What the exam asks
- Multiple Choice (Section I, Part A): Stimulus sets often pair European royal charters or merchant logs with decrees from Ming China, Tokugawa Japan, or Kongo rulers to test how non-European states controlled trade (GOV, ECN).
- Short Answer (Section I, Part B): Frequently tests Continuity and Change in the Indian Ocean from c. 1200 to c. 1750, requiring you to identify both European disruptions and surviving Asian merchant communities.
- DBQ and LEQ (Section II): Prompts often ask you to evaluate the extent to which European arrival transformed regional economies in Africa or Asia, or how states used trade to consolidate political power.
Core ideas
European maritime rivalries and trading-post empires (GOV)
Driven by political competition, mercantilist desire for spice and bullion wealth, and religious zeal (spreading Christianity and countering Islam and rival Christian sects), five key European powers built overseas empires:
| State | Primary Maritime Strategy (c. 1450–c. 1750) |
|---|---|
| Portugal | Built a trading-post empire along African and Indian Ocean coasts (e.g., Goa, Malacca, Hormuz); used the cartaz pass system to tax and regulate trade rather than conquer vast hinterlands. |
| Spain | Established territorial colonies in the Americas and conquered the Philippines (Manila became the hub for the trans-Pacific silver trade). |
| Netherlands (Dutch) | Used the joint-stock VOC to seize Portuguese posts, monopolize the spice trade in Indonesia (Batavia), and control the Cape Colony. |
| Great Britain | Used the British East India Company (EIC) to establish fortified trading posts in India (Madras, Bombay, Calcutta) through agreements with Mughal authorities, alongside North American and Caribbean colonies. |