION OF HUMANS, ANIMALS, AND P LANTS The European discoveries led not only to new

14、global horizons but also to a new global distributi on of races. Prior to 1500 there existed, in effect, worldwide racial segregati on. The Negroids were concen trated in sub-Sahara n Africa and a few Pacific isla nds; the Mon goloids in cen tral Asia, Siberia, east Asia, and the Americas; and the C

15、aucasoids in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and India. Today this pattern has bee n fun dame ntally altered to the point where half the people of Africa n desce nt live outside of Africa. By 1763 this radically different race distribution was clearly discer ni ble. The Russia ns had beg un t

16、heir slow migrati on across the Urals into Siberia. Much more substa ntial was the mass migrati on to the Americas of the Eur opeans, involun tary for the Africa ns. The in flux cha nged the Americas from purely Mon goloid continents to the most racially mixed regi ons of the globe. Immigrati on of

17、Africa ns continued to the mid-nin etee nth cen tury, reachi ng a total of 10 millio n slaves. European immigrati on also steadily in creased, reachi ng a high point at the begi nning of the twen tieth century when nearly 1 million arrived each year. The net result is that the NewWorld today is peop

18、led by a majority of whites, with substa ntial min orities of blacks, In dia ns, mestizos, and mulattoes, in that order (see Chap ter 35, Secti on I, and map of Racial Distribution in the World, p. 384). The new global p atter n that resulted from these depopu lati ons and migrati ons has become so

19、familiar that it is now take n for gran ted and its extraord inary sig nifica nee gen erally overlooked. What happened in the p eriod to 1763 is that the Europeans staked out claims to vast new regi ons, and in the followi ng cen tury they peopled those territories not on ly the Americas but also Si

20、beria and, eve ntually, Australia. We can see the vital imp orta nee of the redraw ing of the world racial map if we imagi ned that the Chinese rather than the Europeans first reached and settled the underpopulated continents. In that case the proportion of Chinese to the total World population woul

21、d p robably be closer to three out of six rather tha n one out of six, as it is now. The in termixture of huma n races was acco mpanied in evitably by a corres ponding in termixture of plants and ani mals. With a few in sig nifica nt exce pti ons, all plants and ani mals being utilized today were do

22、mesticated by p rehistoric huma ns in various p arts of the world. Their diffusio n from their pl aces of origi n had p roceeded slowly un til 1500, when globe-s panning Homo sapiens bega n transplan ti ng among con ti nen ts. An imp orta nt con tributi on of the Old World were the various domestica

23、ted animals, especially horses, cattle, and sheep. The NewWorld had nothing comp arable. The llama and alp aca were of relatively little value. Of course the New World did have huge bis on herds, estimated to have totaled 40 to 60 milli on ani mals.volun tary in the case them back and forth The In d

24、ia ns had hun ted them for food and hides but had killed only about 300,000 a year, well below the n atural repl aceme nt rate. Europeans bega n killi ng them at first for meat, and after 1871 for hides to be made into commercial leather. The slaughter rose to 3 milli on a year, which decimated the

25、herds to the point of ext inction by the end of the nin etee nth cen tury. Now bis on survive in a few carefully man aged herds, which are beginning to compete with cattle as a meat source for the American con sumer. The Ameri ndia ns also con tributed their remarkable store of food plan ts, particu

26、larly corn and potatoes, but also cassava, tomatoes, avocados, sweet po tatoes, peanuts, and certain varieties of beans, pumpkins, and squashes. So important are these Indian plants that today they are responsible for about one-half of the worlds total plan t-food p roduct ion. In additi on to these

27、 food plan ts, the America n In dia ns were respon sible for two major cash crops: tobacco and cott on, as well as several n ative America n drugs that are prominent in moder n p harmacology. They con tributed coca for coca ine and no voca ine, curare used in an esthetics, cinchona bark (the source

28、of quinin e), datura used in pain relievers, and cascara for laxatives. The in tercha nge of ani mals and plants was not, of course, confined to Eurasia and the Americas. The entire globe was involved, as is illustrated strikingly in the case of Australia. Australia is now a leadi ng world exp orter

29、 of p rimary p roducts such as wool, mutt on, beef, and wheat, all commodities from sp ecies that were transplan ted from elsewhere. The same is true of Indonesia with its great rubber, coffee, tea, and tobacco p roduct ion, and of Hawaii with its sugar and pineapples. Today the global in termixture

30、 of huma ns, plan ts, and ani mals con ti nu es, though at an accelerati ng p ace as steamshi ps and jet planes replace canoes and sailboats. Frequently the mixing occurs accidentally, and with repercussions that sometimes are disastrous. For example, marine creatures of all types are being tran sfe

31、rred routi nely every day from one end of the world to ano ther in the ballast tanks of shi ps. Dumped into new habitats when the ships make port, billions of organisms spread out, sometimes replacing native species. Scientists sampling the ballast tanks of 159 Japan ese cargo shi ps arrivi ng at Co

32、os Bay, Oreg on, discovered in their ballast waters 367 differe nt types of plants and ani mals, mostly in larval form. We found shri mps, crabs, fish, barnacles, sea urchins, starfish, worms, jellyfish, clams, snails, really the compiete Perha ps 5 to 10 p erce nt of sp ecies in troduced to a new e

33、n vir onment become established there.1 Ballasts are by no means the only p roblem in con troll ing sp ecies diffusi on. The rapi dly in creas ing volume of global trade and travel p robably is the most imp orta nt diffusi on force today. Sp ecies are sp readi ng everywhere along with live ani mals.

34、 plan ts, and seeds, and also with the shi ps, plan es, and trucks on which they are transp orted. The diffusi on, of course, is a two-way pro cess outward from the Un ited States as well as the reverse. The slipper limpet was inadvertently exported from the United States to Europe in the 1880s with

35、 a shipment of oysters; a North American moth curre ntly is defoliat ing trees in a large area in cen tral China; and a pin ewood n ematode from the southeaster n Un ited States is killi ng black pines in Japan.sp ectrum of mari ne life. III. GLOBAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS By the latter part of the eight

36、ee nth cen tury a large in terc on ti nen tai trade had devel oped for the first time in history. Before 1500, Arab and Italia n mercha nts transported mostly luxuries from one part of Eurasia to another goods such as spices, silk, precious stones, and perfumes. By the late eighteenth century the li

37、mited luxury trade had bee n tran sformed into a mass trade based on the excha nge of n ew, bulky n ecessities. Atla ntic commerce esp ecially became en ormous since the New World plan tati ons p roduced huge qua ntities of tobacco, sugar, an d, later, coffee, cott on, and other commodities that wer

38、e sold in Europe. Because the plan tati ons p racticed mono culture, they had to import all n ecessities such as grain, fish, cloth, and metal p roducts. They also had to import their labor. This led to the flourishi ng tria ngle trade: rum, cloth, guns, and other metal p roducts from Eur ope to Afr

39、ica; slaves from Africa to the New World; and sugar, tobacco, and bullion from the NewWorld to Europe. Another important aspect of the new mass global trade of this era was the exchange of p roducts betwee n wester n and easter n Europe. Here aga in wester n Europe received raw materials, esp eciall

40、y bread gra ins, which were in great dema nd because of popu lati on in crease and because much arable land had bee n con verted into p asture. At Dan zig, chief port for the Baltic grain trade, rye p rices betwee n 1550 and 1600 rose 247 p erce nt, barley 187 percent, and oats 185 percent. This sti

41、mulated a great in crease in the export of grai ns and other raw materials, so that the value of Polish and Hungarian exports to the West during these decades usually was double that of imports. Pola nd, Hun gary, Russia, and ultimately the Balka ns received textiles, arms, metal products, and colon

42、ial goods, and in return provided grain, cattle, hides, ship stores, and flax. They also p rovided furs, which were obta ined by the Russia ns in Siberia in the sameway that the Spaniards obtained bullion in the NewWorld; namely, by expl oit ing n ative labor. Europ es trade with Asia was not equal

43、to the trade with the Americas or easter n Europe for two p ri ncipal reas ons. The first was that the European textile in dustries oppo sed the imp ortati on of cott on goods from various Asiatic coun tries. Foreig n cottons were immensely popular in Europe because they were light, bright, inexpen

44、sive, and above all, washable, and they bega n to be imp orted in large qua ntities. Soon object ions were raised by n ative textile in terests and by those who feared that international division of labor for the first time had been achieved on a sig nifica nt scale. The world was on the way to beco

45、ming an economic unit. The Americas and easter n Europe (with Siberia) p roduced raw materials, Africa p rovided labor, Asia an assortment of luxury commodities, and western Europe directed these global op erati ons and concen trated more and more on in dustrial out put. The requirements of the new

46、global economy raised the question of how to get a big eno ugh labor supply in the regi ons p roduci ng raw materials. The NewWorld plan tati ons met this need by importing African slaves on a large scale. Hence African populations are most nu merous today in p recisely those areas that had formerly

47、 bee n devoted to plan tati on agriculture n orther n Brazil, the West In dies, and the souther n Un ited States. The early Europeans solution to their labor needs was to leave a bitter legacy. These areas to the present day are wracked by basic problems dating back to the colo nial p eriod the p ro

48、blems of race discrim in ati on and of un derdevel opment. The curre nt racial conflict in American ghettos and on Caribbean islands is the end result of over four cen turies of tran satla ntic slave trade. Likewise, the un derdevel opment of all Lati n America is sim ply a continu ati on of the eco

49、no mic dependency on n orthwester n Europe of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies (and of Spain and Portugal themselves). n ati onal security was endan gered by the loss of the bulli on that was drained away to pay for the textiles. These in terests brought sufficie nt p ressure to bear on their res

50、p ective gover nments to secure the p assage of laws forbiddi ng or reduci ng the imp ortati on of In dia n cott ons. textiles. Likewise in the sixtee nth, seve ntee nth, and eightee nth cen turies, Asia remai ned unin terested in Eur opean goods, and Eur ope was relucta nt to send bulli on to pay f

51、or the Asiatic p roduce it wan ted. Eur ope did not solve this p roblem of Asia un til it devel oped po wer machi nery at the end of the eightee nth cen tury. Then the situation was reversed, for it was Europe that was able to flood Asia with cheap, machi ne-made textiles. But un til that time, East

52、-West trade was hamp ered by the fact that Asia was willi ng to acce pt little else but bulli on from Eur ope. What was the significanee of the new worldwide economic The sec ond factor limiti ng European commercewith Asia was the difficulty of finding something that would sell in the Asiatic market

53、. This problem dated back to classical times, when the RomanEmpire was drained of its gold to pay for Chinese silk and In dia n trade with ties? First and foremost, Whereas the price for the p artici pati on of the Americas in the new global economy was slavery, the p rice for easter n Europe was se

54、rfdom. The basic reas on was the same n amely, the n eed for a plen tiful and reliable supply of chea p labor to p roduce goods for the lucrative west European market. Heretofore the no bles in Pola nd and there was no incen tive to in crease out put. But whe n p roducti on for market became Hun gar

55、y had required mi ni mal labor from the p easa nts three to six days a year for profitable, the nobles responded by drastically raising the labor obligati ons to one day a week, and by the end of the sixtee nth cen tury to six days a week. To make sure that the peasants would remain to perform this

56、labor, laws were passed limiting their freedom of movement more and more strictly. Eventually they were compi etely bound to the soil, thereby beco ming serfs, denied freedom of moveme nt and subject to the exact ions of the no bles. Africa also was vitally affected by the new global economy, serv i

57、ng as the source of slave labor for the America n plan tati ons. Slavery existed in Africa before the transatlantic trade, with slaves being used as soldiers and farmers. Slaves also were exp orted, along with gold, over an cie nt trade routes across the Sahara to the Mediterranean coast, whenee the

58、y were shipped mostly to the Middle East. An estimated 3.5 milli on to 10 milli on Africa ns were sold in this fashi on p rior to the Atla ntic slave trade. The Portuguese, who were the pioneers in the transatlantic trade, began by selling Africa ns in Sp ai n, Italy, and Portugal, where they were u

59、sed for domestic and farm labor. Their nu mbers were small, however, comp ared to the multitudes that soon were being shi pped to work on New World plan tati ons. Local In dia ns could not be used for that purpose because they were disa pp ear ing victims of European diseases. The plan tati on owner

60、s at first tried to get along with the inden tured European workers, but they p roved to be too expen sive and un disc ip li ned. So Africa n slaves were substituted, the first ones being shi pped soon after Columbuss first voyage. Their nu mbers rose shar ply after the discovery of silver in Peru i