chapter 14 pt. 1

     The voyage of the Portuguese mariner Vasco de Gama was not an accident and was the first actual time that Europeans traveled into India. They went there to encounter an ancient and rich network of commerce between Africa and China. The Europeans were aware of the wealth that was available there but they were super ignorant to how everything worked there.
     Many problems stemmed from the pattern of trade coming from the East along the Mediterranean and into the Middle East. This was known as the Indian Ocean network. One of the problems was that the supply fell into the hands of Muslims. The major trading city was in Venice and the Venetians despised the Muslims monopoly on the network. The second problem was the Europeans had to pay in cash meaning in gold or silver for Asian spices and textiles. This meant they had to have a large supply of gold and silver. Portugal targeted the African gold goldfields which was a large help but using gold and silver to pay was very difficult.
     Another obstacle that Europeans ran into was that their trading goods were seen as crude nd unwanted in Asian markets. When Portugal realized this they also started to notice that the typical trading ships in the Indian network weren't well armed or militarized. With this knowledge they went to piracy as it was easy. Having the military advantage let them establish fortified bases in the Indian Ocean. Thee bases were known as the "trading post empire." When they still dominate the trade network they assimilated to ancient ways and carried Asian goods to Asian ports, basically selling their ship service. By 1600, Portugal's trading post empire had radically declined.
     Spain was the first to challenge Portugal's position. Spain's proximity to China, the other small and militarily weak societies, and relatively no competition only fueled Spain. Spanish colonial practice found itself in the Philippines. The Spains took over the Philippines and changes were made. For example, the women who were important in rituals were replaced by Spanish priests. Going into Asian commerce, by the 17th century, military figures had unified Japan politically. Resident communities continued to dominate in China in the growing spice trade even with expanding Europeans power. Again commercial networks continued to be successful even as Europe grew militarily.