University of California: ANTHRO 41A FINAL LATEST 2021/2022
Fall of Aztec & Incan Empires
● Led to an influx of enormous amounts of wealth into Europe
● Spain become first European “superpower” with Emperor Charles I as its
ruler
● Disease is one of the primary reasons that these American empires fell to
the Spanish conquistadors
● The Spanish were able to make alliances with local groups (such as the
Tlaxcalans) who sent huge armies that gave the Spanish a huge military
advantage
Hernando Cortez
● Leader of a Spanish group who left Cuba insearch of a route to China/India
● They thought Cuba was actually in Southeast Asia
● Cortez and his men arrived in Mexico in 1519, the same year that a god,
Quetzalcoatl, twwas predicted to arrive in the Aztec astrological calendar
● The Aztecs thought Cortez might possibly be this god and sent him gifts
● The Aztec Empire would later be destroyed by Cortez and his
Tlaxcalan allies (the Tlaxcalans had an army of 149.000 and they
hated the Aztecs) after the Aztec population had been devastated by
European diseases
Reasons for Aztec Conquest
● There are a number of reasons that the Aztec Empire fell to the Spanish
● Some of the key reasons include the fact that due to the timing of
Cortez’s arrival, the Aztec’s did not initially attack him but rather gave
him gifts of gold and welcomed him into their capital (due to the
Quetzalcoatl legend)
● After Cortez and his men fled the Aztec city, the Aztec themselves lost
over 75% of their population due to European diseases
● When Cortez returned months later, he had a huge army of Tlaxcalans who
laid siege to the city for 80 days and starved many of the remaining Aztecs
Eurocentric Economy
● Blaut argues that with the conquest of the Americas, Europe gains a
huge economic advantage relative to other parts of the globe
● The global economic center shifts from the Indian Ocean to Europe,
especially as Europe uses its American wealth to gradually take control
, of the trade centers in the Indian Ocean region
Ming Dynasty and Admiral Zheng He
● The Mongol (Yuan) Dynasty of China that had been established by Kublai
Khan in the 13th century was overthrown about a century later by the
Ming dynasty
● The Ming dynasty was found by a peasant rebel who overthrew the
Mongols in 1368 and became known as the Hongwu Emperor
● The early Ming emperors generally rejected the negative view of merchants
promoted by Confucianism and expanded trade throughout China and Asia
during the late 1300s and early 1400s
● The Ming dynasty also established a huge Chinese naval fleet that explored
the Indian
, Ocean, sailed to Africa and protected merchants from piracy especially
so under the leadership of Admiral Zheng He
● Due in part to the huge navy built by the Ming, China became a global
superpower at this time and maintained the largest navy in the world in
the early 1400s as well as the enormous army
● China also signed treaties and created military and economic alliances
with 36 other kingdoms in throughout SE Asia and around the Indian
Ocean during the reign of the second Ming Emperor known as the
Yongle Emperor
● However, after the deaths of Emperor Yongle and Admiral Zheng He the
Chinese navy fell into decline
● The Ming dynasty, facing ongoing struggles against the Mongols (who
were hoping to retake the throne) lost its focus on external,
international relationships
● When the Portuguese and other Europeans begin to appear and take
colonies in the Indian Ocean in the 1500s, the Ming dynasty no longer
maintained a significant navy that would have been able to halt the
growth of European colonialism in the region
Protocapitalism to Capitalism
● Blaut argues that the new wealth from the Americas allows Europe to
develop a growing middle class who will take political power for
themselves and will ultimately develop the feudal states of Europe into a
set of “capitalist” states
Max Weber & Rise of Capitalism
● Unlike Blaut, Weber argues that the wealth flowing into Europe from
the American colonies was not enough in itself to cause Europe to
end feudalism and develop “capitalism”
● Instead, Weber argued that people in Europe had to develop a set of moral
ideas/beliefs whereby they believed that it was acceptable to overthrow
the traditional rulers (kings, nobility, pope) and insist that the middle
classes hold political power
● Weber further noticed that the transition to capitalism happened in
Europe first in the Protestant nations, then later in the Catholic nations
● Therefore, Weber argues there must be something about Protestant
attitudes that encouraged the development of capitalism
● Weber stated that it was the Protestants who first started challenging the
, power of the traditional rulers (popes, then kings and other nobility) and
their beliefs would pave the way for a new capitalist state system that
would replace the traditional feudal/tributary system
Protestants - 3 Key Groups
● Protestants believe that the pope is not God’s representative and
“protest” the pope’s claim to authority
● Martin Luther produced the first wave of Protestants
● King Henry VIII of England created a second wave of Protestants when
he declared England was no longer Catholic (became Anglican) and was
not subject to the pope’s authority so that he could divorce his first wife
Fall of Aztec & Incan Empires
● Led to an influx of enormous amounts of wealth into Europe
● Spain become first European “superpower” with Emperor Charles I as its
ruler
● Disease is one of the primary reasons that these American empires fell to
the Spanish conquistadors
● The Spanish were able to make alliances with local groups (such as the
Tlaxcalans) who sent huge armies that gave the Spanish a huge military
advantage
Hernando Cortez
● Leader of a Spanish group who left Cuba insearch of a route to China/India
● They thought Cuba was actually in Southeast Asia
● Cortez and his men arrived in Mexico in 1519, the same year that a god,
Quetzalcoatl, twwas predicted to arrive in the Aztec astrological calendar
● The Aztecs thought Cortez might possibly be this god and sent him gifts
● The Aztec Empire would later be destroyed by Cortez and his
Tlaxcalan allies (the Tlaxcalans had an army of 149.000 and they
hated the Aztecs) after the Aztec population had been devastated by
European diseases
Reasons for Aztec Conquest
● There are a number of reasons that the Aztec Empire fell to the Spanish
● Some of the key reasons include the fact that due to the timing of
Cortez’s arrival, the Aztec’s did not initially attack him but rather gave
him gifts of gold and welcomed him into their capital (due to the
Quetzalcoatl legend)
● After Cortez and his men fled the Aztec city, the Aztec themselves lost
over 75% of their population due to European diseases
● When Cortez returned months later, he had a huge army of Tlaxcalans who
laid siege to the city for 80 days and starved many of the remaining Aztecs
Eurocentric Economy
● Blaut argues that with the conquest of the Americas, Europe gains a
huge economic advantage relative to other parts of the globe
● The global economic center shifts from the Indian Ocean to Europe,
especially as Europe uses its American wealth to gradually take control
, of the trade centers in the Indian Ocean region
Ming Dynasty and Admiral Zheng He
● The Mongol (Yuan) Dynasty of China that had been established by Kublai
Khan in the 13th century was overthrown about a century later by the
Ming dynasty
● The Ming dynasty was found by a peasant rebel who overthrew the
Mongols in 1368 and became known as the Hongwu Emperor
● The early Ming emperors generally rejected the negative view of merchants
promoted by Confucianism and expanded trade throughout China and Asia
during the late 1300s and early 1400s
● The Ming dynasty also established a huge Chinese naval fleet that explored
the Indian
, Ocean, sailed to Africa and protected merchants from piracy especially
so under the leadership of Admiral Zheng He
● Due in part to the huge navy built by the Ming, China became a global
superpower at this time and maintained the largest navy in the world in
the early 1400s as well as the enormous army
● China also signed treaties and created military and economic alliances
with 36 other kingdoms in throughout SE Asia and around the Indian
Ocean during the reign of the second Ming Emperor known as the
Yongle Emperor
● However, after the deaths of Emperor Yongle and Admiral Zheng He the
Chinese navy fell into decline
● The Ming dynasty, facing ongoing struggles against the Mongols (who
were hoping to retake the throne) lost its focus on external,
international relationships
● When the Portuguese and other Europeans begin to appear and take
colonies in the Indian Ocean in the 1500s, the Ming dynasty no longer
maintained a significant navy that would have been able to halt the
growth of European colonialism in the region
Protocapitalism to Capitalism
● Blaut argues that the new wealth from the Americas allows Europe to
develop a growing middle class who will take political power for
themselves and will ultimately develop the feudal states of Europe into a
set of “capitalist” states
Max Weber & Rise of Capitalism
● Unlike Blaut, Weber argues that the wealth flowing into Europe from
the American colonies was not enough in itself to cause Europe to
end feudalism and develop “capitalism”
● Instead, Weber argued that people in Europe had to develop a set of moral
ideas/beliefs whereby they believed that it was acceptable to overthrow
the traditional rulers (kings, nobility, pope) and insist that the middle
classes hold political power
● Weber further noticed that the transition to capitalism happened in
Europe first in the Protestant nations, then later in the Catholic nations
● Therefore, Weber argues there must be something about Protestant
attitudes that encouraged the development of capitalism
● Weber stated that it was the Protestants who first started challenging the
, power of the traditional rulers (popes, then kings and other nobility) and
their beliefs would pave the way for a new capitalist state system that
would replace the traditional feudal/tributary system
Protestants - 3 Key Groups
● Protestants believe that the pope is not God’s representative and
“protest” the pope’s claim to authority
● Martin Luther produced the first wave of Protestants
● King Henry VIII of England created a second wave of Protestants when
he declared England was no longer Catholic (became Anglican) and was
not subject to the pope’s authority so that he could divorce his first wife
