Question - The Rise of Modern Global Capitalism Between the 1500s and 1800s. Provide an overall view of the rise of modern global capitalism as explained in class and the reading materials since February 12th paying especial attention to the central role of trade.
Discuss the following themes:
What where the reasons leading to an increase in productivity and trade in Europe since the 1500s?
What role did "drugs" like sugar play in the expansion of global trade?
What role did slavery play?
How did enclosures and the division of labor in England encourage further increase in productivity even before the incorporation of technology?
What role did wage labor play in facilitating the expansion of the division of labor that would lead to the Industrial Revolution?
How did the expansion of trade encourage the emergence of new ideas like "equality under the law", "freedom," "popular sovereignty," "reason," and "democracy"?
How did these ideas challenge the status quo?
What were the factors leading to Atlantic Revolutions (1770-1820) that put Enlightenment ideas into practice?