Vol. I Chapter 1
Europe at the Dawn of the Modern Era
The first chapter is an extensive history of the development of feudalism and mercantilsm in Europe. It is impossible to do it justice here by trying to summarize the whole chapter. In short, during the Middle Ages, many people lived under feudalism. This was subsistence-level living, where the virtually enslaved serfs worked to support the feudal estate. However there were some islands of freedom such as the Italian towns that were involved in a revival of industry and world trade. The trade and freedom of these towns led to general overall prosperity.
This prosperity was a tempting target for the lords of the nation-states such as France and England. The leaders in these nations wanted to get a share of this wealth to support an expanding state apparatus and for making war. The plundering of this wealth from Jewish merchants and Italian bankers, for example, brought prosperity to a halt around the 14th century. The state granted monopolies to insure collection of taxes, stifling innovation and consumer choice. Profits were guaranteed for the monopolists.
When the burden of monopolies gets too high, people resort to smuggling to evade the high taxes and restrictions on trade. This then requires law enforcement to catch people. Special admiralty courts were set up in England to evade the common-law requirement of trial by jury, since juries were often sympathetic with the accused.
Mercantilism disrupted the voluntary trade and harmonious relations between towns and states, and instead introduced hostility.
The Spanish treatment of the Moors during the reconquest of Spain, and English treatment of the Irish set the pattern for behavior in the New World -- serfdom, violence, and enslavement of lower caste types by the rulers.
There is much more in this chapter on trade, exploration, and developments in the New World.
The first chapter is an extensive history of the development of feudalism and mercantilsm in Europe. It is impossible to do it justice here by trying to summarize the whole chapter. In short, during the Middle Ages, many people lived under feudalism. This was subsistence-level living, where the virtually enslaved serfs worked to support the feudal estate. However there were some islands of freedom such as the Italian towns that were involved in a revival of industry and world trade. The trade and freedom of these towns led to general overall prosperity.
This prosperity was a tempting target for the lords of the nation-states such as France and England. The leaders in these nations wanted to get a share of this wealth to support an expanding state apparatus and for making war. The plundering of this wealth from Jewish merchants and Italian bankers, for example, brought prosperity to a halt around the 14th century. The state granted monopolies to insure collection of taxes, stifling innovation and consumer choice. Profits were guaranteed for the monopolists.
When the burden of monopolies gets too high, people resort to smuggling to evade the high taxes and restrictions on trade. This then requires law enforcement to catch people. Special admiralty courts were set up in England to evade the common-law requirement of trial by jury, since juries were often sympathetic with the accused.
Mercantilism disrupted the voluntary trade and harmonious relations between towns and states, and instead introduced hostility.
The Spanish treatment of the Moors during the reconquest of Spain, and English treatment of the Irish set the pattern for behavior in the New World -- serfdom, violence, and enslavement of lower caste types by the rulers.
There is much more in this chapter on trade, exploration, and developments in the New World.
posted by Jason Livermore at 9:08 PM
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