Proto-globalization
Encyclopedia
Proto-globalization or 'early modern globalization' is a period of the history of globalization
roughly spanning the years between 1600 and 1800. First introduced by historians A. G. Hopkins
and Christopher Bayly, the term describes the phase of increasing trade links and cultural exchange that characterized the period immediately preceding the advent of so-called 'modern globalization
' in the 19th century.
Proto-globalization distinguished itself from modern globalization on the basis of expansionism, the method of managing global trade, and the level of information exchange. The period of proto-globalization is marked by such trade arrangements as the East India Company
, the shift of hegemony
to Western Europe, the rise of larger-scale conflicts between powerful nations such as the Thirty Year War, and a rise of new commodities—most particularly slave trade. The Triangular Trade made it possible for Europe to take advantage of resources within the western hemisphere. The transfer of plant and animal crops and epidemic diseases associated with Alfred Crosby
's concept of The Columbian Exchange also played a central role in this process. Proto-globalization trade and communications involved a vast group including Europe
an, Muslim
, India
n, Southeast Asia
n and Chinese
merchants, particularly in the Indian Ocean
region.
The transition from proto-globalization to modern globalization was marked with a more complex global network based on both capitalistic and technological exchange; however, it led to a significant collapse in cultural exchange.
. The world system leading up to Proto-Globalization was one that hinged on one or more hegemonic powers assimilating neighboring cultures into their political system, waging war on other nations, and dominating world trade.
A major hegemony
in archaic globalization was the Roman Empire
, which united the Greater Mediterranean Area and Western Europe through a long-running series of military and political campaigns expanding the Roman system of government and Roman values to more underdeveloped areas. Conquered areas became province
s of the empire and Roman military outposts in the provinces became cities with structures designed by the best Roman architects, which hastened the spread of Rome's "modern" way of life while absorbing the traditions and beliefs of these native cultures. Nationalist ideology as well as propaganda supporting the Roman Army
and military success, bravery, and valor also strengthened the Roman Empire's spread across Western Europe and the Mediterranean Area. The Roman Empire's well-built aqueduct
s and cities and sturdy, effective naval fleets, ships and an organized system of paved roads also facilitated fast, easy travel and better networking and trade with neighboring nations and the provinces.
under Han Wudi (141-87 BCE), the Chinese government united and became powerful enough that China began to successfully indulge in imperialistic endeavors with its neighboring nations in East Asia. Han China's imperialism was a peaceful tributary system, which focused mainly on diplomatic and trade relations. The growth of the Han Empire facilitated trade and cultural exchange with virtually all of the known world as reached from Asia, and Chinese silk
s spread through Asia and Inner Asia and even to Rome. The early T'ang dynasty saw China as even more responsive to foreign influence and the T'ang dynasty becoming a great empire. Overseas trade with India and the Middle East grew rapidly, and China's East and Southern Coasts, once distant and unimportant regions, gradually became chief areas of foreign trade. During the Song Dynasty
China's navy became more powerful thanks to technological improvements in shipbuilding and navigation, and China's maritime commerce also increased exponentially.
China's power began to decline in the 16th century when the rulers of the subsequent Ming Dynasty
neglected the importance of China's trade from sea power. The Ming rulers let China's naval dominance and its grip on the Spice trade
slacken, and the European powers stepped in. Portugal
, with its technological advances in naval architecture, weaponry, seamanship and navigation, took over the Spice Trade and subdued China's navy. With this, European Imperialism
and the age of European Hegemony was beginning, although China still retained power of many of its areas of trade.
According to Hopkins, "globalization remains an incomplete process: it promotes fragmentation as well as uniformity; it may recede as well as advance; its geographical scope may exhibit a strong regional bias; its future direction and speed cannot be predicted with confidence—and certainly not by presuming that is has an 'inner logic' of its own. Before proto-globalization, globalizing networks were the product of "great kings and warriors searching for wealth and honor in fabulous lands, by religious wanderers,...and by merchant princes". Proto-globalization held on to and matured many aspects of archaic globalization such as the importance of cities, migrants, and specialization of labor.
Proto-globalization was also marked by two main political and economic developments: "the reconfiguration of the state systems, and the growth of finance, services, and pre-industrial manufacturing". A number of states at the time began to "strengthen their connections between territory, taxation, and sovereignty" despite their continuing monopoly
of loyalties from their citizens. The process of globalization during this time was heavily focused on material world and the labor needed for its production. The proto-globalization period was a time of "improved efficiency in the transactions sector" with the generation of goods such as sugar, tobacco, tea, coffee, and opium unlike anything the archaic globalization possessed. The improvement of economic management also spread to the expansion of transportation which created a complex set of connection between the West and East. The expansion of trade routes led to the "green revolution" based on the plantation system and slave exportation from Africa.
was the switch from inter-nation trading of rarities to the trading of commodities. During the 12th and 13th centuries it was common to trade items that were foreign and rare to different cultures. A popular trade during archaic globalization
involved European merchants sailing to areas of India or China in order to purchase luxury items such as porcelain
, silk
and spices. Traders of the pre-modern period also traded drugs and certain foods such as sugar cane and other crops.
While these items were not rarities as such, the drugs and food traded were valued for the health and function of the human body. It was more common during proto-globalization to trade various commodities such as cotton
, rice
and tobacco
.
The shift into proto-globalization trade signified the "emergence of the modern international order" and the development of early capitalist expansion which began in the Atlantic during the 17th century and spread throughout the world by 1830.
The use of slaves prior to the 15th century was only a minor practice in the labor force and was not crucial in the development of products and goods; but, due to labor shortage, the use of slaves rose. After 1500, the settlement of island despots and plantation centers in Sao Tome
began trade relations with the Kingdom of the Kongo, which brought West Central Africa into the Atlantic Slave Trade. The Portuguese maintained an export of slaves from Agadir
, an Atlantic port, which they maintained for most of the early 16th century. Also the Portuguese settlement of the Brazilian subcontinent allowed the opening of the American slave market and slaves were shipped from Sao Tome directly to America. The Europeans also took use of the Atlantic Slave Trade in the first half of the century. The European slave ships took their slaves to the Iberian Peninsula
, however slave owners in Europe were only seen in wealthy, aristocrat families due to the high costs of slaves and the cheap peasant labor available for agricultural uses, and as its name implies the first use of the African-American slaves in plantation work arose in the Atlantic islands not in the continental Europe. Approximately 10.2 million Africans survived the Atlantic crossing between 1450 and 1870. The large slave population thrived due to the demand for production from the Europeans who found it cheaper to import crops and goods rather than produce them on their own.
Many wars were fought during the 17th century between the slave trading companies for areas that were economically dependent on slaves. The West India Company gained many slaves through these wars (specifically with Portugal) by captains who had captured enemy ships; between 1623 and 1637, 2,336 were captured and sold in the New World by the West India Company. The selling of slaves to the New World opened up trading posts in North America; the Dutch opened their first on Manhattan Island in 1613. The West India Company had also opened a trading post in the Caribbean and the company was also carrying slaves to a colony of New Netherland.
The use of slaves had many benefits to the economies and productions in the areas of trade. The emergent rise of coffee, tea, and chocolate in Europe led to the demand for the production of sugar; 70 percent of slaves were used solely for the labor-intensive production of crop. Slave trade was also beneficial to the trade voyages, because the constant sailing allowed investors to buy small shares of many ships at the same time. Hopkin states that many scholars, him among them, argue that slave trade was essential to the wealth of many nations, during and after proto-globalization, and without the trade production would have plummeted. The investment in ships and nautical technology was the catalyst to the complex trade networks developed throughout proto-globalization and into modern globalization.
The rise of the plantations was the main reason for the trade of commodities during proto-globalization. Plantations were used by the exporting countries (mainly America) to grow the raw materials needed to manufacture the goods which were traded back into the plantation economy. Commodities that grew in trade due to the plantation economy were mainly tobacco, cotton, sugar cane, and rubber.
During the second half of the 16th century, Europeans' interest in the New World
revolved around gold and silver and not tobacco. The European lack of interest in tobacco was due to the fact that the Amerindians controlled the tobacco industry; as long as the Amerindians controlled the supply there was no need for the incorporation in European commercial capitalism.
The trading of tobacco
was a new commodity and was in high popular demand in the 17th century due to the rise of the plantations. Tobacco began to be used a monetary standard, which is why the term "cash crop" was originated.
The first export of tobacco from the then-colonies of the United States (specifically Virginia) to London showed fortunes in the English enterprise and by 1627, the Virginia tobacco was being shipped to London at 500,000 pounds a shipment. By 1637, tobacco had become the colony's currency and by 1639 Maryland was exporting 100,000 pounds of tobacco to London. English success with the production of tobacco caught the attention of many Europeans, specifically those colonized on Martinique and Guadeloupe, French islands. These islands soon became wealthy due to the tobacco production and by 1671 roughly one-third of the acreage devoted to the cash crops grown for the islands were for tobacco. While the cultivation of tobacco thrived, production saw severe depressions in later years due to the profits made from sugar. According to an account of the Barbadian exports 82 percent of the island's export value was due to sugar and less than one percent was accounted for by tobacco.
was the center for refining during the Middle Ages
, therefore making them the chief traders of sugar. Although, the Spanish and Portuguese held the monopolies of the sugar cane fields in America, they were being supplied by Venice
. In the 17th century, England dominated Venice and became the center for refining and cultivating sugar; this leadership was maintained until the rise of French industry. Sugar throughout the 17th century was still considered a luxury until the latter half of the 17th century when the sugar was being produced in mass quantities making it available to the mass of the English people. This turn of events made the sugar a commodity, because the crop was not being used in only special occasion, but in all daily meals.
gives a better interpretation of these advantages by stating, "Europeans became much better at killing people. The savage European ideological wars of the 17th century had created links between war, finance, and commercial innovation which extended all these gains. It gave the Continent a brute advantage in world conflicts which broke out in the 18th century. Western European warfare was peculiarly complicated and expensive, partly because it was amphibious." These battle-tested nations fought for their own needs, but in reality their success increased European advancement in the global market. Each of the following sections will shed light on the history of several key engagements. Whether a war was religious or commercial, its impact was greatly felt throughout the world. British victories during the Anglo-Dutch Wars
led to their dominance in commercial shipping and naval power. The stage was set for future conflicts between Britain and foreign nations, as well as domestic frustration with “the motherland” on the North American continent. The French and Indian War, fought between the European powers of France and England, led to a British victory and resulted in continued dominance in maritime enterprise. The American Revolutionary War
marked the beginning of the power shift for control over foreign markets.
was a battle over not only religious and political beliefs, but also economic and social as well. This war was between Parliamentarians
and Royalists and took place from 1642 to 1651, but was broken into several separate engagements. Charles I
and his supporters experienced the first two periods of the war, which resulted in King Charles I dissolving Parliament
, which would not be called into session again for over ten years. Reasons for this dismissal were because supporters of Long Parliament
tried to install two resolutions into English law. One called for consequences against individuals that taxed without the consent of Parliament and labeled them as enemies of England, while the other stated that innovations in religion would result in the same tag. Each of these policies was aimed at Charles I, in that he was inferior leader as well as a supporter of Catholicism
. This prompted the Puritan Revolt and eventually led to the trial and execution of Charles I for treason. The final stage of the English Civil War came in 1649, and lasted until 1651. This time, King Charles II
, the son of Charles I led supporters against Parliament. The Battle of Worcester
, which took place in 1651, marked the end of the English Civil War. Charles II and other royalist forces were defeated by Parliamentarians and their leader Oliver Cromwell
. This war began to take England in different directions regarding religious and political beliefs as well as economic and social. Also, the war constitutionally established that no British monarch was permitted to rule without first having been approved by Parliament.
The Anglo-Dutch War was a naval conflict between England
and Holland from 1652 to 1654 and was over the competition in commercial maritime and was focused mainly in the East Indies
. The first Navigation Act, which forbade the import of goods unless they were transported either in English vessels or by vessels from the country of origin. This was a policy aimed against the Dutch
, and fighting broke out on May 19, 1652 with a small skirmish between Dutch and English fleets. The War officially began in July and fighting continued for two years. The Battle of Scheveningen
which is also referred to as Texel
was the end of serious fighting in the war and took place in July 1653. The Treaty of Westminster
was signed in April 1654 ending the war and obligated Holland to respect the Navigation Act as well as compensate England for the war.
The French and Indian War was between the nations of Great Britain
and France
, along with the numerous Native American
Nations allied with both. The French and Indian war was the North American theater of the Seven Years War being fought in Europe at the time. Growing population in British territory throughout North America forced expansion west; however, this was met with resistance from the French and their Native American allies. French forces began entering British territory, building numerous forts in preparation to defend the newly acquired land. The beginning of the war favored the French and their Native American allies, who were able to defeat British forces time and again, and it was not until 1756 that the British were able to hold off their opposition. Pittsburgh was a center for fighting during the French and Indian War, namely because of the geographical location at the center where three rivers unite: the Allegheny, the Monongahela and the Ohio. The location of present day Pittsburgh provided an advantage in naval control. Ownership of this point provided not only naval dominance, but it also expanded economic ventures, enabling shipments to be sent and received with relative ease. French and British forces both claimed ownership to this region; the French installing Fort Duquesne
and the British with Fort Pitt
. Fort Pitt was established in 1758 after French forces abandoned and destroyed Fort Duquesne. The French and Indian War came to an end in 1763, after British forces were able to secure Quebec
and Montreal
from the French and on February 10, the Treaty of Paris
was signed. The French were forced to surrender their territory in North America, giving England control all the way to the Mississippi River
. The effects of this war were heavily felt in the North American British colonies. England imposed many taxes on colonists in order to control the newly acquired territory. These tensions would soon culminate into a war for independence as well as a shift in power for dominance in the economic world.
was a war between the nation of England
and the 13 colonies in the North American continent. This war lasted from 1775 to 1783 and began with the Battle of Bunker Hill
, where over 1,150 British soldiers were killed or wounded. This equated to almost half of the entire British army that were present at the engagement. American casualties were far less severe, totaling an estimated at 450 killed and wounded. The British, however, were able to take the ground and push the newly formed Continental Army
back to the city of Boston, which also soon fell to British forces. Next, the Battles of Lexington and Concord
in 1775 saw British troops begin their assault into the American colonies. British troops were searching for colonist supply depots, however, were met by heavy resistance and the British forces were turned around at Concord by outnumbering Minutemen
forces. On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence
was signed by the Second Continental Congress
and officially declared the colonies of North America
to be a sovereign nation, free from England’s rule. Also, the Congress permitted funding for a Continental Army, which is the first instance of an American political body handling military affairs. The British were dominating in the beginning of the war, holding off Continental regulars and militia and gaining vast amounts of territory throughout North America. However, the tide began to turn for the colonists in 1777 with their first major victory over British forces at the Battle of Saratoga
. Victory for the rest of the war pushed back and forth between the British and colonists, but the alliance with France
in 1778 by the American colonists leveled the playing field and aided in the final push for the defeat of the British Army and Navy. In 1781, American and French forces were able to trap the escaping southern British Army at Yorktown, thus ending the major fighting of the Revolution. The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, and recognized the American colonies as an independent nation. The newly formed United States would undergo numerous transitions to becoming one of the top economic and military powers in the world.
. The East India Company was a number of enterprises formed in western Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, initially created to further trade in the East Indies. The company controlled trading from India to East and Southeast Asia.
One of the key contributors to globalization was the Triangular Trade
and how it connected the world. The Triangular Trade or Triangle Trade was a system used to connect three areas of the world through trade. Once traded, items and goods were shipped to other parts of the world, making the triangle trade a key to global trade. The Triangle Trade system was run by Europeans, increasing their global power.
Europeans would sail to the West African coast and trade African kings manufactured goods (rifles and ammunition) for slave. From there slaves would be sent to the West Indies or the east coast of North America to be used for labor. Goods such as cotton
, molasses
, sugar
, tobacco
would be sent from these places back to Europe. Europe would also use their goods and trade with Asian countries for tea
, cloth and spices. The triangle trade in a sense was an agreement for established trade routes, that led to greater global integration, which ultimately contributed to globalization.
Along with the control Europe gained, as far as global trade, came several treaties and laws. In 1773, the Regulating Act was passed, regulating affairs of the company in India and London. In 1748, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
ended the War of the Austrian Succession
, but failed to settle the commercial struggle between England and France in the West Indies, Africa and India. The treaty was an attempt at regulating trade and market expansion between the two regions, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
Globalization at this time was hindered by war, diseases and population growth in certain areas. The Corn Laws
were established to regulate imports and exports of grains in England, thus restricting trade and the expansion of globalization. The Corn Crop Laws hindered the market economy and globalization based on tariffs and import restrictions. Eventually, the Ricardian theory of economics became prominent and allowed for improved trade regulations, specifically with Portugal.
, and genocidal thinking” which came to be with relations to the “establishment of a world economy”.
Beginning in the 1870s, the global trade cycle started to cement itself so that more nations' economies depended on one another than in any previous era. Domino effects in this new world trade cycle lead to both world wide recessions and world economic booms. Modelski describes the late period of proto-globalization as a “thick range of global networks extending throughout the world at high speed and covering all components of society”. By the 1750s, Europe, Africa, Asia, and America's contact had grown into a stable multilateral interdependency which was echoed in the modern globalization period.
The ability to mobilize capital was due to the development of the Industrial Revolution and the beginnings of mechanical production (most prominent in Great Britain). During proto-globalization, "merchant capitalists in many societies quickly became aware of potential markets and new producers and began to link them together in new patterns of world trade. The expansion of the slave production and the exploitation of the Americas put Europeans on the top of the economic network. During the modern globalization period, mass production allowed the development of a stronger, more complex global network of trade. Another element of European success between 1750 and 1850 was the limitation and "relative 'failure'" of the Afro-Asian Industrial Revolution. The movement into modern globalization was marked with the economic drain of capital into Europe.
. Between 1750-1880, the expansion of worldwide integration was influenced by the new capacities in production, transportation, and communication.
The end of proto-globalization also marked the final phase of "great domestication". After the 1650s, the process of regular and intensive agrarian exploitation was complete. Human population began to increase almost exponentially with the end of the great pandemics. At the end of the proto-globalization and the cusp of modern globalization, population began to "recover in Central and South America," where at the beginning of proto-globalization, European-imported illnesses had savagely decreased indigenous populations. The importation of nutritious varieties from Central and South America created a more fertile and resilient population to forge ahead into modern globalization. The greater population pushed individuals in high populated areas to "spill into less populous forested and grazing lands, and bring them under cultivation". This development lead to an influx in produce production and exported trade.
Another development that lead to the shift to modern globalization was the development of a more politicized system. Proto-globalization period marked a steady expansion of larger states from the Indonesian islands to northern Scandinava. The settlement of these individuals made it easier for governments to tax, develop an army, labor force, and create a sustainable economy. The development and streamlining of these cultural aspects lead to an increase in peripheral players in the game of globalization. The stable legal institutions developed in the late proto-globalization and early modern globalization period established economic advances, intellectual property rights (more predominately in England), general geographical stability, and generational societal improvement.
The shift in exchange of technological advancements was another reason for modern globalization. In the early 19th century, European civilizations traveled the world to accumulate an "impressive knowledge about languages, religions, customs, and political orders of other countries. By the end of the 19th century, Europe was no longer receiving any significant technological innovations from Asia.
and world wars which ended after 1945.
History of globalization
The historical origins of globalization are the subject of on-going debate. Though several scholars situate the origins of globalization in the modern era, others regard it as a phenomenon with a long history. Some authors have argued that stretching the beginning of globalization far back in time...
roughly spanning the years between 1600 and 1800. First introduced by historians A. G. Hopkins
A. G. Hopkins
Antony "Tony" G. Hopkins, FBA is a distinguished British historian at the University of Texas, where he holds the Walter Prescott Webb Professorship of History and Ideas. Hopkins was formerly the Smuts Professor of Commonwealth History at the University of Cambridge and is currently an Emeritus...
and Christopher Bayly, the term describes the phase of increasing trade links and cultural exchange that characterized the period immediately preceding the advent of so-called 'modern globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
' in the 19th century.
Proto-globalization distinguished itself from modern globalization on the basis of expansionism, the method of managing global trade, and the level of information exchange. The period of proto-globalization is marked by such trade arrangements as the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, the shift of hegemony
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
to Western Europe, the rise of larger-scale conflicts between powerful nations such as the Thirty Year War, and a rise of new commodities—most particularly slave trade. The Triangular Trade made it possible for Europe to take advantage of resources within the western hemisphere. The transfer of plant and animal crops and epidemic diseases associated with Alfred Crosby
Alfred Crosby
Alfred W. Crosby is a historian, professor and author of such books as The Columbian Exchange and Ecological Imperialism...
's concept of The Columbian Exchange also played a central role in this process. Proto-globalization trade and communications involved a vast group including Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an, Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n, Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
n and Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
merchants, particularly in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
region.
The transition from proto-globalization to modern globalization was marked with a more complex global network based on both capitalistic and technological exchange; however, it led to a significant collapse in cultural exchange.
Early world systems
During the pre-modern era early forms of globalization were already beginning to affect a world system, marking a period that historian A.G. Hopkins has called archaic globalizationArchaic globalization
Archaic globalization is a phase in the history of globalization, often broadly associated with the early modern period between the years 1400 and 1600...
. The world system leading up to Proto-Globalization was one that hinged on one or more hegemonic powers assimilating neighboring cultures into their political system, waging war on other nations, and dominating world trade.
Roman Empire
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
in archaic globalization was the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, which united the Greater Mediterranean Area and Western Europe through a long-running series of military and political campaigns expanding the Roman system of government and Roman values to more underdeveloped areas. Conquered areas became province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
s of the empire and Roman military outposts in the provinces became cities with structures designed by the best Roman architects, which hastened the spread of Rome's "modern" way of life while absorbing the traditions and beliefs of these native cultures. Nationalist ideology as well as propaganda supporting the Roman Army
Roman army
The Roman army is the generic term for the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the kingdom of Rome , the Roman Republic , the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine empire...
and military success, bravery, and valor also strengthened the Roman Empire's spread across Western Europe and the Mediterranean Area. The Roman Empire's well-built aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
s and cities and sturdy, effective naval fleets, ships and an organized system of paved roads also facilitated fast, easy travel and better networking and trade with neighboring nations and the provinces.
China
During the Han dynastyHan Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
under Han Wudi (141-87 BCE), the Chinese government united and became powerful enough that China began to successfully indulge in imperialistic endeavors with its neighboring nations in East Asia. Han China's imperialism was a peaceful tributary system, which focused mainly on diplomatic and trade relations. The growth of the Han Empire facilitated trade and cultural exchange with virtually all of the known world as reached from Asia, and Chinese silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
s spread through Asia and Inner Asia and even to Rome. The early T'ang dynasty saw China as even more responsive to foreign influence and the T'ang dynasty becoming a great empire. Overseas trade with India and the Middle East grew rapidly, and China's East and Southern Coasts, once distant and unimportant regions, gradually became chief areas of foreign trade. During the Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
China's navy became more powerful thanks to technological improvements in shipbuilding and navigation, and China's maritime commerce also increased exponentially.
China's power began to decline in the 16th century when the rulers of the subsequent Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
neglected the importance of China's trade from sea power. The Ming rulers let China's naval dominance and its grip on the Spice trade
Spice trade
Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman-India routes...
slacken, and the European powers stepped in. Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, with its technological advances in naval architecture, weaponry, seamanship and navigation, took over the Spice Trade and subdued China's navy. With this, European Imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
and the age of European Hegemony was beginning, although China still retained power of many of its areas of trade.
Description
Although the 17th and 18th centuries saw a rise in Western Imperialism in the world system, the period of Proto-globalization involved increased interaction between Western Europe and the systems that had formed between nations in East Asia and the Middle East. Proto-globalization was a period of reconciling the governments and traditional systems of individual nations, world regions, and religions with the "new world order" of global trade, imperialism and political alliances, what historian A.G. Hopkins called "the product of the contemporary world and the product of distant past."According to Hopkins, "globalization remains an incomplete process: it promotes fragmentation as well as uniformity; it may recede as well as advance; its geographical scope may exhibit a strong regional bias; its future direction and speed cannot be predicted with confidence—and certainly not by presuming that is has an 'inner logic' of its own. Before proto-globalization, globalizing networks were the product of "great kings and warriors searching for wealth and honor in fabulous lands, by religious wanderers,...and by merchant princes". Proto-globalization held on to and matured many aspects of archaic globalization such as the importance of cities, migrants, and specialization of labor.
Proto-globalization was also marked by two main political and economic developments: "the reconfiguration of the state systems, and the growth of finance, services, and pre-industrial manufacturing". A number of states at the time began to "strengthen their connections between territory, taxation, and sovereignty" despite their continuing monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
of loyalties from their citizens. The process of globalization during this time was heavily focused on material world and the labor needed for its production. The proto-globalization period was a time of "improved efficiency in the transactions sector" with the generation of goods such as sugar, tobacco, tea, coffee, and opium unlike anything the archaic globalization possessed. The improvement of economic management also spread to the expansion of transportation which created a complex set of connection between the West and East. The expansion of trade routes led to the "green revolution" based on the plantation system and slave exportation from Africa.
Changes in trade systems
One of the most significant differences between proto-globalization and archaic globalizationArchaic globalization
Archaic globalization is a phase in the history of globalization, often broadly associated with the early modern period between the years 1400 and 1600...
was the switch from inter-nation trading of rarities to the trading of commodities. During the 12th and 13th centuries it was common to trade items that were foreign and rare to different cultures. A popular trade during archaic globalization
Archaic globalization
Archaic globalization is a phase in the history of globalization, often broadly associated with the early modern period between the years 1400 and 1600...
involved European merchants sailing to areas of India or China in order to purchase luxury items such as porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
, silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
and spices. Traders of the pre-modern period also traded drugs and certain foods such as sugar cane and other crops.
While these items were not rarities as such, the drugs and food traded were valued for the health and function of the human body. It was more common during proto-globalization to trade various commodities such as cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
and tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
.
The shift into proto-globalization trade signified the "emergence of the modern international order" and the development of early capitalist expansion which began in the Atlantic during the 17th century and spread throughout the world by 1830.
Atlantic slave trade
One of the main reasons for the rise of commodities was the rise in the slave trade, specifically the Atlantic slave trade.São Tomé
-Transport:São Tomé is served by São Tomé International Airport with regular flights to Europe and other African Countries.-Climate:São Tomé features a tropical wet and dry climate with a relatively lengthy wet season and a short dry season. The wet season runs from October through May while the...
began trade relations with the Kingdom of the Kongo, which brought West Central Africa into the Atlantic Slave Trade. The Portuguese maintained an export of slaves from Agadir
Agadir
Agadir is a major city in southwest Morocco, capital of the Agadir province and the Sous-Massa-Draa economic region .-Etymology:...
, an Atlantic port, which they maintained for most of the early 16th century. Also the Portuguese settlement of the Brazilian subcontinent allowed the opening of the American slave market and slaves were shipped from Sao Tome directly to America. The Europeans also took use of the Atlantic Slave Trade in the first half of the century. The European slave ships took their slaves to the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
, however slave owners in Europe were only seen in wealthy, aristocrat families due to the high costs of slaves and the cheap peasant labor available for agricultural uses, and as its name implies the first use of the African-American slaves in plantation work arose in the Atlantic islands not in the continental Europe. Approximately 10.2 million Africans survived the Atlantic crossing between 1450 and 1870. The large slave population thrived due to the demand for production from the Europeans who found it cheaper to import crops and goods rather than produce them on their own.
Many wars were fought during the 17th century between the slave trading companies for areas that were economically dependent on slaves. The West India Company gained many slaves through these wars (specifically with Portugal) by captains who had captured enemy ships; between 1623 and 1637, 2,336 were captured and sold in the New World by the West India Company. The selling of slaves to the New World opened up trading posts in North America; the Dutch opened their first on Manhattan Island in 1613. The West India Company had also opened a trading post in the Caribbean and the company was also carrying slaves to a colony of New Netherland.
The use of slaves had many benefits to the economies and productions in the areas of trade. The emergent rise of coffee, tea, and chocolate in Europe led to the demand for the production of sugar; 70 percent of slaves were used solely for the labor-intensive production of crop. Slave trade was also beneficial to the trade voyages, because the constant sailing allowed investors to buy small shares of many ships at the same time. Hopkin states that many scholars, him among them, argue that slave trade was essential to the wealth of many nations, during and after proto-globalization, and without the trade production would have plummeted. The investment in ships and nautical technology was the catalyst to the complex trade networks developed throughout proto-globalization and into modern globalization.
Plantation economy
Consequently, the rise of slavery was due to the increasing rise of crops being produced and traded, more specifically the rise of the plantation economyPlantation economy
A plantation economy is an economy which is based on agricultural mass production, usually of a few staple products grown on large farms called plantations. Plantation economies rely on the export of cash crops as a source of income...
The rise of the plantations was the main reason for the trade of commodities during proto-globalization. Plantations were used by the exporting countries (mainly America) to grow the raw materials needed to manufacture the goods which were traded back into the plantation economy. Commodities that grew in trade due to the plantation economy were mainly tobacco, cotton, sugar cane, and rubber.
Tobacco
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
revolved around gold and silver and not tobacco. The European lack of interest in tobacco was due to the fact that the Amerindians controlled the tobacco industry; as long as the Amerindians controlled the supply there was no need for the incorporation in European commercial capitalism.
The trading of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
was a new commodity and was in high popular demand in the 17th century due to the rise of the plantations. Tobacco began to be used a monetary standard, which is why the term "cash crop" was originated.
The first export of tobacco from the then-colonies of the United States (specifically Virginia) to London showed fortunes in the English enterprise and by 1627, the Virginia tobacco was being shipped to London at 500,000 pounds a shipment. By 1637, tobacco had become the colony's currency and by 1639 Maryland was exporting 100,000 pounds of tobacco to London. English success with the production of tobacco caught the attention of many Europeans, specifically those colonized on Martinique and Guadeloupe, French islands. These islands soon became wealthy due to the tobacco production and by 1671 roughly one-third of the acreage devoted to the cash crops grown for the islands were for tobacco. While the cultivation of tobacco thrived, production saw severe depressions in later years due to the profits made from sugar. According to an account of the Barbadian exports 82 percent of the island's export value was due to sugar and less than one percent was accounted for by tobacco.
Sugar cane
Another commodity that was a prominent source of trade was the production of sugar from the crop sugar cane. The original habitat of sugar was in India, where it was taken and planted in various islands. Once reaching to the people of the Iberian Peninsula, it was further migrated across the Atlantic Ocean. In the 16th century, the first plantations of sugar were started in the New World, marking the last great stage of migration of the cane to the West. Because of the conflict of transporting sugar in its raw form, sugar was not associated with commerce until the act of refining it came into play; this act became the center for industry. VeniceVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
was the center for refining during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, therefore making them the chief traders of sugar. Although, the Spanish and Portuguese held the monopolies of the sugar cane fields in America, they were being supplied by Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. In the 17th century, England dominated Venice and became the center for refining and cultivating sugar; this leadership was maintained until the rise of French industry. Sugar throughout the 17th century was still considered a luxury until the latter half of the 17th century when the sugar was being produced in mass quantities making it available to the mass of the English people. This turn of events made the sugar a commodity, because the crop was not being used in only special occasion, but in all daily meals.
Introduction
Proto-globalization differed from modern globalization in the practices of expansionism, methods of managing global trade, finances, as well as commercial innovation. With the shift of expansionism by large nations to Western Europe, nations began competing in an effort to achieve world domination. The rise of larger-scale conflicts between these powerful nations over expanding their wealth led to nations taking control over one another’s territory and then moving products and the accumulated wealth of these conquered regions back to the sovereign country. Although conflicts occurred throughout the world between 1600 and 1800, European powers found themselves far more equipped to handle the pressures of war. A quote by Christopher Alan BaylyChristopher Alan Bayly
Sir Christopher Alan Bayly, FBA, FRSL is a British historian specializing in Indian, British Imperial, and Global History...
gives a better interpretation of these advantages by stating, "Europeans became much better at killing people. The savage European ideological wars of the 17th century had created links between war, finance, and commercial innovation which extended all these gains. It gave the Continent a brute advantage in world conflicts which broke out in the 18th century. Western European warfare was peculiarly complicated and expensive, partly because it was amphibious." These battle-tested nations fought for their own needs, but in reality their success increased European advancement in the global market. Each of the following sections will shed light on the history of several key engagements. Whether a war was religious or commercial, its impact was greatly felt throughout the world. British victories during the Anglo-Dutch Wars
Anglo-Dutch Wars
The Anglo–Dutch Wars were a series of wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes. The first war took place during the English Interregnum, and was fought between the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic...
led to their dominance in commercial shipping and naval power. The stage was set for future conflicts between Britain and foreign nations, as well as domestic frustration with “the motherland” on the North American continent. The French and Indian War, fought between the European powers of France and England, led to a British victory and resulted in continued dominance in maritime enterprise. The American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
marked the beginning of the power shift for control over foreign markets.
English Civil War
The English Civil WarEnglish Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
was a battle over not only religious and political beliefs, but also economic and social as well. This war was between Parliamentarians
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
and Royalists and took place from 1642 to 1651, but was broken into several separate engagements. Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
and his supporters experienced the first two periods of the war, which resulted in King Charles I dissolving Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
, which would not be called into session again for over ten years. Reasons for this dismissal were because supporters of Long Parliament
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
tried to install two resolutions into English law. One called for consequences against individuals that taxed without the consent of Parliament and labeled them as enemies of England, while the other stated that innovations in religion would result in the same tag. Each of these policies was aimed at Charles I, in that he was inferior leader as well as a supporter of Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
. This prompted the Puritan Revolt and eventually led to the trial and execution of Charles I for treason. The final stage of the English Civil War came in 1649, and lasted until 1651. This time, King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, the son of Charles I led supporters against Parliament. The Battle of Worcester
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, England and was the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalist, predominantly Scottish, forces of King Charles II...
, which took place in 1651, marked the end of the English Civil War. Charles II and other royalist forces were defeated by Parliamentarians and their leader Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
. This war began to take England in different directions regarding religious and political beliefs as well as economic and social. Also, the war constitutionally established that no British monarch was permitted to rule without first having been approved by Parliament.
Anglo-Dutch War
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Holland from 1652 to 1654 and was over the competition in commercial maritime and was focused mainly in the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
. The first Navigation Act, which forbade the import of goods unless they were transported either in English vessels or by vessels from the country of origin. This was a policy aimed against the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and fighting broke out on May 19, 1652 with a small skirmish between Dutch and English fleets. The War officially began in July and fighting continued for two years. The Battle of Scheveningen
Battle of Scheveningen
The Battle of Scheveningen was the final naval battle of the First Anglo-Dutch War...
which is also referred to as Texel
Texel
Texel is a municipality and an island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark...
was the end of serious fighting in the war and took place in July 1653. The Treaty of Westminster
Treaty of Westminster (1654)
The Treaty of Westminster was signed on 8 May 1654, which ended the First Anglo-Dutch War . Based on the terms of the accord, the United Provinces recognized Oliver Cromwell's Navigation Acts, which required that imports to the Commonwealth of England must be carried in English ships, or ships from...
was signed in April 1654 ending the war and obligated Holland to respect the Navigation Act as well as compensate England for the war.
French and Indian War
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, along with the numerous Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
Nations allied with both. The French and Indian war was the North American theater of the Seven Years War being fought in Europe at the time. Growing population in British territory throughout North America forced expansion west; however, this was met with resistance from the French and their Native American allies. French forces began entering British territory, building numerous forts in preparation to defend the newly acquired land. The beginning of the war favored the French and their Native American allies, who were able to defeat British forces time and again, and it was not until 1756 that the British were able to hold off their opposition. Pittsburgh was a center for fighting during the French and Indian War, namely because of the geographical location at the center where three rivers unite: the Allegheny, the Monongahela and the Ohio. The location of present day Pittsburgh provided an advantage in naval control. Ownership of this point provided not only naval dominance, but it also expanded economic ventures, enabling shipments to be sent and received with relative ease. French and British forces both claimed ownership to this region; the French installing Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh in the state of Pennsylvania....
and the British with Fort Pitt
Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)
Fort Pitt was a fort built at the location of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.-French and Indian War:The fort was built from 1759 to 1761 during the French and Indian War , next to the site of former Fort Duquesne, at the confluence the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River...
. Fort Pitt was established in 1758 after French forces abandoned and destroyed Fort Duquesne. The French and Indian War came to an end in 1763, after British forces were able to secure Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
from the French and on February 10, the Treaty of Paris
Peace of Paris (1783)
The Peace of Paris was the set of treaties which ended the American Revolutionary War. On 3 September 1783, representatives of King George III of Great Britain signed a treaty in Paris with representatives of the United States of America—commonly known as the Treaty of Paris —and two treaties at...
was signed. The French were forced to surrender their territory in North America, giving England control all the way to the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. The effects of this war were heavily felt in the North American British colonies. England imposed many taxes on colonists in order to control the newly acquired territory. These tensions would soon culminate into a war for independence as well as a shift in power for dominance in the economic world.
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
was a war between the nation of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and the 13 colonies in the North American continent. This war lasted from 1775 to 1783 and began with the Battle of Bunker Hill
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War...
, where over 1,150 British soldiers were killed or wounded. This equated to almost half of the entire British army that were present at the engagement. American casualties were far less severe, totaling an estimated at 450 killed and wounded. The British, however, were able to take the ground and push the newly formed Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
back to the city of Boston, which also soon fell to British forces. Next, the Battles of Lexington and Concord
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy , and Cambridge, near Boston...
in 1775 saw British troops begin their assault into the American colonies. British troops were searching for colonist supply depots, however, were met by heavy resistance and the British forces were turned around at Concord by outnumbering Minutemen
Minutemen
Minutemen were members of teams of select men from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that allowed the colonies to respond immediately to war threats, hence the name.The minutemen were among the first...
forces. On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
was signed by the Second Continental Congress
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. It succeeded the First Continental Congress, which met briefly during 1774,...
and officially declared the colonies of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
to be a sovereign nation, free from England’s rule. Also, the Congress permitted funding for a Continental Army, which is the first instance of an American political body handling military affairs. The British were dominating in the beginning of the war, holding off Continental regulars and militia and gaining vast amounts of territory throughout North America. However, the tide began to turn for the colonists in 1777 with their first major victory over British forces at the Battle of Saratoga
Battle of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American War of Independence and are generally regarded as a turning point in the war. The battles were fought eighteen days apart on the same ground, south of Saratoga, New York...
. Victory for the rest of the war pushed back and forth between the British and colonists, but the alliance with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1778 by the American colonists leveled the playing field and aided in the final push for the defeat of the British Army and Navy. In 1781, American and French forces were able to trap the escaping southern British Army at Yorktown, thus ending the major fighting of the Revolution. The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, and recognized the American colonies as an independent nation. The newly formed United States would undergo numerous transitions to becoming one of the top economic and military powers in the world.
Treaties and agreements
Much of the trading during the proto-globalization time period was regulated by Europe. Globalization from an economic standpoint relied on the East India CompanyEast India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
. The East India Company was a number of enterprises formed in western Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, initially created to further trade in the East Indies. The company controlled trading from India to East and Southeast Asia.
One of the key contributors to globalization was the Triangular Trade
Triangular trade
Triangular trade, or triangle trade, is a historical term indicating among three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come...
and how it connected the world. The Triangular Trade or Triangle Trade was a system used to connect three areas of the world through trade. Once traded, items and goods were shipped to other parts of the world, making the triangle trade a key to global trade. The Triangle Trade system was run by Europeans, increasing their global power.
Europeans would sail to the West African coast and trade African kings manufactured goods (rifles and ammunition) for slave. From there slaves would be sent to the West Indies or the east coast of North America to be used for labor. Goods such as cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, molasses
Molasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...
, sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
would be sent from these places back to Europe. Europe would also use their goods and trade with Asian countries for tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
, cloth and spices. The triangle trade in a sense was an agreement for established trade routes, that led to greater global integration, which ultimately contributed to globalization.
Along with the control Europe gained, as far as global trade, came several treaties and laws. In 1773, the Regulating Act was passed, regulating affairs of the company in India and London. In 1748, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 ended the War of the Austrian Succession following a congress assembled at the Imperial Free City of Aachen—Aix-la-Chapelle in French—in the west of the Holy Roman Empire, on 24 April 1748...
ended the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
, but failed to settle the commercial struggle between England and France in the West Indies, Africa and India. The treaty was an attempt at regulating trade and market expansion between the two regions, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
Globalization at this time was hindered by war, diseases and population growth in certain areas. The Corn Laws
Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were trade barriers designed to protect cereal producers in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland against competition from less expensive foreign imports between 1815 and 1846. The barriers were introduced by the Importation Act 1815 and repealed by the Importation Act 1846...
were established to regulate imports and exports of grains in England, thus restricting trade and the expansion of globalization. The Corn Crop Laws hindered the market economy and globalization based on tariffs and import restrictions. Eventually, the Ricardian theory of economics became prominent and allowed for improved trade regulations, specifically with Portugal.
Transition into modern globalization
According to Sebastian Conrad, proto-globalization is marked with a “rise of national chauvinism, racism, Social DarwinismSocial Darwinism
Social Darwinism is a term commonly used for theories of society that emerged in England and the United States in the 1870s, seeking to apply the principles of Darwinian evolution to sociology and politics...
, and genocidal thinking” which came to be with relations to the “establishment of a world economy”.
Beginning in the 1870s, the global trade cycle started to cement itself so that more nations' economies depended on one another than in any previous era. Domino effects in this new world trade cycle lead to both world wide recessions and world economic booms. Modelski describes the late period of proto-globalization as a “thick range of global networks extending throughout the world at high speed and covering all components of society”. By the 1750s, Europe, Africa, Asia, and America's contact had grown into a stable multilateral interdependency which was echoed in the modern globalization period.
Shift in capital
Although the North Atlantic World dominated the global system before proto-globalization, a more “multipolar global economy” started taking form around the early 19th century, and capital was becoming highly mobile. By the end of the 19th century, British capital wealth was 17% overseas, and the level of capital invested overseas nearly doubled by 1913 to 33%. Germany invested one-fifth of their total domestic savings in 1880, and, like Britain, increased their wealth tremendously in the early 20th century. The net foreign investment of total domestic savings abroad was 35% in 1860, 47% in 1880, and 53% in the years prior to the Great War. Global investments were taking a steady rise throughout societies, and those able to invest thrust more and more of their domestic savings into international investments.The ability to mobilize capital was due to the development of the Industrial Revolution and the beginnings of mechanical production (most prominent in Great Britain). During proto-globalization, "merchant capitalists in many societies quickly became aware of potential markets and new producers and began to link them together in new patterns of world trade. The expansion of the slave production and the exploitation of the Americas put Europeans on the top of the economic network. During the modern globalization period, mass production allowed the development of a stronger, more complex global network of trade. Another element of European success between 1750 and 1850 was the limitation and "relative 'failure'" of the Afro-Asian Industrial Revolution. The movement into modern globalization was marked with the economic drain of capital into Europe.
Shift in culture
Like capital, the end of proto-globalization was filled with mobility of individuals. The time of proto-globalization was one filled with “mutual influence, hybridization, and cross-cultural entanglement”. Many historians blame this web of national entanglements and agreements as the cause for the intensity and vast involvement during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Between 1750-1880, the expansion of worldwide integration was influenced by the new capacities in production, transportation, and communication.
The end of proto-globalization also marked the final phase of "great domestication". After the 1650s, the process of regular and intensive agrarian exploitation was complete. Human population began to increase almost exponentially with the end of the great pandemics. At the end of the proto-globalization and the cusp of modern globalization, population began to "recover in Central and South America," where at the beginning of proto-globalization, European-imported illnesses had savagely decreased indigenous populations. The importation of nutritious varieties from Central and South America created a more fertile and resilient population to forge ahead into modern globalization. The greater population pushed individuals in high populated areas to "spill into less populous forested and grazing lands, and bring them under cultivation". This development lead to an influx in produce production and exported trade.
Another development that lead to the shift to modern globalization was the development of a more politicized system. Proto-globalization period marked a steady expansion of larger states from the Indonesian islands to northern Scandinava. The settlement of these individuals made it easier for governments to tax, develop an army, labor force, and create a sustainable economy. The development and streamlining of these cultural aspects lead to an increase in peripheral players in the game of globalization. The stable legal institutions developed in the late proto-globalization and early modern globalization period established economic advances, intellectual property rights (more predominately in England), general geographical stability, and generational societal improvement.
The shift in exchange of technological advancements was another reason for modern globalization. In the early 19th century, European civilizations traveled the world to accumulate an "impressive knowledge about languages, religions, customs, and political orders of other countries. By the end of the 19th century, Europe was no longer receiving any significant technological innovations from Asia.
Shift in global networks
The developed global networks lead to the creation of new networks leading to new production. By 1880, there was a renewed thrust of European colonial expansion. The shift to modern globalization was slow, overlapping and interacting. Mid-19th century, noncompeting goods were exchanged between continents and markets for widely used commodities developed. Also, labor was becoming globally integrated. Modern globalization came to be as the movement of general expansion of socio-economic networks became more elaborate. An example of this is the development and establishment of free masonry. The "existing trading networks grew, capital and commodity flows intensified. The permanence of long-term interdependencies was unchanged. By the beginning of the modern globalization period, the European colonial expansion retreats into itself. National societies began to regret the economic integration and attempted to limit the effects. Bayly, Hopkins and others stress that proto-globalization's transformation into modern globalization was a complex process that took place at different times in different regions,and involved the hold-over of older notions of value and rarity which had their origins in the pre-modern period. Thus leading to the age of economic deglobalizationDeglobalization
Deglobalization, also deglobalisation , refers to a process of diminishing interdependence and integration between certain units around the world, typically nation-states...
and world wars which ended after 1945.
See also
- Age of Exploration
- Archaic globalizationArchaic globalizationArchaic globalization is a phase in the history of globalization, often broadly associated with the early modern period between the years 1400 and 1600...
- Early Modern PeriodEarly modern periodIn history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...
- History of globalizationHistory of globalizationThe historical origins of globalization are the subject of on-going debate. Though several scholars situate the origins of globalization in the modern era, others regard it as a phenomenon with a long history. Some authors have argued that stretching the beginning of globalization far back in time...
- World Systems TheoryWorld Systems TheoryThe world-systems theory is a multidisciplinary, macro-scale approach to world history and social change....
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