Key Concept 4.3: State Consolidation and Imperial Expansion
I. Rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power.
A. Rulers used the arts to display political power and to legitimize their rule.
- Monumental architecture
- Urban design
- Courtly literature
- The visual arts
B. Rulers continued to use religious ideas to legitimize their rule.
- European notions of divine right
- Safavid use of Shiism
- Mexica or Aztec practice of human sacrifice
- Songhay promotion of Islam
- Chinese emperors’ public performance of Confucian rituals
C. States treated different ethnic and religious groups in ways that utilized their economic contributions while limiting their ability to challenge the authority of the state.
- Ottoman treatment of non-Muslim subjects
- Manchu policies toward Chinese
- Spanish creation of a separate “República de Indios”
D. Recruitment and use of bureaucratic elites, as well as the development of military professionals, became more common among rulers who wanted to maintain centralized control over their populations and resources.
- Ottoman devshirme
- Chinese examination system
- Salaried samurai
E. Rulers used tribute collection and tax farming to generate revenue for territorial expansion.
II. Imperial expansion relied on the increased use of gunpowder, cannons, and armed trade to establish large empires in both hemispheres.
A. Europeans established new trading-post empires in Africa and Asia, which proved profitable for the rulers and merchants involved in new global trade networks, but these empires also affected the power of the states in interior West and Central Africa.
B. Land empires expanded dramatically in size.
Required examples of land empires:
Required examples of land empires:
- Manchus
- Mughals
- Ottomans
- Russians
C. European states established new maritime empires in the Americas.
Required examples of maritime empires:
Required examples of maritime empires:
- Portuguese
- Spanish
- Dutch
- French
- British
III. Competition over trade routes, state rivalries, and local resistance all provided significant challenges to state consolidation and expansion.
- Omani-European rivalry in the Indian Ocean
- Piracy in the Caribbean
- Thirty Years War
- Ottoman-Safavid conflict
- Food riots
- Samurai revolts
- Peasant uprisings