Globalization – Chapter 5 Notes
Historical Globalization
Chapter Issue: To what extent did early globalization affect peoples of the world?

How did Globalization Begin?

There are many different ideas about when globalization began: 1. 325 BCE – Buddhist leader Chandragupta Maurya combined religion, trade and military to create a vast trade empire in India 2. 1100’s when Ghengis Khan introduced the idea of fighting from horseback, which allowed him to create an empire stretching from the Adriatic Sea to China. 3. 1492 – when Columbus made his first trip to the Americas 4. 1800’s – when low-cost goods from farms and factories poured into markets around the world and access increased to these goods.

One theory suggests that globalization evolved in three distinct rounds:

a. First Round – Goods and ideas were exchanged along ancient trade routes. Knowledge of Indian science, medicine, literature and mathematics were introduced to Europe b. Second Round - grew out of the first round and began in the late 1400’s. Europeans developed new technology that allowed them to travel farther, allowing Imperialism to take place. c. Third Round – we are now in this phase. It began after World War II. A time of rapid growth and nearly instant communication.

No matter the timeline you agree with, it is unarguable that globalization exists. Here are some reasons why:

1. Early Trade Routes

As early as the third century a trade route existed from China through the Byzantium Empire (now the middle east) called the Silk Road (because of the beautiful cloth made in China from silkworms). Goods as well as ideas like the Indo-Arabic number system were passed from culture to culture along this road.

2. Books

The printed word spread ideas about science, religion, politics and philosophy across Europe.

3. Rise of the Middle Class

Historically society was organized into classes, determined by birth, social power was based on how much land you owned and the economy was based on the Landlord / peasant relationship. As cities were growing, trades people, entrepreneurs, artists, scholars, etc… were attracted to the area, accumulating more wealth from developing their skill. This rise in wealth and social status created a new middle class. As they grew larger and more influential, trade became even more important to their profits, and accumulation of material goods. New ideas emerged and then technologies that helped lay the foundations of historical globalization.

3. Innovations like the large, square sail and gunpowder influenced how travel, trade, exploration, and conquest were conducted, therefore aiding in globalization.

4. Trade

Competition for trade between colonial empires was increasing. Countries were racing to colonize other nations in order to obtain their raw materials for use in their own factories back home. This is also known as imperialism.

Mercantilism – the strict controlling of trade between the mother country and the colony did help to increase globalization due to new goods being imported into other countries. When mercantilism started to disband due to rebellions etc… globalization of goods was expanded even more.

Cultural Imperialism – non-violent form of imperialism, in which one country imposes its values and beliefs on another.

Due to (mainly European) colonization, the Indigenous peoples were forced off their land, disrupting their way of life and often other groups’ ways of life as they encroached on new territory. They also faced new types of disease, which could be argued, wiped out extreme numbers of their populations, they were enslaved by the colonizers, forced out of their traditional territories and some were forced