1400 25 largest cities in the world 9 were in China (Nanjing was the largest)

Top Ten Cities in 1500

1. Beijing, China2. Viivannagar, India3. Cairo, Egypt4. Hangzhou, China5. Tabriz, Iran

6. Istanbul, Turkey7. Gaur, India8. Paris, France9. Guangzhou, China10. Nanjing, China

Ming China

(1368-1644)

By standard criteria such as size,

population, agriculture, commerce, wealth,

sophistication, technology, military

might, cuisine, learning, literature, and the fine arts, the Ming dynasty presided over the greatest nation in

the world.

1700 66% world lived in Asia

1775 Asia Produced 80 percent of everything in the world

How did the West Rise in Power over the East?

1520 – 1570 Portuguese Dominance

1570 – 1620 Spanish Dominance

1620 – 1750 Dutch Dominance

1750 – 1900 British Dominance

Nutmeg Clove Mace

Nutmeg Clove Mace

Malacca

Moluccas

BaghdadBaghdad

AlexandriaAlexandria

ConstantinopleConstantinople

(1453)(1453)

BaghdadBaghdad

AlexandriaAlexandria

ConstantinopleConstantinople

The West Responds The West Responds

1492 Columbus sails for the Spice Islands and he says he found them

To the Canary Islands then a month at sea (The Spanish)

1494 Treaty of Tordesillas

SPAIN PORTUGAL

“Always the poor neighbor, Portugal had to look to the sea for economic development.”

“Unwittingly Christopher Columbus came to the rescue of the Portuguese.”

Vasco de Gama

1497

Two Years

Four times the distance Columbus traveled (24,000 miles)

Five Islands (Maluku Chain) very small islands

Only place on the planet that produced cloves

Banda Chain (a few tiny dots)

Only place on the planet that produced Nutmeg / Mace

The discovery of America and finding the passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope are the two greatest events recorded in the history of mankind.” Adam Smith

September 20, 1519

San Lucar Spain

Five Ships—235 men

Philippines March 16, 1521

Philippines March 16, 1521

Killed in Cebu

Returned September 6, 1522one Ship and 18 men

“The History of the Spanish in the Philippines begins and ends with the

Friar.”

The Great Death (Mexico)

1519--25 million1569—2.7 million1619—750,000

By 1650 Africans were the majority of new settlers in the New World (Eventually 9 million)

Spain owned the cow but didn’t drink the milk

Single Whip Taxation

“Silver went around the world, and made the world go round.”