Social Sciences and History / Unit 4 SSH 0316 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Comparing Two Empires on Purpose, Method, Cost
The idea
The exam contrasts the Spanish empire of the sixteenth century with the Dutch and British trade empires of the seventeenth, and three questions sort them. Purpose: Spain sought bullion and converts; the trade empires sought commodities and profit. Method: Spain conquered by force and alliance, extracted the royal fifth, and imposed forced labor; the Dutch and British chartered monopoly companies, built exchanges and banks, and passed navigation laws, using force where the monopoly was challenged. Cost: for native peoples, Spain's conquest was catastrophe, the Great Dying and the mita; for Africans, the trade empires' plantations created the Atlantic slave trade. For Spain itself, bullion bred stagnation; for the Netherlands and Britain, commerce bred capitalism and stronger states.
In practice
Given "an empire whose wealth flowed from a single silver mountain", Spain, Potosí. Given "an empire whose wealth flowed from a chartered company's monopoly on Asian trade", Dutch or British, and sixteen oh two makes it Dutch. Given "an empire whose home economy failed to develop despite enormous inflows", Spain. Given "an empire that won its Indian foothold with a small force and local mercenaries", Britain at Plassey.
Where people slip
The trap is separating trade from violence. The anchor is explicit that the trade empires warred constantly and that their commodity economy rested on enslaved labor. Method differed; coercion did not disappear.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it