Readings:
Taylor, chap. 8
Lepore, intro. and chap. 1
points of entry:
Beaver trade:
silver trade:
chocolate, tea, and coffee:
porcelain:
Question:
How did early modern global products shape colonial ideologies?
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Week 4: Before Jamestown and Plymouth Rock: the First Global Products and the Birth the Atlantic World and Pacific Rim
This week's reading explores the first products of the early modern global economy. Looking at the movement of goods across the Atlantic World and Pacific Rim sheds light on the influence that local communities (including Natives, slaves, and women) had in forging the first truly global economy.
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The early days of the Americas were based on what the settlers wanted such as religious freedom. Later on when the colonist saw that it would be difficult to survive they began to produce things that they could trade for profit, let alone survival. Some of the more important things that they traded like discussed in class on friday was cotton, tobacco, silver, fur, timber and fish. Since a lot of the eastern countries had ran out of such good like timber and fur they came to the Americas to get more of what they had completely used up in their country. A big example of this is timber, in Europe they had used all of the timber supply that they had once had so they came over to the Americas in need of some more. They saw the Americas as a pure land where they could take what they had already used in their own countries.
ReplyDeleteCertain products that were grown/found/made in the Americas had huge impacts upon colonial ideologies. For instance, the want of beaver pelts led colonists to constantly trade with Native Americans. This trade led colonists to believe that Natives were inferior to them because the colonists had to do essentially nothing to receive the beaver pelts; they basically thought they were outsmarting the Natives. Essentially, products that were found only in the Americas led colonists to exploit Native Americans. Colonists also exploited Natives for their knowledge as well as their labor. -Zach
ReplyDeleteI think that the want and need for products is what drove colonial ideologies at that time. The want to be rich and have power. Also getting rich quick was a great thing as well. The Americas was a great solution to Eruopean wants and vise versa. Trading products such money,slaves,textiles, or anything else seen as a commodity, is what ultimatley help drive the first triangle trade. Once this happened world trade became a great source for countries to boost their economy. Products lead to money and power, and that is what all cultures wanted from Europe to Africa to the Americas.
ReplyDeleteWell I agree with Greg that the ealry settlers wanted religious freedom. I also feel that their ideologies were definitely shaped by the products available in their areas. The need to provide economically for their settlements and to repay the financing of their expeditions forced them to participate in trading. This trading began as a survival method and then turned into something they could prosper from. This changed them because they began to value posessions and property and used religion to justify any means they used to aqcuire them.
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