Origins of the Modern World: Trade, Colonialism, and Industrialization

The Biological Old Regime and Population Growth

The biological old regime describes the way people made their livelihoods and achieved their status through interactions with the land. In the 1400s, the global population was approximately 350 million people, 80% of whom were peasants — a figure representing about six percent of what would become a global population of roughly 6 billion. Between 1400 and 1800, the population doubled, reaching approximately 720 to 750 million people. With so many people dependent on farming — producing crops for subsistence and selling agricultural surplus to non-agricultural populations — growth was constrained. The amount of arable land available determined the productivity of the land, with both factors working in tandem to influence population size.

The people living on the land adapted to their environment, with population growth serving as an indicator of adaptive success. The degree of intensification that could be accomplished was a function of the carrying capacity of the land. One difficulty is that as a population grows — indicating successful adaptation to the attributes of the land — it can increase so much, or so fast, that the land and the systems enabling people to benefit from it become overwhelmed. At some point, the demands of the population exceed the capacity of the land to meet them.

One critical way that population demands impact the land's capacity is through climate change. Pre-modern populations increased around the world, and industrialization altered the way huge masses of people made their livings. New and more efficient methods of transportation enabled global trade networks to be established. New food crops and trade in agricultural commodities were also part of these changes, placing new demands on the land — such as irrigation systems and concentrations of single crop types, which increased vulnerability to plant disease.

Population patterns of density and dispersal are integral to concepts of adaptability. In the 1400s, the most densely populated areas corresponded to civilizations considered the most highly developed — approximately fifteen specific civilizations and regions are recognized in this group. Because of the favorable attributes of particular regions of dry land mass, the population in the 1400s clustered on about seven percent of the earth's land surface, or 4.25 million square miles out of a total 60 million. Remarkably, 70% of the 2003 global population still inhabited the same seven percent of land. The most densely populated centers were — and remain — China, at 25 to 40% of the global population; Europe, at 25%; and India, at 20%.

Early Trade Networks and Global Subsystems

The congregation of populations in disparate regions created conditions for the development of trading systems. The systems that characterized the post-1500s arose out of the older order; specialization, such as that which developed from new agricultural crops and methods, was associated with increased productivity and population growth. Marked inequality was also shaped by factors such as access to and control of water, geography and negotiated egress, and tribal affiliations and territorialism.

Three dominant trade systems developed, establishing linkage and overlap driven fundamentally by population clusters and natural trade routes. North and West Africa linked with the Middle East and European systems; East Africa linked with the East Asian system. The Middle East — known as the Mongolian subsystem — included central Asia and India, and connected the eastern Mediterranean with Eurasia. The European subsystem consisted of the core areas of the Italian city-states. The East Asian subsystem included China, equatorial Southeast Asia, and the Indonesia–Malaysia archipelago, known as the Spice Islands.

Three primary trade routes developed to facilitate exchanges between these subsystems. The northern route was the Silk Road. The central route ran from Baghdad through the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. The southern route ran from Cairo through the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. The intense trade relations that developed from these early routes were part of three substantive developments that ushered in the new world of 1500 to 1775: access to goods through trade, access to raw materials through conquest, and the sustained growth of empires. Sovereign states grew during this period; interstate war occurred in Europe, and competition through mercantilism intensified as national economic development was favored. These factors played strongly in the emergence of the future global political order.

Mercantilism, Colonialism, and the Shift in Economic Power

Compared to Asia during the period from 1500 to 1800, Europe experienced a substantial competitive disadvantage. European regions suffered from less productive agriculture and political fragmentation. Interstate warfare resulted in the consolidation of 500 states into just 30, and substantially reduced populations. Europe also produced lower economic and manufacturing output. The production of porcelain, spices, stimulants, and textiles in Asia accounted for roughly two-thirds of all global manufacturing output at the time. Europeans focused on several appealing exports, such as fish, linen, meat, timber, and woolens.

The biological old regime resulted in limits to growth by the 1700s. Empires had become unstable, there was a shortage of land, and the militarization of European trade constrained market specialization. The new world economy was associated with an altered balance of economic power between Asians and Europeans, and essentially set the stage for the Industrial Revolution — what is known as the era of coal and colonies.

The colonies produced riches in the form of agricultural commodities such as cotton, sugar, and tobacco, which were the fruit of slave labor and the plantation system. The actions of colonists and traders resulted in a substantial biological exchange known as the Columbian Exchange, which spread Old World biological material across the globe. The purposes of these exchanges were biological, economic, nationalistic, and religious — encompassing the expansion of empires, the conversion of indigenous peoples, and profit.

Mineral wealth — particularly gold bullion and silver amassed during interstate wars — enabled Europeans to participate in East Asian trade. In this way, Europeans increased their wealth and power even while cash-strapped from interstate wars and dependent on Asian imports that created trade imbalances. Mercantilism continued as the dominant capitalist ideology until the 1800s. States gained increasing control of trade and oversaw the emergence of monopolistic charters for joint-stock companies such as the East India Company. Tariffs were levied on imported goods, fostering local manufacturing and the extraction of raw materials for self-sufficiency — both of which were important to colonialism. Military force was used to compete effectively for resources, and imperial rivalry intensified accordingly.

References

Marks, R. B. The Origins of the Modern World, 2nd ed. Rowman & Littlefield.

Mintz, S. 1985. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. Viking.