History midterm exam rewrite
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hist285_spring2010_week2_commerce.ppt
HIST 285: Technology in Historical Perspective
Department of History and Politics, Drexel University
Prof. Lloyd Ackert
Lecture 2: “Techniques of Commerce”
I. Introduction - The Expansion of Commerce
A. The waning of the courts
II. Technology and Trade
A. “Voyages of Discovery”
B. Trading networks
C. Capitalistic, but not industrial
The earliest history of boating?
Case Study: “Dutch Shipping”
The difficulties of writing the
history of shipping.
Two early drawings.
The Rhine River
Methods of construction:
Nicolas Witsen (1641-1717),
- Architectura navalis et regimen nauticum (Naval Architecture
and Nautical Regimen) (1671)
Two different styles of
ship building described in
Witsen’s work.
III. The Dutch Republic
A. The Dutch Golden Age
1. Natural resources – The Rhine river
2. Shipbuilding
a. The Dutch Herring Buss
- large volume and high quality products
Dutch Herring Busses
(buizen) at sea in the North Sea.
Side-view
b. The Fluytschip
- “an artifact shaped by commerce”
- specialization in design
The Dutch Fluyt.
A round-stern,
Flat-bottom, and
relatively narrow vessel.
Dutch Fluyt. Side and Stern views.
Dutch Warship with 2 Canon Galleries
Engraving by W. Barentsoen (1594)
Stylized Man-of-war.
Whipstaff – for maneuverability!
Reinier Nooms (1624-1664)
Amsterdam Harbor.
IV. Creating Global Capitalism
A. The Dutch East India Company (1602-1798)
B. Innovations in capitalism
1. The Amsterdam Commodity Exchange
2. The 1630s Tulip Bubble
3. The VOC and Fortress-factories
http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/3947.php
C. The Slave trade
V. “The Great Traffic”
A. Traffics, not manufactures
1. Sugar refining, papermaking, brewing, tobacco processing, shipbuilding
B. Specialized activities
1. Processing dyes and glazes, cutting diamonds, grinding glass lenses,
and dying broadcloth
C. Not high levels of output, but specialized techniques and superior quality
VI. Why the Dutch did not dominate in the Industrial Era
A. Raw materials and energy
B. International trade
C. Traffic industries
VII. Conclusions
A. The interrelationship between commerce and technology
B. Culture
VIII. Discussion
