early flag of the EICo
Empire by sea
Portuguese caravel Announcements:
Paper topics have been posted
reading for Friday: Ellis
Follow-up to Tuesday's lecture
I. Trading-post empires
empires that
control production vs. empires that control trade
how to control
trade
trading-post (aka maritime or oceanic) empires of early modern Europe:
Spain and
Portugal
France
the Netherlands
England
state + private initiative (chartered companies)
maritime and land empires compared:
| -control
of international trade |
-emphasis
on control of large amounts of people and land |
| -colonization
of limited coastal territory |
-large
military investment |
| -production
and shipment of high-value commodities |
-land
and sea access routes vulnerable |
| -limited
military confrontation and investment in colonies |
-massive
capital investment |
| -exploitation
of improved maritime technology |
-superior
technology to overcome resistance from indigenes |
| -expanded
use of sea charts |
-expanded
social and cultural contacts with imperial subjects |
| -dependence
on native collaborators |
-dependence on native collaborators |
Source:
Filipe Fernandez-Armesto, The World: A History
II. Technology
navigational
advancements
1490s as a
breakthrough decade: Columbus (1492-93), John Cabot (1496), Vasco da Gama (1497-98) [Zheng He]
the "age of discovery"
military technology
III. The Indian Ocean
A. the
Portuguese seaborne empire
English East India Company (1600)
United East India Company of the
Netherlands (1602)
Mughal
emperor (Jahangir)
English posts:
Fort St. George (at Madras) (1640)
Bombay (1660)
Fort William (Calcutta) (1690)
the
age of partnership