[0:00]Europeans are using the new maritime tech to expand their empires exponentially. The College Board gives you five, but we're going to cover four. Why? Because France is meh. Today, we start with the first two chronologically, the Portuguese and the Spanish.
[0:20]Up first, Portugal. The Portuguese maritime empire actually starts in the last period before 1450. Sorry College Board, sometimes even your periodization is incorrect. Don't believe me? Remember that Trans-Saharan trade map? Who's that little boat on the West Coast over there? Surprise! It's Portugal. Heads up, this is the only time Portugal shows up in the entire course. So, if you see anything on the AP exam even loosely connected to Portugal, it's probably boat related. Portugal is first chronologically. Their empire is the 11th biggest all-time. And let's be honest, that's like 90% Brazil. So, when you think back to Portugal, think about these four things. One, Prince Henry. Remember that little boat on the map, the little guy going around the West Coast of Africa over there, that was Prince Henry. He sponsored the first voyages to attempt to circumnavigate the Islamic control of the trade routes. He actually thought he was on another crusade, but this time the goal was to get around Dar Al-Islam. And he succeeded, and then he died, but his efforts to circumnavigate the Islamic world are the baby steps that start this whole process going. Two, location, location, location. Look at Portugal, it's the furthest West you can go in Europe. Shut up Iceland, no one cares. Geographically, think of Portugal as the far end of unit two, the far end of the networks of exchange. Anything the Portuguese are getting has changed hands a million times and that price just goes up. So logically it makes sense that they're the ones who are the first to endeavor out into the ocean. They need the direct access to Asia more than anyone else. You think Italy's going to go out exploring? They have a direct connection to the Ottomans. Not going anywhere. No, all of these maritime empires will be built by those at the far ends of the networks of exchange. First Portugal, then Spain, Britain, the Dutch, France. Three, it's a trading post empire. They're the first Europeans to enter the Indian Ocean trade by rounding up the coast of Africa. And they take advantage by setting up trading posts like the one seen on this map. For the same reason you aren't on a Worldcom phone using AOL to get to your Friendster account. Portugal is not going to dominate forever. Ask your parents what that last sentence mean if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Just because you're an early adopter of something doesn't mean that's going to last forever. Yes, they will hold onto some territories: Brazil, Angola, Mozambique. But when you think of Portugal and the maritime Empires, think of them as the first to the plate. The fourth thing to know about the Portuguese Empire, the slave trade. This transatlantic slave trade is arguably the worst thing to ever happen in the history of the planet. We don't have time to do this justice here, so I'm going to link some videos down below where you can actually get a good deep dive into the impact of the transatlantic slave trade. But I bring it up here because the Portuguese are the first to start taking slaves back to Europe and then eventually across the ocean, across the Middle Passage. And statistically, the Portuguese are the number one shipper of slaves during this entire period. Finally, today, Spain. Now the Spanish Empire, that was an empire, fifth all-time. Your teacher is probably obsessed with the Spanish Empire, they're kind of a big deal in this period. So I'm just going to touch on a few topics. One, coercive labor. Spain has a huge chunk of the Americas. And they put the natives who hadn't died of smallpox to work for them in their encomienda system. Think of the Native Americans as becoming like serfs to the Spanish. The Encomienda system itself took the idea of people owing labor to the state that people like the Inca had done in the Mita system and applied it directly to the newcomers, the Spanish in the New World. And so, the Spanish co-opted this idea of labor for the state and used it for things like mining or cash crop farming. So, Encomienda is the guaranteed grant of labor that the Spanish were given by the crown once they arrived in the New World. Don't confuse this with the hacienda system. The Encomienda is the actual grant of labor given to a landowner. The hacienda system were private plantations where cash crops were grown for international markets. Due to disease and works of people like Bartolomé de las Casas, the Spanish will eventually move away from the Encomienda system. But the hacienda system will continue to grow using more and more slave labor. Second for the Spanish is silver. Spain loves silver so much, they named one of their viceroyalties The River of Silver. But careful what you wish for, they find so much that it causes massive inflation known historically as the Price Revolution. Also, stop thinking of Earth as a map. We're an oblate spheroid. Spain took silver from mines in places like Potosi and shipped it directly to their other colony, the Philippines. And from there, they could buy and sell and trade in those East Asian markets, most notably in China. Third for Spain, Catholicism. Empire building wasn't just about silver and power, it was also about souls. You can view the spread of Spanish Catholicism as an extension of the Crusades competing directly with Islam. Or, you can view it as a direct extension of Catholicism's fight with Protestantism and their competition with places like Germany, Britain, or the Netherlands. Either way, it worked. Latin America and the Philippines are both incredibly Catholic even today. All right, those are the first two maritime empires. Next up, the British and the Dutch, some trading companies. I'll see you tomorrow.
