Western Civilization I / Unit 16 WC1 1505 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Portuguese Sea Empire: Forts, Cannon, Monopoly
Captions available
The idea
Portugal built fortified trading posts, Goa, Malacca and Hormuz among them, and enforced a monopoly on the sea route to Europe with cannon-armed ships against merchants who had never armed theirs. The Indian Ocean's own trade continued around them.
In practice
Forts and monopoly, not territory.
Where people slip
A network, not an empire of land. Video 1520 shows who took it.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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