The Human Web: Class Notes
Part VI – Spinning the worldwide web (1450-1800)
Beginning in around 1450, peoples of the earth increasingly formed a more single community o This process is known as “globalization”
As globalization continued, the process of specialization of labor became global
The World’s Webs as of 1450
The web was created by migration, trade, missionary work, technology transfer, biological exchange, and military conquest o Encompassed Russia up to Siberia, Korea & Japan, England, Northern & Eastern Africa (but not far from the coast).
There were two main trunk lines for trade: o The Silk Road: from N. China to the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
This route declined due to conquering tribes creating fragmentation o By Sea: Korea, Japan, & China through SE Asian Isles, to the Persian Gulf & Red Sea
The Eastern and Western extremities of the web strengthened due to shared advances in ship design and navigational skills o The rewards to trade of goods became greater, even in the case of bulk items like grain, salt, and timber o Inland waterways allowed for bulk trade to the interior o Due to rain patterns and lack of rivers, southwestern Asia and eastern Africa benefited less from these improvements and still relied heavily on overland caravans
In the Pacific web, the reasons for the web were more political than commercial o Caused by the similarities between the islands, combined with the vast distances between
The American web stretched from the Great Lakes to the southern Andes o Encompassed anywhere from 40-60 million people o Water transport was important o Two nodes: central Mexico (Aztec) and Peru (Inca)
Aztec: Politically only influenced central Mexico, but culturally, influenced from Mexico to the Mississippi basin and southeastern woodlands of North America
Inca: Influence spread from southern Columbia through northern Argentina and Chile both politically and culturally.
• Built overland road network of 15000-25000 miles
o
Beginning in around 1450, peoples of the earth increasingly formed a more single community o This process is known as “globalization”
As globalization continued, the process of specialization of labor became global
The World’s Webs as of 1450
The web was created by migration, trade, missionary work, technology transfer, biological exchange, and military conquest o Encompassed Russia up to Siberia, Korea & Japan, England, Northern & Eastern Africa (but not far from the coast).
There were two main trunk lines for trade: o The Silk Road: from N. China to the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
This route declined due to conquering tribes creating fragmentation o By Sea: Korea, Japan, & China through SE Asian Isles, to the Persian Gulf & Red Sea
The Eastern and Western extremities of the web strengthened due to shared advances in ship design and navigational skills o The rewards to trade of goods became greater, even in the case of bulk items like grain, salt, and timber o Inland waterways allowed for bulk trade to the interior o Due to rain patterns and lack of rivers, southwestern Asia and eastern Africa benefited less from these improvements and still relied heavily on overland caravans
In the Pacific web, the reasons for the web were more political than commercial o Caused by the similarities between the islands, combined with the vast distances between
The American web stretched from the Great Lakes to the southern Andes o Encompassed anywhere from 40-60 million people o Water transport was important o Two nodes: central Mexico (Aztec) and Peru (Inca)
Aztec: Politically only influenced central Mexico, but culturally, influenced from Mexico to the Mississippi basin and southeastern woodlands of North America
Inca: Influence spread from southern Columbia through northern Argentina and Chile both politically and culturally.
• Built overland road network of 15000-25000 miles
o