European States and Empires

Next: Madame de Graffigny, Letters of a Peruvian Woman (1747). Study Questions: What attitudes toward Amerindians do you find expressed in the novel? How do they compare with other, earlier attitudes we've studied? What historical issues do you find in the novel? What insights into French/European life in the 18th century do you find? What makes the novel a work of the early Enlightenment?

European States and Competition for Empire
Chronlogy	Change or persistance in attitudes of Europeans and Amerindians, 1492-1700 the native peoples of the Caribbean and Mexico in the 1492 and the 1520s the Huron and Micmac of the Northeastern woodlands during the 1630s and 1690s
	Major changes in the World System, 1500-1750 (Marks)
	Polycentric "worlds" of 1400s become connected into a single world system via new linkages begun with the voyages of Columbus and the European relations with the Americas Continued growth Empires outside of Europe--Russia, China, and the Islamic Empires under rules of Turkish orgin: Mughal India, Safavid Iran, and Ottoman middle East. In the Americas, the Aztec and Incan empires. The development of the European state system, a collection of relatively small and competitive sovereign states whose power was based on war.
	"Conquest" of the Americas and the Spanish Empire in the 16th century, 1520s on Columbian Exchange The Great Dying: ex. Mexico from 25 million in 1519 to 2.7 million ca. 1570, 750,000 ca. 1670. Organization of labor in encomienda (estate farms) and repartimento (controlled towns) Discover of Silver leads to deeper linkage of Euro-America with China and Asia. Collapse of Spanish Empire by 1648 The "New World" Economy (sugar and slavery promote the accumulation of wealth) The European State System 30 Years' War 1618-1648 War of Austrian Succession (1740-46) Seven Years' War (1754-1763) The first war for global empire. The American War of Independence 1776-83 State finance: how to raise money to fight wars? Mercantilism Taxation & extraction

European States in the 17th and 18th centuries: Competition for Power and Empire

Generalization: In Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, monarchs and rulers sought to increase their power both domestically within their own states and internationally by adding to their territories and populations. Both in consolidating their power internally and expanding their power externally, they employed three aspects of state-building: control, extraction, and integration.

Assess this generalization by marshaling specific evidence that supports or questions it.

Key Concepts:

Consolidation of Power

within an existing state

o Control

o Extraction

o Integration

Examples

Accumulation of Power

through the addition of new territory, population, and resources

Model of State formation

European States considered to be Great Powers