AP World History: Modern

## Learning Outcomes

- Understand how Europeans built **trading-post empires** in Asia between c. **1450–1750**
- Identify key examples including **Goa**, **Malacca**, **Batavia**, and **Macau**
- Explain how Portuguese and Dutch methods of expansion differed
- Describe how **Tokugawa Japan** and **Qing China** restricted European trade
- Distinguish between **sakoku**, **Dejima**, **Macau**, and the **Canton System**
- Analyse the extent of European power in Asia and its limits
- Apply this topic to AP themes such as **ECN**, **GOV**, and **TEC**

## AP World History: Modern Syllabus

For the AP World History: Modern, you are expected to understand how European maritime powers entered Asian trade networks and how Asian states limited foreign influence, with a focus on the following syllabus points:

- Know that Europeans often established **trading-post empires** in Asia rather than large inland land empires
- Identify major Portuguese bases including **Goa (1510)**, **Malacca (1511)**, and **Macau (1557)**
- Identify the **Dutch East India Company (VOC)** and its headquarters at **Batavia (1619)**
- Explain how European maritime power relied on **fortified ports**, **naval power**, and control of **sea lanes**
- Understand that **Tokugawa Japan** restricted foreign contact in the **1630s** under what is called **sakoku**
- Know that the **Portuguese were expelled from Japan in 1639** and that the **Dutch** were later confined to **Dejima**
- Understand that **Qing China** allowed trade on Chinese terms and restricted most European trade to **Canton/Guangzhou in 1757**
- Identify the **Cohong** as the licensed Chinese merchants through whom foreign traders had to work under the Canton System

## Test Your Knowledge

_Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, look more closely at that area during your revision._

1. What is a **trading-post empire**, and how is it different from a land empire?
2. Why were **Goa** and **Malacca** so important to Portuguese expansion in Asia?
3. How did the **Dutch East India Company** differ from the Portuguese system in Asia?
4. Why did **Tokugawa Japan** restrict European trade and missionary activity?
5. What was the **Canton System**, and how did it limit European trade in China?

## Introduction

Between **1450 and 1750**, European states pushed into the Indian Ocean and East Asian trade world, but their success in Asia looked very different from Spanish conquest in the Americas. In Asia, Europeans usually could not conquer huge inland empires. Instead, they built coastal strongholds, seized ports, and used armed ships to influence trade.

This subtopic matters because AP questions often test a key balance: Europeans did expand maritime trade, but Asian states were not passive. Powerful governments in **China** and **Japan** restricted foreign access, supervised trade, and set the terms of interaction. That makes this topic ideal for comparison, causation, and continuity and change over time.

> **Key Term: trading-post empire**
> A maritime empire based on fortified ports, naval strength, and control of trade routes rather than large inland territorial conquest.

### European trading-post empires in Asia

Before Europeans arrived, the **Indian Ocean** was already a large and active commercial system linking **East Africa**, the **Middle East**, **India**, **Southeast Asia**, and **China**. Muslim, Indian, and Southeast Asian merchants had long traded spices, textiles, porcelain, horses, and luxury goods. Europeans entered an existing network rather than creating one from nothing.

The first major European entrant was **Portugal**. After **Vasco da Gama** reached India by sea in **1498**, the Portuguese tried to control trade routes from the African coast to Southeast Asia. Their model became known as the **Estado da Índia**, a crown-backed system of ports and naval stations.

> **Key Term: Estado da Índia**
> The Portuguese imperial network in the Indian Ocean, built around fortified ports and naval power.

Key Portuguese bases are high-yield evidence for AP answers:

- **Goa**, captured in **1510**, became the main Portuguese administrative center in India
- **Malacca**, seized in **1511**, gave Portugal influence over the Strait of Malacca, a major choke point between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea
- **Hormuz**, taken in **1515**, helped control access to the Persian Gulf
- **Macau**, established in **1557** with Chinese permission, became Portugal’s main base for trade with China

These examples show the basic logic of a trading-post empire. Portugal did not rule all of India or all of Southeast Asia. It aimed to dominate strategic points and sea lanes so that ships and goods would pass through places it controlled.

A useful AP distinction is that Portuguese power in Asia was strongest **at sea and in ports**, not deep inland. Local rulers, large empires, and long-established merchant communities still mattered.

> **Key Term: Malacca**
> A major port on the Strait of Malacca, captured by Portugal in **1511**, important because it linked Indian Ocean and East Asian trade.

The **Dutch** followed and often displaced the Portuguese. Their main tool was not a royal bureaucracy but a corporation: the **Dutch East India Company**, or **VOC**, founded in **1602**. Backed by investors, the VOC could wage war, sign treaties, and build fortified bases.

The Dutch established **Batavia** on Java in **1619** as their headquarters in Asia. From there, they pushed for monopoly control of the spice trade, especially in the Indonesian archipelago. They also took **Malacca** from Portugal in **1641**, weakening Portuguese influence further.

> **Key Term: Dutch East India Company (VOC)**
> A joint-stock company founded in **1602** that led Dutch trade and empire-building in Asia.

A strong comparison point for essays:

- **Portuguese method:** crown-directed empire, fortified ports, naval coercion
- **Dutch method:** company-run empire, commercial monopoly, corporate warfare

In both cases, the Europeans used **gunpowder ships**, port fortifications, and commercial pressure. In both cases, they remained heavily dependent on maritime routes.

> **Test Tip:** In an SAQ or LEQ, do not say Europeans “controlled Asia.” A stronger claim is that they controlled **selected ports and sea routes** while powerful Asian states still controlled inland politics and trade conditions.

England and France also entered Asian trade, especially in India, but for this subtopic the clearest examples are still Portuguese and Dutch trading-post empires. If needed, you can mention that the English and French built coastal posts in India while Portugal and the Dutch led the earlier phase.

### Asian states limited and supervised European trade

European expansion in Asia did not mean open access everywhere. Two of the strongest examples of resistance by policy are **Tokugawa Japan** and **Qing China**.

In **Japan**, the **Tokugawa shogunate**, established in **1603**, aimed to create political order after long internal conflict. Japanese rulers became suspicious of European influence, especially Iberian Catholic powers such as Portugal and Spain. Their concern was not trade alone. It was also religion and politics.

Christian missionaries had won converts in Japan, and rulers feared that religious loyalty to foreign churches could weaken obedience to the shogunate. That fear sharpened after the **Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638)**, which reinforced Tokugawa suspicion of Christianity and outside influence.

As a result, Japan adopted policies in the **1630s** often described as **sakoku**.

> **Key Term: sakoku**
> Tokugawa Japan’s policy of tightly controlled foreign relations in the **1630s**; it restricted contact but did not create total isolation.

That last point matters. **Sakoku did not mean complete isolation.** Japan still traded, but under strict rules. The **Portuguese were expelled in 1639**, missionaries were suppressed, and foreign access was sharply limited.

The main authorized port for controlled foreign trade was **Nagasaki**. There, the Dutch were permitted to maintain a small commercial presence on **Dejima**, an artificial island in the harbor. Chinese merchants also continued to trade through Nagasaki.

> **Key Term: Dejima**
> A small artificial island in Nagasaki where the Dutch were allowed to trade under Tokugawa supervision.

Japan’s policy was therefore **restrictive**, not fully closed. A precise AP sentence would be: Tokugawa Japan sharply reduced foreign influence to preserve political stability, but it still allowed limited trade through Nagasaki.

China responded differently. Chinese rulers also wanted to preserve order and regulate outsiders, but they did not move as far toward exclusion as Japan did. During the Ming period, maritime restrictions at times limited private seaborne trade, but Europeans still gained access in supervised ways.

The Portuguese base at **Macau** is the best example. Macau gave the Portuguese a foothold, but it did **not** mean that Europeans had free movement throughout China. Their access existed by Chinese approval and remained limited.

Under the **Qing dynasty**, this pattern of control remained. By **1757**, near the end of Unit 4’s time frame, the Qing government restricted most European trade to the single port of **Canton**, also called **Guangzhou**.

> **Key Term: Canton System**
> A Qing policy, usually dated to **1757**, restricting most European trade to Canton/Guangzhou under close supervision.

Foreign merchants in Canton could not simply trade with anyone they liked. They had to work through approved Chinese merchant intermediaries called the **Cohong**.

> **Key Term: Cohong**
> Licensed Chinese merchants approved by the Qing government to handle foreign trade at Canton.

This system let the Qing state:

- monitor foreign merchants
- collect taxes and duties
- keep outsiders away from the Chinese interior
- preserve political and cultural authority

So, China was not “closed.” It was **controlled**. That distinction is essential.

> **Test Tip:** A common mistake is to treat **Macau**, **sakoku**, and the **Canton System** as the same thing. Keep them separate: Macau was a Portuguese foothold by Chinese permission, sakoku was Tokugawa Japan’s restrictive foreign-relations policy, and the Canton System was Qing China’s supervised one-port trade structure.

### Comparing Chinese and Japanese trade restrictions

Japan and China both reacted to European arrival with policies of restriction, but they did so in different ways and for partly different reasons.

Similarities:

- both wanted to preserve state control
- both feared destabilizing foreign influence
- both limited missionary or foreign political reach
- both allowed some trade under supervision rather than total closure

Differences:

- **Japan** was generally more exclusionary, especially toward Iberian Catholic powers
- **China** continued to permit broader commercial contact, but on Chinese terms
- **Japan** relied on the narrow exception of **Nagasaki/Dejima**
- **China** used supervised trade through **Macau** and later **Canton**

The causes also differed slightly. In Japan, fear of **Christianity**, rebellion, and possible colonization played a large role. In China, the state’s concern centered more on regulating commerce, supervising foreigners, and maintaining established political order.

This is a good place for AP comparison reasoning. A strong comparison claim might be:

Japan and China both restricted European trade to defend political stability, but Japan went further by excluding most Europeans and confining Dutch trade to Dejima, while China allowed broader commercial exchange under supervised systems such as Macau and Canton.

### How to use this in AP essays and SAQs

This subtopic is often tested through **comparison**, **causation**, or **extent** arguments.

For **causation**, stress that Asian restrictions were caused by:

- fear of foreign religious influence
- concern about political instability
- desire to regulate commerce and taxation
- interest in keeping outsiders from gaining inland influence

For **comparison**, contrast:

- Portuguese vs Dutch methods
- China vs Japan responses
- trading-post empires vs land empires

For **continuity and change**, show both sides:

- **Change:** Europeans inserted themselves into Indian Ocean commerce using fortified ports and naval force
- **Continuity:** Asian states still shaped the terms of exchange and remained politically powerful

A strong AP judgement is that European influence in Asia before 1750 was **important but limited**. They changed trade patterns and created new maritime connections, but they did not yet dominate Asia in the way later imperialism would.

> **Test Tip:** In a DBQ or LEQ, use named evidence. “Europeans built trading posts in Asia” is weak. “Portugal seized **Goa in 1510** and **Malacca in 1511**, while the Dutch founded **Batavia in 1619**” is much stronger and more likely to earn evidence credit.

## Key Point Checklist

_This article has covered the following key knowledge points:_

- Europeans in Asia often built **trading-post empires** rather than large inland territorial empires
- A trading-post empire relied on **fortified ports**, **naval power**, and control of **sea lanes**
- The Portuguese built the **Estado da Índia** as an Indian Ocean network of bases
- **Goa (1510)** became the main Portuguese center in India
- **Malacca (1511)** was important because it controlled a major maritime choke point
- **Macau (1557)** gave Portugal a limited base in China but not open access to China
- The **Dutch East India Company (VOC)** used a company model rather than a crown model
- **Batavia (1619)** became the VOC headquarters in Asia
- **Tokugawa Japan** adopted **sakoku** in the **1630s**, restricting but not fully ending foreign trade
- The **Portuguese were expelled from Japan in 1639**, while the Dutch traded at **Dejima**
- **Qing China** restricted most European trade to **Canton/Guangzhou in 1757**
- Under the **Canton System**, foreign merchants had to work through the **Cohong**
- Japan and China both restricted trade, but **Japan was generally more exclusionary**
- European power in Asia before 1750 was strong in ports and at sea, but limited by powerful Asian states inland

## Key Terms and Concepts

- trading-post empire
- Estado da Índia
- Malacca
- Dutch East India Company (VOC)
- sakoku
- Dejima
- Canton System
- Cohong


Maritime Empires Established - European trading posts and Asian trade restrictions