Proto-globalization or early modern globalization is a period of the history of globalization roughly spanning the years between 1500 and 1800, following the period of archaic globalization. First introduced by historians A. G. Hopkins and Christopher Bayly, the term describes the phase of increasing trade links and cultural exchange that characterized the period immediately preceding the advent of so-called "modern globalization" in the 19th century.
Proto-globalization distinguished itself from modern globalization on the basis of expansionism, the method of managing global trade, and the level of information exchange. The period is marked by the shift of hegemony to Western Europe, the rise of larger-scale conflicts between powerful nations such as the Thirty Years' War, and demand for commodities, most particularly slaves. The triangular trade made it possible for Europe to take advantage of resources within the western hemisphere. The transfer of plant and animal crops and epidemic diseases associated with Alfred Crosby's concept of the Columbian exchange also played a central role in this process. Proto-globalization trade and communications involved a vast group including European, Middle Eastern, Indian, Southeast Asian, and Chinese merchants, particularly in the Indian Ocean region.
The transition from proto-globalization to modern globalization was marked by a more complex global network based on both capitalistic and technological exchange; however, it led to a significant collapse in cultural exchange.
Description Although the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries saw a rise in Western imperialism in the world system, the period of proto-globalization involved increased interaction between Western Europe and the systems that had formed between nations in East Asia and the Middle East.. Proto-globalization was a period of reconciling the governments and traditional systems of individual nations, world regions, and religions with the "new world order" of global trade, imperialism and political alliances, what historian A. G. Hopkins called "the product of the contemporary world and the product of distant past."
According to Hopkins, "globalization remains an incomplete process: it promotes fragmentation as well as uniformity; it may recede as well as advance; its geographical scope may exhibit a strong regional bias; its future direction and speed cannot be predicted with confidence—and certainly not by presuming that it has an 'inner logic' of its own. Before proto-globalization, globalizing networks were the product of "great kings and warriors searching for wealth and honor in fabulous lands, by religious wanderers,...and by merchant princes".. Proto-globalization held on to and matured many aspects of archaic globalization such as the importance of cities, migrants, and specialization of labor..
Proto-globalization was also marked by two main political and economic developments: "the reconfiguration of the state systems, and the growth of finance, services, and pre-industrial manufacturing".. A number of states at the time began to "strengthen their connections between territory, taxation, and sovereignty" despite their continuing monopoly of loyalties from their citizens. The process of globalization during this time was heavily focused on material world and the labor needed for its production.. The proto-globalization period was a time of "improved efficiency in the transactions sector" with the generation of goods such as sugar, tobacco, tea, coffee, and opium unlike anything the archaic globalization possessed. The improvement of economic management also spread to the expansion of transportation which created a complex set of connection between the West and East. The expansion of trade routes led to the "green revolution" based on the plantation system and slave exportation from Africa.
Precursors
During the pre-modern era early forms of globalization were already beginning to affect a world-system, marking a period that historian A. G. Hopkins has called archaic globalization. The world system leading up to proto-globalization was one that hinged on one or more hegemonic powers assimilating neighboring cultures into their political system, waging war on other nations, and dominating world trade..
A major hegemony in archaic globalization was the Roman Empire, which united the Greater Mediterranean Area and Western Europe through a long-running series of military and political campaigns expanding the Roman system of government and Roman values to more underdeveloped areas. Conquered areas became provinces of the empire and Roman military outposts in the provinces became cities with structures designed by the best Roman architects, which hastened the spread of Rome's "modern" way of life while absorbing the traditions and beliefs of these native cultures.. Nationalist ideology as well as propaganda supporting the Roman Army and military success, bravery, and valor also strengthened the Roman Empire's spread across Western Europe and the Mediterranean Area.. The Roman Empire's well-built aqueducts and cities and sturdy, effective naval fleets, ships and an organized system of paved roads also facilitated fast, easy travel and better networking and trade with neighboring nations and the provinces..
During the Han dynasty under Han Wudi (141–87 BCE), the Chinese government united and became powerful enough that China began to successfully indulge in imperialistic endeavors with its neighboring nations in East Asia.. Han China's imperialism was a peaceful tributary system, which focused mainly on diplomatic and trade relations.. The growth of the Han Empire facilitated trade and cultural exchange with virtually all of the known world as reached from Asia, and Chinese silk spread through Asia and Inner Asia and even to Rome.. The early Tang dynasty saw China as even more responsive to foreign influence and the Tang dynasty becoming a great empire.. Overseas trade with India and the Middle East grew rapidly, and China's East and Southern Coasts, once distant and unimportant regions, gradually became chief areas of foreign trade.. During the Song dynasty China's navy became more powerful thanks to technological improvements in shipbuilding and navigation, and China's maritime commerce also increased exponentially..
China's power began to decline in the 16th century when the rulers of the subsequent Ming dynasty neglected the importance of China's trade from sea power. The Ming rulers let China's naval dominance and its grip on the spice trade slacken, and the European powers stepped in. Portugal, with its technological advances in naval architecture, weaponry, seamanship and navigation, took over the spice trade. With this, European imperialism and the age of European hegemony was beginning, although China still retained power of many of its areas of trade..
Changes in trade systems One of the most significant differences between proto-globalization and archaic globalization was the switch from inter-nation trading of rarities to the trading of commodities. During the 12th and 13th centuries it was common to trade items that were foreign and rare to different cultures. A popular trade during archaic globalization involved European merchants sailing to areas of India or China in order to purchase luxury items such as porcelain, silk, and spices. Traders of the pre-modern period also traded drugs and certain foods such as sugarcane and other crops..
While these items were not rarities as such, the drugs and food traded were valued for the health and function of the human body. It was more common during proto-globalization to trade various commodities such as cotton, rice, and tobacco.
The shift into proto-globalization trade signified the "emergence of the modern international order" and the development of early capitalist expansion which began in the Atlantic during the 17th century and spread throughout the world by 1830..
Atlantic slave trade
One of the main reasons for the rise of commodities was the rise in the slave trade, specifically the Atlantic slave trade. The use of slaves prior to the 15th century was only a minor practice in the labor force and was not crucial in the development of products and goods; but, due to labor shortage, the use of slaves rose.. After 1500, the settlement of island despots and plantation centers in São Tomé began trade relations with the Kingdom of Kongo, which brought Central Africa into the Atlantic slave trade.. The Portuguese maintained an export of slaves from Agadir, an Atlantic port, which they maintained for most of the early 16th century.. The Portuguese settlement of the Brazilian subcontinent has also opened the American slave market, allowing the direct shipment of slaves from São Tomé to America. European slave ships took their slaves to the Iberian Peninsula, however slave owners in Europe were only seen in wealthy, aristocrat families due to the high costs of slaves and the cheap peasant labor available for agricultural uses, and as its name implies the first use of the African American slaves in plantation work arose in the Atlantic islands not in the continental Europe.. Approximately 10.2 million Africans survived the Atlantic crossing between 1450 and 1870.. The large slave population thrived due to the demand for production from the Europeans who found it cheaper to import crops and goods rather than produce them on their own..
Many wars were fought during the 17th century between the slave trading companies for areas that were economically dependent on slaves. The Dutch West India Company (GWC) gained many slaves through these wars (specifically with Portugal) by captains who had captured enemy ships; between 1623 and 1637, 2,336 were captured and sold in the New World by the GWC.. The selling of slaves to the New World opened up trading posts in North America; the Dutch opened their first on Manhattan Island in 1613. The GWC had also opened a trading post in the Caribbean and the company was also carrying slaves to the colony of New Netherland.
The use of slaves had many benefits to the economies and productions in the areas of trade. The emergent rise of coffee, tea, and chocolate in Europe led to the demand for the production of sugar; 70 percent of slaves were used solely for the labor-intensive production of crop.. Slave trade was also beneficial to the trade voyages, because the constant sailing allowed investors to buy small shares of many ships at the same time.. Hopkin states that many scholars, him among them, argue that slave trade was essential to the wealth of many nations, during and after proto-globalization, and without the trade production would have plummeted. The investment in ships and nautical technology was the catalyst to the complex trade networks developed throughout proto-globalization and into modern globalization.
Plantation economy
Consequently, the rise of slavery was due to the increasing rise of crops being produced and traded, more specifically the rise of the plantation economy The rise of the plantations was the main reason for the trade of commodities during proto-globalization. Plantations were used by the exporting countries (mainly America) to grow the raw materials needed to manufacture the goods which were traded back into the plantation economy. Commodities that grew in trade due to the plantation economy were mainly tobacco, cotton, sugarcane, and rubber.
Tobacco
During the second half of the 16th century, Europeans' interest in the New World revolved around gold and silver and not tobacco. The European lack of interest in tobacco was due to the fact that the Amerindians controlled the tobacco industry; as long as the Amerindians controlled the supply there was no need for the incorporation in European commercial capitalism..