- The way the Asian empire grew differentiated from how the European empires in the Western Hemisphere grew.
- The motivation was to acquire different spices that were very important. These spices were used for condiments and preservatives. Other than spices, other items such as silk, cotton, and jewels were high in demand.
- Some of Europe's countries were becoming centers of international commerce, improving European economies.
- Several problems came with this pattern of trade:
- All of the goods belonged to Muslims.
- Paying for goods was difficult for Europeans. They had to pay in silver or gold for spices or textiles. The Europeans often needed silver and gold to buy goods, so the search for these precious metals in other countries increased. Mexico and Bolivia provided Europeans those metals because of rich silver deposits in those countries. The Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and British all contributed to new way of trade.
A Portuguese Empire of Commerce
- Portuguese traveled to a new part of the world. It was different kind of life that they had never experienced before. "The arena of the Indian Ocean commerce" was different in the way that countries traded freely. Religion played a part in commerce. Muslims played a majority of the roles in the commercial network. The Europeans wouldn't be able to compete with trade because their trade goods were "crude and unattractive".
- Ocean trade routes were generally open. The Portuguese were powerful in the way that the Chinese fleet didn't have the same powerful weapons, such as cannons, as they did. Piracy was sometimes a problem, although many small-scale merchants chose to trade openly.
- The Portuguese capitalized and attacked weaker cities with no remorse. The aimed to control commerce and created a "trading post empire". They blocked off sea trade routes. Although they tried to gain control, the Portuguese never controlled more than half of the spice trade in Europe.
- The Portuguese failed at controlling commerce and eventually had to sell their shipping services because they weren't able to sell their goods.
Spain and the Philippines
- Spain challenged Portugal. Spain established themselves on the Philippine Islands. These thousands of tiny islands were occupied by chiefdoms who were without a king or sole authority. They did as they pleased. China nor Japan wanted these islands because they were so small.
- The Spanish eventually took over the Philippines completely until 1898.
- Christianity spread.
- Spain forced the people of the island to conform to Spanish culture:
- made them live in Christian communities
- women lost their roles as important people of the island
- Manila was a flourishing and successful city. Although, the chinese and spaniards butted heads often, which led to revolts and massacres. Once, the Spanish killed almost 20,000 Chinese, nearly all of the Chinese population on the Island.
The East India Companies
- The Dutch and the English eventually took over the Portuguese and successfully lead the Indian Ocean trade routes. The Dutch, known for their business skills, and the British, organized private trading routes succesfully, unlike the Portuguese.
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