4.3 State Consolidation and Imperial Expansion
As empires expanded, they often had trouble incorporating culturally, ethnically, and religiously diverse peoples. Many of the agents of European powers vied and controlled existing trade networks around the world.
In Africa and greater Indian Ocean, the European empires were mainly made of interconnected trading posts and enclaved. In the Americas however, Europeans were more quick to settle and claim territorial control. Control in the Americas brought in a new Atlantic trade system that also included the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Changes in the African and global trading patterns helped strengthened some West and Central African states. But this also led to the decline of states on both the coast and in the interior.
I. Rulers used variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power.
Arts:
The use of bureaucratic elites and military professionals helped govern the states.
Rulers also used tribute collections and taxes to fund expansion.
II. Imperial expansion relied on the increased use of gunpowder, cannons, and armed trade to establish large empires in both hemispheres.
Europeans established new trading-post empires in Africa and Asia
III. Competition over trade routes, state rivalries, and local resistance all provided significant challenges to state consolidation and expansion.
Competitions over trade routes:
In Africa and greater Indian Ocean, the European empires were mainly made of interconnected trading posts and enclaved. In the Americas however, Europeans were more quick to settle and claim territorial control. Control in the Americas brought in a new Atlantic trade system that also included the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Changes in the African and global trading patterns helped strengthened some West and Central African states. But this also led to the decline of states on both the coast and in the interior.
I. Rulers used variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power.
Arts:
- Monumental architecture
- urban design
- courtly literature
- the visual arts
- European notions of divine right
- Safavid use of Shilsm
- Mexica or Aztec practice of human sacrifice
- Songhay promotion of Islam
- Chinese emperor’s public performance of Confucian rituals
- Ottoman treatment of non-Muslim subjects
- Manchu policies toward Chinese
- Spanish creation of a separate “República de Indios”
The use of bureaucratic elites and military professionals helped govern the states.
- Ottoman devshirme
- Chinese examination system
- Salaried samurai (Paid soldiers)
Rulers also used tribute collections and taxes to fund expansion.
II. Imperial expansion relied on the increased use of gunpowder, cannons, and armed trade to establish large empires in both hemispheres.
Europeans established new trading-post empires in Africa and Asia
- This made the Europeans, and those who participated in this trading network, rich. But it also affected the power of the states in the interior West and Central Africa, many times for the worse.
- Portuguese
- Spanish
- Dutch
- French
- British
III. Competition over trade routes, state rivalries, and local resistance all provided significant challenges to state consolidation and expansion.
Competitions over trade routes:
- Omani-European rivalry in the Indian Ocean
- Piracy in the Caribbean
- Thirty Years War
- Ottoman-Safavid conflict
- Food riots
- Samurai revolts
- Peasant uprisings
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Digital image. Gold Rate for Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://goldratefortoday.org/important-factors-affecting-gold-rate-part-1/thirty-years-war/>.
What are salaried samurai. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://www.whathottrends.com/41/what-are-salaried-samurai.html>.
Digital image. Gold Rate for Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://goldratefortoday.org/important-factors-affecting-gold-rate-part-1/thirty-years-war/>.
What are salaried samurai. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://www.whathottrends.com/41/what-are-salaried-samurai.html>.