The summary of ‘DBQ Walkthrough: Portuguese Maritime Trade’

This summary of the video was created by an AI. It might contain some inaccuracies.

00:00:0000:24:45

The video is an instructional guide on approaching a Document-Based Question (DBQ) related to Portuguese maritime trade empires, emphasizing analytical skills and historical context. The instructor walks students through the requirements of a DBQ, focusing on creating a thesis, contextualization, and using evidence from six out of seven documents without quoting. They highlight the importance of analyzing the specifics of bias, establishing nuanced historical complexity, and employing a sourcing cheat sheet for better narrative connections.

The video examines specific historical documents to assess the Portuguese impact on Indian Ocean trade during the 16th century. It discusses the resistance from local Muslim merchants in Calicut, concerns about Portuguese monopolies, and various geopolitical tensions involving the Ottoman Empire. Key locations such as Calicut, Cochin, and the Maldives are mentioned, illustrating their significance in the maritime trade network and the Portuguese strategies there.

The analysis includes the transformation of trade dynamics, highlighting Portuguese monopolistic practices, the displacement of Muslim merchants, and the resultant anti-Portuguese sentiment. There are also references to artifacts like a luxury box from Gujarat, indicating how trade items were tailored to European tastes. The broader historical impacts of Portuguese control, including economic and military tactics, are examined, emphasizing the changes and continuities in the structure and control of maritime trade in the Indian Ocean.

00:00:00

In this part of the video, the instructor explains their plan to walk students through a practice DBQ (Document-Based Question) focusing on Portuguese Maritime Trade Empires. They begin by introducing important DBQ-related skills and providing reminders on some basic points: thesis, contextualization, and the three evidence points on the rubric. The instructor emphasizes describing the content of the documents without quoting, accurately describing six out of seven documents to support the thesis, and the use of outside evidence to support arguments.

The discussion also includes historical complexity, where students should explain nuances, similarities, differences, and continuities in detail. For the sourcing point, the newest skill, the instructor suggests using a sourcing cheat sheet and sentence stems provided to help students narrate the significance of documents and their broader context effectively. They encourage students to use these tools as training wheels to better illustrate the historical process and connect their explanations to the documents.

00:03:00

In this part of the video, the speaker offers general tips for conducting sourcing analysis and Document Based Questions (DBQs). They caution against simply labeling sources as biased; instead, they emphasize explaining the specific ways in which a source is biased. They advise analyzing documents individually rather than in groups to avoid missing key points and suggest noting both similarities and subtle differences between similar documents. The speaker encourages asking how each document relates to the prompt and its context. Additionally, they introduce a practice DBQ from the 2019 National exam, noting its moderate difficulty and longer reading sections, related to European states establishing maritime empires.

00:06:00

In this segment, the speaker addresses a prompt about the extent to which the Portuguese transformed maritime trade in the Indian Ocean during the 16th century. The discussion focuses on evaluating changes and continuities in the Indian Ocean trade network following the Portuguese arrival. The segment emphasizes the importance of historical context and understanding both radical changes and aspects that remained unchanged. A document is introduced, which includes advice from Muslim merchants in Calicut to their Hindu ruler, criticizing the acceptance of Portuguese traders, who are perceived as pirates rather than legitimate merchants. This document helps frame the analysis by illustrating local resistance to Portuguese influence.

00:09:00

In this segment of the video, the discussion centers around a document in which Muslim merchants express concerns to a Hindu ruler about the Portuguese’s intentions in maritime trade. They argue that the Portuguese aim to seize control of the city rather than merely trade spices, suggesting that trading posts given to the Portuguese could be turned into forts to wage war. The narrator then moves on to a second document by Duarte Barbosa, detailing life for Muslims in Calicut before and after the Portuguese arrival. Muslims previously dominated sea trade and lived well, but their power diminished after the Portuguese discovery of India. The narrator analyzes the impact of Portuguese actions on maritime trade and prepares to discuss a third document about Portuguese-Ottoman relations in the 1560s.

00:12:00

In this part of the video, the discussion centers around the idea of establishing a treaty for free trade between Portugal and the Ottoman Empire. Concerns are raised that allowing the Turks free access to trade in India would significantly harm Portugal’s profits and threaten its monopolies on pepper and other spices due to the Turks’ geographical proximity and lower transportation costs. The Turkish traders, already conducting trade covertly, could leverage their local Muslim connections to dominate the spice trade if allowed to operate freely. The broader impact of Portuguese actions in the Indian Ocean and the historical context behind these strategic decisions are examined. Additionally, a letter from the ruler of the Sultanate of Assay in Sumatra to the Ottoman Sultan expresses the struggles against the Portuguese and seeks Imperial support.

00:15:00

In this part of the video, it is discussed that Indonesian ships on their way to Mecca must pass through the Maldives, where the Portuguese ambush and capture or sink vessels. This leads to requests for assistance from the Ottoman Empire, specifically for siege cannons and military supplies, to defend against Portuguese attacks. This highlights the significant impact of Portuguese control over trade in the Indian Ocean during the 16th century. The speaker then questions why the king of Assay appealed to the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the First and addresses a historical account from Zinedine Mock Doom Al-Sagir, detailing the Portuguese imposition of tolls and their aggressive naval tactics in the region.

00:18:00

In this part of the video, the focus is on the consequences of the protracted conflict between the Portuguese and the ruler of Calicut, which strained the kingdom’s resources. In 1515, a treaty was established allowing the Portuguese to build a fort in Calicut in exchange for letting Calicut’s merchants send four ships annually to Arabian ports. The Portuguese began constructing their fortifications, while Calicut’s merchants prepared to dispatch goods like pepper and ginger to the Arabian coast and resumed trading with other regions.

The segment also examines the impact of Portuguese presence on maritime trade in the Indian Ocean, noting changes and continuities. It describes the role of Hindu brokers in the city of Kan Bay (Northwestern India), who facilitated transactions for foreign merchants, including the Portuguese, by managing the logistics and accommodations of their goods and trade activities.

Furthermore, it highlights Cochin as a critical Portuguese base in Southwestern India, notable for its pepper trade. However, it mentions that the pepper purchased by the Portuguese for export to Portugal is of lower quality compared to that destined for Arabia and Persia, due to a low-price contract with the King of Cochin.

00:21:00

In this segment of the video, the discussion centers around the complexities of Maritime trade during the Portuguese era. It highlights how growers sold substandard produce like filthy green peppers to the Portuguese, reserving better goods for Muslim markets in Arabia and Persia. There’s an exploration of the extent to which the Portuguese transformed Maritime trade and the broader historical impacts. The segment also examines a luxury box from Gujarat, India, made for export to Portugal around 1600, indicating a European audience through its decorative imagery. Furthermore, an AP World History teacher refers to this box to illustrate Maritime trade’s transformations. The prompt requires evaluating changes and continuities in Portuguese Maritime trade, emphasizing notable shifts like the Portuguese monopolizing trade and mistreating Muslim merchants, who previously dominated the Indian Ocean trade network. The Portuguese actions included intercepting ships, stealing goods, and mistreating non-Portuguese traders, reflecting a broader anti-Portuguese sentiment due to fears of economic harm.

00:24:00

In this part of the video, the speaker explains how the author’s use of the word “infidel” demonstrates a negative perspective towards the Catholic Portuguese through the use of derogatory religious language. They refer to documents one and four, which show the mistreatment and displacement of Muslim merchants and their subsequent hostile reactions. The speaker encourages students to compile their arguments and complete their practice essays, which are due on Thursday. They also mention attending a funeral and offer to answer any questions via email.

Scroll to Top