AP Review #2: Exploration (Ch. 14) & 17th c.

Statebuilding (Ch. 15)

Exploration
Motives
Gold: bypass Arab monopolies; hope to find precious metals abroad
God: spread Christianity to indigenous cultures
Glory: read fantasy literature about the New World; eager for political dominance;
rivalry in Europe develops (more conquered land = more glory for the state)
Improvements in navigation/ship design: began to look to for all-water routes to
Asia; aided by better maps, compass, lateen sail, caravel, astrolabe

Geography of Empires
Spain Westward: Mexico, Caribbean, most of South America
o Columbus, Cortez, Pizarro, Magellan,
16th Portugal Eastward (and Brazil); 1st to reach India (Malacca) & Spice Islands; signs
c. Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) with Spain to split South America
o Dias, da Gama, Prince Henry the Navigator
17th Netherlands dominated East in 17th c.; some Caribbean islands
c. England eventually took over India; North America, some Caribbean islands;
dominant power by turn of 19th c!
18th o Sir Francis Drake
c. France Canada; some Caribbean islands; loss of land after Seven Years War (1763)
o Cartier

New World Politics & Economy

Politics: legal link b/t European crown & their colonial landholdings
o Encomienda in return for their labor, Spanish settlers were to care for their
subjects (not reality!!)
o Viceroy - governors with administrative sovereignty over New Spain (Mexico
City + Lima)
o Audiencias - advisory board to the viceroy; also served as judicial body
Economy: based on mining, agriculture (haciendas) & shipping
o Eventual end of encomienda and the beginning of forced labor servitude from
the natives
o When native population is decimated, rely on slave labor from Africa
(particularly in mines and on sugar plantations)

The Atlantic System

Columbian Exchange
o Massive exchange of plants, animals and diseases from Old World to New (and
vice versa)
Old World exports: cattle/livestock, fruits/veggies, wheat, smallpox
New World exports: potatoes, sugar, coffee, corn, tobacco, silver/gold,
rum, furs, syphilis
Goods imported on both sides drastically change lifestyles!!
Triangular Trade
 o 1st leg: European sent manufactured goods to markets, particularly in Africa
o 2nd leg: trade goods for slaves, ship slaves to New World (middle passage)
o 3rd leg: resources/raw materials sent from colonies so they can manufacture
goods

Trans-Atlantic Slavery
Portuguese first to develop foothold in Africa
Exported slaves began in 1518; 10 million sold into slavery from 15 th-19th c (GB= of
them)
Middle passage- voyage to New World (high death toll); conditions miserable on
plantations
Extremely disrupted the African economy as their goods were replaced with European
ones
Finally abolished in 1807

Commercial Revolution
Commercial Capitalism: family-owned baking firms could no longer keep up
with the demand for capital to finance overseas expansion; large commercial
banks emerged (Bank of Amsterdam)
Mercantilism: state-controlled strengthening of the economy (and power) of a
country by having a favorable balance of trade; practice dependent on the
success of their colonies
New forms of investment were created (joint-stock companies) were the rich
would pool their wealth (Dutch East India Company)
More wealth felt than ever before, but wealth concentrated in hands of few (so
much wealth that Spain endures inflation crisis from influx of silver)
Creation of a truly global (world wide) market

17th c. Statebuilding
Thirty Years War (1618-48)
Erupted when the Peace of Augsburg failed to recognize Calvinism and stemmed
from remaining conflicts b/t Protestants and Catholics primarily fought in the HRE
Four phases:
o Bohemian princes rejected AD Ferdinand as their king & threw his advisors out
of window (defenestration of Prague); Ferdinand became HRE, declared war on
Protestant rebels
o Danish Denmark and England form alliance and sweep in to help the warring
Protestants; lost to the HRE
o Swedish Swedens attempt to help the Protestants; he died/efforts failed
o Franco-Swedish FR sees ability to weaken the Hapsburgs; enter to defend the
Protestants (in hopes to forces an HRE loss); when fighting stopped, FR emerges as
dominate state
Peace of Westphalia: religion of each realm determined by its ruler (same as
Peace of Augsburg)
All 300 states achieve autonomous rule; economically devastating to HRE and they
will never recover full power again; religion moved closer to being a personal choice

Rise of Absolutism
 In response to religious wars and internal rebellions, divine right monarchs
attempted to gain broader control over the social/political/economic policies of their
realms (searching for order/stability)essentially ONE monarch in control of ALL
affairs of the state!
o FRANCE Louis XIV (The Sun King)
Battle for power with nobles (The Fronde); built Palace of Versailles to
showcase French power/wealth; nobles lived at Versailles (keep watch over
them); one king, one law, one faith (revoked the Edict of Nantes); fought
costly wars & taxed the peasants heavily; extreme tax burden on the national
treasury; relied heavily (early on) on the advisors Cardinal Mazarin and
Cardinal Richelieu
o PRUSSIA Frederick William (Hohenzollerns)
Consolidated power through the military (General War Commissariat); Junkers
had complete control over their peasants (most were serfs); used taxes to
build the military; noble status could be achieved by moving up in ranks
o AUSTRIA Leopold I & Charles VI (Hapsburgs)
Bulk of HRE power concentrated in Austria (after defeat in 1648)
Have to look elsewhere for power so it shifts eastward; threat of Ottoman
influence in the region
Charles VI succession crisis and the Pragmatic Sanction (Maria Theresa)
which Prussia violates immediately after his death
Difficulty forming a tightly administered empire (like Prussia)
o RUSSIA Peter the Great
Inspirational trip throughout Western Europe forced the Westernization of
Russia; beard law/tax; moved capital to St. Petersburg (window to the
west); built up military (ruthless conscription) and started exerting influence
in the Baltic & North seas (Great Northern War); battles boyars for
centralization of power; built palace (Peterhof)

English Civil War

England as model of shift from absolutism to limited monarchies (checked by
constitution); beginning of liberal trend and the rise of democracy
Charles I
o refused to follow the English Petition of Rights (attempting to rule as an absolute
monarch and refused to call Parliament into session); war with Scotland forced him
to call Parliament to raise funds; war erupted between Parliament and the crown
shortly after
Cromwell
o raised the New Model Army that captured and put Charles I on trial for treason;
ruled over England as Lord Protector until his death
Charles II (son of Charles I)
o Parliament restored the Stuart dynasty after Cromwells death (The Restoration);
good reputation in England as he worked to expand prisoners rights and other
improvements
James II
o Whigs/Tories debate about allowing Catholic James II (brother of Charles II) take the
throne; old with only daughters so Tories win out; when he has son Parliament
starts to plot against him so he abdicated to France
 William & Mary
o William of Orange (married to James II Protestant daughter Mary) invited by
Parliament (in an effort planned by both Whigs/Tories)
o Bloodless shift of power resulted in the Glorious Revolution (1688)
o Forced to sign the English Bill of Rights (1689) which forever limited the power of
monarchy

Dutch Golden Age

Gained great power as they succeeded in Trans-Atlantic commerce & took on role as
the bankers for Europe (Bank of Amsterdam)
Allowed the country to develop and flourish (built canals/housing, encouraged
business expansion, won land from the T.Y.W.
Leaders who favored republican government clashed with the house of Orange
(William II r. 1672)

Witchcraft
Trials and executions of suspected witches skyrocketed in the 16 th c.
Why?
o Religious concerns often in areas where Protestant/Catholic tensions were high
o Communal values were disintegrating (growing numbers of poor)
o Older women targeted when they sold herbs to survive