GREV - Just before the Revolutions... (Lesson)
Just before the Revolutions...
Before we begin, let's paint a picture of what the world looked like just prior to the Age of Revolutions. Due to the economic concept of mercantilism and the Age of Exploration—trade patterns developed over oceans that led to a global economy. Due to the political concept of the "Divine Right of Kings" absolutist governments developed in Europe that had control of their nation and a portion of the global economy. Due to the Protestant Reformation and the absolutist governments in Europe, the Catholic Church's authority was sorely tested. And due to the isolationist traditions in Asia, the wealthiest nation in the world refused to partake in the Age of Exploration that transformed the globe.
Weakened Authority of Catholic Church
The goods and knowledge brought back by the crusaders and merchants in the early 1400s touched off a new wave of learning and cultural creativity in western Europe known as the "rebirth" or "Renaissance." This new knowledge was based on the old rational texts of the Greeks and Romans. As the Renaissance progressed, it led to the questioning of the power of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. By the 1500s, this questioning led to open rebellion and division within the Catholic Church. Inspired by men such as Martin Luther, John Calvin and a somewhat reluctant King Henry VIII of England, this era was known as the Protestant Reformation and forever changed the religious and political landscape of Europe. During the Protestant Reformation, whole nations within Europe split from the Catholic Church—such as England and Holland—while other nations divided internally. In response to the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church launched a series of programs, known as the Counter Reformation, to revitalize itself. Ultimately, the two movements and their participants spent more than a century in physical battles known as the "Age of Religious Wars" that led to a demise in the political hold the Catholic Church had on Europe. When that political grasp weakened, other political bodies strengthened.
Absolute Monarchies in Europe
Absolute monarchies were based on the European concept of the "Divine Right of Kings." In essence, this concept asserted that a monarch was not accountable to any earthly authority as the monarch derived his (or her) right to rule directly from God. In practice, the "Divine Right of Kings" meant that the masses had a moral and religious duty to obey the king (or queen) and could not question his (or her) authority without really sinning big time! King James I of England for example, declared during his reign in the early 17th Century that, "The king is from God and the law is from the king." (Quite the absolutist sentiment!)
Does the spiritual nature behind the European "Divine Right of Kings" sound familiar to you? Perhaps it brought to mind the Chinese concept of the "Mandate of Heaven?" Both concepts contain the element that the leader of a government is granted authority from a higher being. However, that's where the similarity ends. Under the Chinese "Mandate of Heaven," those with power had to please Heaven in order to keep that power. If a Chinese emperor did not behave justly, Heaven grew displeased and social conditions deteriorated. Therefore, every few hundred years—give or take a century—conditions in China would deteriorate and another person would rise up, claim the "Mandate of Heaven" and start a new dynasty. Under the "Divine Right of Kings," however, the monarch had absolute rule without any conditions—he or she could be as unjust as he or she wanted to be without any consequences.
Unfortunately for King James I's successor—King Charles I—England's political structure included the Parliament and a history of denouncing the "Divine Right of Kings" whenever a monarch abused his power. In 1628 CE, Parliament forced Charles I to sign the Petition of Right thereby granting Parliament more authority than the crown. As long as King Charles I did not call the Parliament into session, he was able to act as an absolute monarch and keep challenges to his power at bay. But once Parliament reconvened in 1640 CE, they were unwilling to allow King Charles I's absolutism to continue and the English Civil War ensued, followed by King Charles I's beheading.
Following the loss of King Charles I's head in 1649 CE—which no monarch can recover from—Parliament, and more specifically Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, ruled England. Upon Cromwell's death in 1658 CE, Parliament invited Charles I's son to return from exile and resume his throne. From 1660 to 1685 CE, Charles II ruled over England exchanging political triumphs and losses with Parliament. But during the three-year period between 1679 and 1681, their relationship soured to the point that King Charles II ultimately dissolved the English Parliament. Until his death in 1685 CE, King Charles II acted as the sole governmental power of England—in other words, his was an absolute monarchy.
When King Charles II died without an heir, his brother took the crown. King James II ruled for only four years before suspicions grew regarding his interest in a return to an absolute monarchy and Catholicism. In 1688 CE, King James II lost his throne—but kept his head—during the Glorious Revolution (1688-1689 CE) led by his Protestant son-in-law and backed by Parliament. When the dust settled from the Glorious Revolution, King James II's Protestant daughter and son-in-law became co-regents of England. A coregency is a situation where two monarchs serve as rulers in a situation that usually only has one. One of the first royal acts by William and Mary was to sign the English Bill of Rights in 1689—a declaration that outlined the rights of Parliament, limited the rights of the monarchy, condemned some behaviors of the previous king, and guaranteed a few rights for English individuals based on the work of Enlightenment writer John Locke. (More on him later.) Therefore, as we enter our next period in World History, England was NOT an absolute monarchy. But the rest of Europe pretty much was to varying degrees.
Got that? See if you can keep the monarchs in order....practice with the activity below. There's a pattern, see if you can find it.
Global Economy
With ships sailing around the world carrying expensive cargoes, investors had every right to worry—cargo could be lost due to weather, poor maps, sailing error, pirates...anything really. And if a cargo was lost, the investor didn't get paid. Then, of course, there was the money that was needed up front to participate in the global trade that resulted from the Age of Exploration. Therefore, new financial practices went into effect to fund the new global economy.
Holland pioneered the new financial interactions that transformed trade. In Amsterdam, the Dutch set up a stock exchange, an exchange bank, and businesses that insured cargos. Their success led to many copycats throughout Europe. Starting with the Dutch East India Company, the joint-stock company originated. Businessmen and banks bought stocks in the company; thereby providing capital with which to start the company. The company invested the capital in ships and manpower that sailed to ports for trade. Under the influence of mercantilism, a nation established a trade monopoly at a foreign port and European companies then sailed for that port for the best trade deals. For example, the Dutch East India Company sent ships to trade along the ports in India and the Spice Islands that the Dutch controlled. The British East India Company sent its ships to those ports controlled by their business or nation. And other European nations and companies followed suit. The companies established trade monopolies in Asia, the Americas and Africa at either independent ports or colonies founded by their home nation. Through government protectionism, the company's profits increased allowing for additional investments in ships, manpower and cargo. The additions brought in more cargo and profits increased again.
But while there was a global trade between nations on all of the continents (except Australia at this time,) not everyone reaped its rewards. Local populations along European trade routes did not share in the wealth brought back to Europe. Nor did the nations that did not participate in the establishment of foreign colonies or ports. Also, by the mid-1600s, European nations competed with one another to establish trade monopolies through laws—like the English Navigation Act that declared only English boats could carry goods to and from English colonies—or through combat—as huge navies engaged in mercantilist wars that targeted other nations' ports outside of Europe.
Mercantilism, as an economic policy, was based on the notion that the world's wealth was fixed and that a nation had to compete with others to get their slice of the pie (or a bigger slice of that pie.) In order for mercantilism to work, though, an alliance developed between the state and the merchants. Merchants supplied the wealth for a state and the state provided the protection for the merchants—protections of both the physical and economic variety through navies and monopolies. Those who lost the mercantilist wars, lost their global economic influence.
These closer economic ties between continents and between merchants and states had consequences that impacted the world as it moved into an Age of Revolutions...
Isolationist Policies in Asia
As Europe developed its absolutist governments and global markets, Asia developed its isolationist policies. The Qing Dynasty of China (1644-1912 CE) was of Manchurian origin—they were foreigners among the Han Chinese. Nevertheless, the Qing Dynasty did not look to break with the Chinese tradition of ignoring most of the other continents on the planet. In fact, the Qing Dynasty found outsiders (and technically, they were also outsiders) unpleasant—especially when in the form of Christian missionaries or European merchants. In 1759, the Qing Dynasty established the Canton System to restrict European trade with China to the city of Canton. It also taxed merchants more than farmers. From 1759 to 1842 CE, China's trade with Europe followed the strictures of the Canton System. The restriction of European trade to one city in China included a requirement of European merchants to rely on Chinese merchants as guarantors of good behavior and fee payments to the Chinese government. These policies frustrated Europeans who wanted more but came at a time when Europe still needed China more than the reverse during the Chinese "Age of Prosperity." But as with all "ages" in history, this one ended too.
Meanwhile, Japan developed its own isolationist policy against Christian missionaries and European traders. In 1635 CE, the Tokugawa Shogunate instituted the National Seclusion Policy. Under this policy, only Dutch traders were allowed to maintain a European presence on the Japanese islands; but they were restricted to Nagasaki and could only load and unload one ship per year. Europeans continued their pursuit of Japanese trade, but met with little success. For example, sixty years after the National Seclusion Policy went into effect, Russia attempted to open trade with an island near Japan that was not technically part of the nation. Recognizing that such a close proximity of trade threatened Japan's isolation, Japan simply took over the island and incorporated it under the National Seclusion Policy's umbrella. Thus, Japan maintained its authority on trading rights within and nearby its nation for centuries.
With this backdrop in mind, you are ready to enter the next phase of world history—a phase filled with revolutionary thinking, spending, voting, trading, fighting and existing.
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