Asia and the Birth of Global Capitalism, 1400-1850

This course studies the economies of early modern Asia through the perspective of both Asian actors and the European East India Companies (Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, etc.). Early modern Asia was the epicenter of the early modern global economy, with China and India responsible for 50% of world manufacturing output. In order to enter into this world, Europeans developed a number of strategies. Despite their ready use of coercion, Europeans remained marginal actors in early modern Asia. Towards the end this course studies how the North Atlantic replaced Asia as the center of the world economy around 1800.