The Making of a Market Part

1
The Making of a MarketPart 1 Aztec
TradersPart 2 Brazilwood

• Source
• The World that Trade Created by Pomeranz and Topik

2
European Interests in Americas 1500-1600s

• Economic activities are SOCIAL actsthey bring
  together groups of people who often have
  different cultural understandings of PRODUCTION,
  CONSTUMPTION and TRADE.
• As Europeans arrived in the Americans they were
  confronted with very complex trade networks that
  were already established.

3
- PART 1 Aztec Traders prior to European
arrival

• Aztec Empire had long distant trade
• Tenochtitlan (todays Mexico City) hosted 10,000
  shoppers and sellers at a time.
• Traded as far north as New Mexico and as far
  south as Nicaragua.
• Long distant trade was different than local
  market trade of cities. It was more for political
  ties than for monetary gain.

TENOCHTITLAN
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2000 MILES OF TRADE

• Turquoise and Silver were traded from New Mexico.
  
• Bowls, Knives, Combs, and
• featherwork from Tenochtitlan.
• Southern neighbors Rubber,
• Chocolate, jaguar pelts, honey,
• cacao, obsidian, gold.
• What do you notice about these goods?
• Luxury Items for political benefit!
• Thousands of humans carried the loads on their
  backs through mountains and deserts.

5
So how did Europeans penetrate this complex
network?!!!

• Native trade routes in Asia, Middle East and
  Africa continued to prosper as Europeans
  arrived.
• Why did the indigenous people
• of America quickly and
  easily
• give up their trade?
• There seems to be 2
  reasons

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Reason 1

• Aztec commerce wasnt commodity commerce (they
  werent in it for monetary gain).
• Trade wasnt private propertyit was done for
  political gain by government officials (tribute
  goods).
• Therefore when the political empire was corrupted
  by the Spanish, there was no need to keep
  trading.
• With no tribute to be givenno trade was needed.

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Reason 2

• With the conquest by the Spanish, along came
  destruction of big cities and trading hubs.
• Tenochtitlan had 50,000 inhabitants 10x the
  size of any Spanish city. Large numbers of these
  people died or were displaced.
• The Spanish were NOT interested in many of the
  tribute items like jaguar pelts and featherwork.
• Those items that did interest them
• (gold and cacao) were soon produced
• under Spanish control.

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Conclusion.

• In a few short years, Aztec people were
  marginalized from their native economy.
• Something to remember Global trade not only
  created commercial networks, it also destroyed
  them!

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PART 2 Brazilwood

• Pau Brazil (Brazilwood) attracted European
  interest.
• Pau Brazil was a wood used for dye.
• The boom of its harvest was brief but difficult.
• Tropical Rainforest wood large trees had to be
  cut and transported.
• Portuguese werent there to do heavy laborthey
  also found it difficult to induce the local
  population to work for them.

Portuguese Empire at time of Brazilwood Golden
Age Lisbon was the richest city in the Europe
at this time.
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The Tupi People

• Semi nomadic hunting, fishing,
• gathering
• These people were backward to
• the Portuguese because they didnt
• pay taxes or work for others.
• Engaged in little trade and only produced simple
  artifacts.
• Trade was more of a competition than need.
• They didnt understand need the European need for
  Brazilwood.
• Dont you have wood in your own country?

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To convince the Tupi.

• To convince the Tupi to sweat and toil carrying
  heavy logs, they needed to create a demand.
• Some Europeans went Native and lived within the
  Tupi people.
• They offered steel swords and axes that the Tupi
  could use in competitive combat.
• The Portuguese attempted to create a demand for
  weapons by raising the level of violence.
• In the remote tropical rainforests, the quest for
  dyewood was replicating the wars of Europe!

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Result -

• With their needs met (lots of weapons), they were
  then hard to exploit.
• Portuguese realized if they needed capital they
  needed another form of labor.
• They began enslaving their hosts.
• Many males preferred to die than dig (agriculture
  was a womans work)
• So traders turned to people more equipped to
  tropical agriculture African Slaves.
• Natives were driven inland. The only thing left
  of the Golden Age of Brazilwood is the name
  Brazil.