Fluent Essays

*ONLY USE THE SOURCES PRESENTED/ NO OUTSIDE SOURCES* What is the mercantilist economic theory?  Explain what mercantilists understood as wealth.  What are the implications for this perception of wealth when it comes to things like trade, and the acquisition of goods for trade?  From the two short reading excerpts provided in module 9, explain the economic justifications provided by the pro-slavery lobby for the continuation of the practice. Since sugar was the commodity produced by the Caribbean plantations and it was a commodity in great demand in Europe, could we argue that Caribbean slave plantation systems were promoted and protected by the European states partially as a result of mercantilist beliefs (you need to basically connect, sugar, mercantilism, slavery…) To avoid having you drift off-topic, I have devised a series of questions that will hopefully make sure you are on track. If you have completed the essay you can use these as a checklist. 1- What are the basic economic principles/features of Mercantilism? What did it recommend a government do? Use our lecture on mercantilism to answer this question and define mercantilism very clearly. Make sure that you highlight how mercantilist measured wealth. Do not turn this into a discussion about the place of the colonies in the mercantilist system (that is a different issue outside of our scope.) 2- Once you have spelled out the basic economic features of mercantilism, consider the following questions: Where the sugar colonies profitable? Did they add to a nations wealth? You can use lecture as well as assigned readings to answer this and to find evidence and numbers. 3-If sugar is a valuable and sought-after commodity, what happens if a nation does not produce its own, but has to import it?  4-Starting with the Portuguese what model of sugar plantations had they established that had proven to be very profitable? In the planters’ minds were there alternatives different from slavery to get the labor force that plantations needed? Why did they consider African slaves the ideal workforce for these plantations? Make sure that your thesis statement clearly makes an argument for a connection between mercantilism, sugar and the acceptance of slavery as, at the very least, a necessity.  As always be sure to cite and quote, and for the love of all that you hold dear, do submit unoriginal work, you will most likely be caught and accordingly sanctioned! Instructions: Your essay should be no longer than 4 pages.  Use 12 point script and please double space.  Please utilize normal pre-set (1 inch) margins. When citing the material, especially when using direct quotes, please use footnote citations.  (In Word go to References and Footnote and then type your source information.)  Works cited page is not a substitute for footnotes.  If you need guidance or help with this please do not hesitate to come to visit with me or the TA’s. Use Chicago Manual of Style for referencing.  You can find brief guides readily available online. Please use your textbook, your notes and the Wilberforce article for this essay. Do not use outside sources.The European Enlightenment The Age of Reason 1 Dating The Enlightenment • The most given dates for the Enlightenment vary somewhat between 1650-1814, or 1700-1789. • The difficulty with dating comes about because it is near impossible to draw a clean demarcation line between the Scientific Revolution (which is associated by some with the Late Renaissance) and the Enlightenment. • The Enlightenment is according to many an extension of the Scientific Revolution. • The Scientific Revolution was focused on the physical world, while the Enlightenment attempted to apply the new scientific methods to the social and political realms. 2 The New Science • 1605 Francis Bacon publishes “The Advancement of Science” and follows this up in 1620 “Novum Organum.” • According to Bacon “the duty of the scientist was to observe and test nature for himself following the inductive method.” • The inductive method basically turns the deductive method on its head. It is often referred to as the “bottom up” approach. “ In inductive reasoning, we begin with specific observations and measures, begin to detect patterns and regularities, formulate some tentative hypotheses that we can explore, and finally end up developing some general conclusions or theories.” The description of the inductive method used here comes from: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/dedind.php. 3 From Science to Politics • By the late 17th century the new scientific method had royal and aristocratic patronage. • Charles II of England establishes British Royal Society for the Sciences 1662. • French Royal Academy of Sciences established in 1666. • Yet despite royal patronage, the application of this new scientific method to social and political questions during the enlightenment would often (but not always) challenge the status quo, including monarchial forms of government. 4 Great Thinkers of the Enlightenment • What follows is a poor small sampling of the many great thinkers of the enlightenment • In addition to slides that follow please read pp526-527 in text book (primary source selections) 5 Thomas Hobbes (b.1588-d.1679) • Thomas Hobbes was an English political philosopher and is regarded by some as one of the founders of western political thought. • 1651 publishes Leviathan • Best known for his concept of the social contract as a foundation for governance. A contract that exists between ruled and ruler, in which the ruled agree to certain constraints on their freedoms in order to live in an ordered society. This in essence is an acknowledgement of the idea of rule by consent. • However, Hobbes given his own observations of humans, his belief in their inherent cruel impulses (greed, selfishness …) believed that only a strong government in the form of an absolute monarch could successfully govern them. • The social contract once entered into was all but inviolate. Hence, revolutions are not justified except in all but Transatlantic Slavery System Slave Plantation and Sugar • Sugar: “Granulated Gold.” • Even as late as 1670 Barbados  (Caribbean) was Britain’s largest colony  in Americas. Also by far its most  profitable. • All the colonial powers sought to  replicate Portuguese success with sugar  plantations in Brazil. • This meant the importation of ever  more African slaves. Old Institution New Form • Humanity has known slavery in one form or  another for the vast majority of its existence. • Transatlantic slave trade is unique though. • How: Racial Exclusiveness. • West African slaves seen as better able to  resist tropical diseases, more suitable for hot  humid conditions, and less troublesome:  Trend of dehumanizing. • Throughout 18th century slave importation  outstripped white migration. Conditions: Facts • 20‐40\% died in the collection raids (most of  these raids at hands of other Africans.) • 15\% or so died in route (2X average for  travelers.) • Branded with owner’s seal upon purchase. • 16 hour workdays. • Limiting food – for profit – to keep pliant • Early on most slaves imported to work on  Caribbean sugar plantations died within 3  years. Attitudes • “As near to beasts may be setting their souls  aside” • Late 18th century slave codes in place:  Classification as “Chattel” or tangible movable  property (furniture or domestic animals or a  car etc)  • Better treatment only when slaves become  more valuable. Options Open to Slaves • Passive Resistance: Play stupid, break  tools…basically slow down the workday. • Escape: Establishment of Maroon  communities. The Maroon wars in Jamaica  between 1729 and 1739 ended only by treaty.  • Slave Revolts: These were actually quite  frequent.   Maroon Communities • These communities were stablished in the most isolated  and hard to reach places to escape recapture. • In the 18th century Jamaica, which was taken form the  Spanish in 1655, becomes England’s largest sugar  colonies. • Maroon communities in Jamaica, some dating back to  the Spanish period, could be quite large with some  having populations upwards of a 1000. • They fiercely resisted all attempts at recapture. In fact  the “Maroon Wars” in Jamaica between 1729 and 1739  so affected the country’s economy that these  communities were granted their freedom Maroon Communities cont. • In Brazil, a group of maroon  villages, or Quilombos, situated  deep in the interior were known as the Quilombos of  Palmares. This settlement possibly harbored as many as  20,000 escaped slaves and their descendants by the late  seventeenth century. It fell to the Portuguese in 1694. • These communities became refuge for other groups fleeing  the authorities. • The term Quilombo is supposed to have its origins in Angola  (possibly from the Bantu language,) and referred to  communities formed out of people of diverse tribes that came  together for protection. • Most Quilombos were destroyed by the powers that be,  however Mercantilism A Particular Economic Mindset 1 Definition (Webster) • mercantilism • Function: noun Date: 1838 • An economic system developed during the decay of feudalism to unify and increase the power and especially the monetary wealth of a nation by a strict governmental regulation of the entire national economy usually through policies designed to secure an accumulation of bullion, a favorable balance of trade, the development of agriculture and manufactures, and the establishment of foreign trading monopolies To put things in perspective, let me explain that mercantilism is an early form of capitalism, but it is not the free trade capitalism with which we are familiar. It is described sometimes as “state capitalism.” The state is in essence in bed with the capitalists, and the capitalists support the state. 2 Sir Thomas Mun • Mun was, one of the leading lights of mercantilism. The following quotes are from his tract Englands Treasure by Foreign Trade (1630) “The ordinary means to increase our wealth and treasure is by foreign trade, wherein we must ever observe this rule: to sell more to strangers yearly tan we consume of theirs in value… Although a Kingdom may be enriched by gifts received, or by purchase taken from some other Nations, yet these are things uncertain and of small consideration when they happen. The ordinary means therefore to increase our wealth and treasure is by Foreign Trade.” 3 Mun 4 Definition Developed • Excerpt from Article in the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics by Laura LaHaye. • Mercantilism is economic nationalism for the purpose of building a wealthy and powerful state. ADAM SMITH coined the term “mercantile system” to describe the system of political economy that sought to enrich the country by restraining imports and encouraging exports. This system dominated Western European economic thought and policies from the sixteenth to the late eighteenth centuries. The goal of these policies was, supposedly, to achieve a “favorable” balance of trade that would bring gold and silver into the country and also to maintain domestic employment. 5 Bullion • It helps to know that at that time wealth was thought of in terms of accumulated precious metals or bullion (gold and silver) • This was supposed to exist in limited quantities. • If your opponent got a hold of it, you lost out, as there was less for you. • Wealth equals power. So if your enemy has more wealth he has more power than you. • Hence you design a policies to make sure you have the majority of the bullion. 6 Ramifications? • Most of the mercantilist policies were the outgrowth of the relationship between the governments of the nation-states and their mercantile classes. In exchange for paying levies and taxes to support the armies of the nation-states, the mercantile classes induced governments to enact policies that would protect their business interests against fDifferent Patterns of Colonization Examples of Dutch, French and English Colonies in North America. 1 Economics and Type of Colonization • The way in which European states colonized North America and the way they interacted with the native population they came in contact with seems to have been determined by the economic systems of wealth creation adopted in each colony. • We are going to examine three examples in this lecture to try and illustrate what is meant by the argument above. 2 Dutch in New Netherland • In 1609 Dutch East India Company sent an expedition to North America to attempt to find a fabled passageway to the Pacific. • This expedition was commanded by an English captain, John Hudson and the river he sailed came to be known as the Hudson River. • the first Dutch settlement in the Americas was founded in 1615. This was Fort Nassau, on Castle Island along the Hudson, near present-day Albany. • In 1621 the Dutch West India was formed and granted a monopoly over trade in the Americas. Additional fort built on the Delaware River • 1624 a group of about 30 Dutch families arrived in the new world. Around 1626 they settled on an Island at the mouth of the Hudson river (today’s Manhattan island.) The Dutch Built Fort New Amsterdam, which eventually becomes the capital city of New Amsterdam. The settlement would eventually spread to what we know as Brooklyn, Bronx, and Long Island. • Salves were also brought to the colony around 1625 • By 1633 the Dutch had established forts as far as what as modern day city of Hartford, on the Connecticut River 3 Dutch North American Colonies Circa 1656 “1685 reprint of a 1656 map of the Dutch North American colonies showing extent of Dutch claims, from Chesapeake Bay and the Susquehanna River in the South and West, to Narragansett Bay and the Providence-Blackstone Rivers in the East, to the St. Lawrence River in the North” 4 Dutch and the Natives • No great gold and silver mines to exploit. • No great cities to conquer. • As a small settlement the Dutch primarily relied on fur trade with the natives. • As a small settlement of families there was no great expansion or intermingling with natives. • However, peaceful relations had to be maintained as there was economic reliance on the natives who brought the fur to trade with the Dutch. • 1664 England takes over the Dutch Colony of New Amsterdam and renames in New York. 5 French in the New World • Jacques Cartier in the first half of the 16th century began exploration of the St Lawrence River. • He and later Samuel de Champlain stumbled upon the Great Lakes. • In 1608 the French founded colony of New France which was centered around Quebec. • Initially most French migrants were young single men traders and adventurers or missionaries, rather than families. • Even as late as 1666 the census of New France showed 2034 men and 1181 women* * Statistics for the 1666 Census. 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