The Modern World: Global History since 1760
Video Lectures
Week 1: 1760-1800
The Study of History
Just figuring out what actually happened can be very difficult, even for very recent events.
The Great Divide
The traditional world, not much changes from generation to generation. But in the modern world, there is much change.
Malthusian Trap: more population with the same amount of stuff means less stuff to go around.
The Traditional and the Modern
- Natural (muscle, wind, water) → Manmade energy
- rural, agricultural → urban, industrial
- static wealth, subsistence → growth, surplus
- unstable lives, stable communities → longer, more secure lives, unstable communities
- faith → science
- local identity/culture → mass identity/culture
- weak kingdoms → strong states
The Great Divide-Why?
Prior to 1700, the most powerful empires were concentrated around Eurasia. The Holy Roman empire is weak by comparison.
Example: around 1700, Europeans were the greatest clock-makers in the world. This translated into an advantage in ocean navigation.
The World of 1760
Lots of slavery. Gunpowder, New World.
The Commercial Revolution
The rise and fall of kingdoms and empires actually has very little effect on the lives of most people is unaffected. The commercial revolution actually changed peoples lives. From tools to jobs and even the food eaten.
Things in the New World
- Sugar
- Coffee
- Tobacco
- Silver & Gold
- Land
- Prestige
- New Markets (the other colonists)
In North America there are primary settler colonies (as opposed to plantation colonies).
For this to work, you need:
- Ships → shipyards
- Science → Royal Academies
- Finance → Companies and banks
- Labor → colonists and slaves
- Protection → armies and navies
Collectively, this became the Mercantile Fiscal-Military State. The king grants trade monopolies to companies. The companies go to banks for finance. The bank earns interest, the company earns profits and the king get taxes and can request loans. This reduces the kings reliance on nobles and landowners for income and gives him more wealth to build stronger armies and navies.