Reading Questions
Objective: Explain how social categories, roles, and practices have been maintained or have changed over time.
- How did the Qing, as a minority, exert their power over the other ethnic groups in China?
- How were women treated in Qing society?
- How were Jews (a minority) treated by Spain?
- Explain the Casta System and how it was used to control people politically, economically and socially.
- Why were the Ulama influential in the Ottoman empire? Who challenged their power?
- How were minorities treated by the Ottomans?
- Explain the struggle for power by established elite and the Tsar in Russia?
- What is the difference between the serfs and peasants?
- How did the landed elite lose in France?
- How did the landed elite make gains in Britain?
Social Structures
Qing (Manchu)
Queue
The society in China during Qing times was marked by ethnic divisions. The Manchu (Qing) were an ethnic minority that ruled over many other ethnic groups including the Han, Tibetans, Mongols and many others. The Manchu, as the new ruling elite, enforced their authority over the others by forcing them to cut their hair with the Queue. If the Manchu saw people with the wrong haircut, they could execute them for treason. The Qing executed thousands of people that would not submit to their authority. |
Women
The Manchu women were not expected to behave like Han women. Manchu women were not permitted to bind their feet. Han women continued this practice. Manchu were also not permitted to marry the Han. However, the Manchu went to great lengths to continue Confucian patriarchal practices. Confucian values reinforced the idea that women should be obedient to their male family members. |
Social Structure
Like previous dynasties, the Qing placed the emperor at the top. Alongside the emperor were his advisors. Next came the scholar officials that worked for the government (the gentry). Then came the Agriculturalists, that were the landlords, farmers, and peasants. Then came the artisans Then the merchants. Merchants could be wealthy but were not considered as essential as the agricultural workers. |
Spanish
Alhambra Decree
After the reconquista or the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish became very intolerant towards the Jewish minority. Queen Isabella and King Fernando issued the Alhabra Decree. The Alhambra Decree expelled all practicing Jews from Spain. Also known as the Edict of Expulsion, it is issued on 31 March 1492. Jews had already been forced to convert. Over 50% of the Jew population converted. Some continued to practice their religion in secret and others assimilated into Catholicism. About 40,000 to 100,000 were expelled. Most Jews would be welcomed by the more tolerant Ottomans. However, many European nations treated them just a cruelly as the Spanish |
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Due to the migration of Europeans and Africans, the Spanish developed the Casta System in the Americas, a social hierarchy based on a person’s “race” or their parent’s race. The color of skin determined the types of job one could have and what one could own. White Europeans were at the top of the system, and black slaves were at the bottom
European Peninsulares and Creoles became the new elite in the Americas. Peninsulares are Spanish born in Spain. Creoles are born in the Americas. Both Peninsulares and Creoles are born from Spanish (or white) Ancestry. The Peninsulares were the only group that could hold high office positions in the Spanish colonial government. They controlled wealth & power in Spanish colonies. Many also worked with the Catholic Church and clergy.
Creoles had less opportunities than Peninsulares but still controlled a lot of wealth and power in the Spanish colonies. Many owned plantations and were in the military. Mestizos are people of Native and European ancestry. Mestizos worked as artisans, servants, lower-level government or church positions. Mulattos were people of European and African ancestry. They also Worked as artisans, servants, lower-level government or church positions. Both mulattoes and mestizos were seen as inferior to Creoles and Peninsulares.
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Below those two groups are the zambos. Those are people mixed between Natives and Africans. Most people in this group did not get much better treatment or job opportunities than the mestizos or mulattos. African born people were near the bottom of the caste. They provided cheap labor for growing the cash crops. Native American people who survived the smallpox epidemic were at the bottom. They made up 55.8% of the population. They also provided cheap labor in the haciendas and mines. Slaves and natives not only held the lowest roles in the society, but had the least economic opportunities.
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Ottoman Social Structure
There were five social groups. At the top of the social structure was the sultan or the caliph of the Ottoman empire and his family and advisers . Next to the king were the Grand Viziers or advisers to the king. For a time, many sultans were incompetent rulers. This meant that the viziers began to consolidate power for themselves.
The next group was the religious establishment or Ulama. The most important group in this category were the Imams - mosques religious leaders. It was important that the Sultan had the approval and validation of this group to be able to legitimize his rule especially when creating laws or waging war. Thus the Ulama held a lot of power.
Next came the military. Since this empire revolved around this warrior society, the military began to take power away from the Ulama and the Viziers. During the Early Modern period, the Janissaries and other military officials began to wield a lot of influence in the politics of the empire.
The third group were the established elite or aristocrats. This group included the people who got the right to tax in the timar system. The sultan gave the timars - the right to collect taxes creating a very loyal group for the sultan. The timar system was established in the mid 1300’s and continued throughout the Early Modern period.
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The masses were called the Reaya or those who were governed. The Reaya were further divided into those who were Muslims, converted Muslims and non-Muslims like Chritians and Jews.
Non-Mulsim minorities were able to have their own courts due to the Millet System. But they still were required to pay the Jizya tax. Even with having to pay the extra tax many Jews that had been expelled from Spain found their way to the Ottoman empire and were accepted. Ottomans were much more accommodating of religious diversity than were the Spanish, French or English.
Non-Mulsim minorities were able to have their own courts due to the Millet System. But they still were required to pay the Jizya tax. Even with having to pay the extra tax many Jews that had been expelled from Spain found their way to the Ottoman empire and were accepted. Ottomans were much more accommodating of religious diversity than were the Spanish, French or English.
Harem Politics (women)
The harem was a group of women that included the Sultans’ wives and concubines. The person who administered the harem was the Sultans’ mother. She was responsible for the education of the children including the next Sultan. Within the harem, slave women could rise depending on their relationship with the mother or the Sultan. They would advise the Sultan, giving them a lot of power and influence in the empire. One such slave girl that would rise to power and exert a lot of influence was Roxelana. Roxelana's son would succeed in becoming Sultan. Many complained that she had too much influence. |
Russia
Russian Boyars
During this period, the Russian Empire was feudal. At first, real power rested with local aristocrats called boyars. Russian czars were highly suspicious of the loyalty of this group to the Russian crown. Ivan III and Ivan IV sought to weaken these local aristocrats’ power and centralize the Russian state under their leadership. Ivan III deported and executed thousands of boyars, took their estates. As boyars lost power, Russian czars centralized power becoming absolute rulers. Peasants and serfs
Russian nobility or Boyars received lands from the Crown (the tsar, or emperor/empress) in return for serving in the military. Even though the nobles held so much land, they didn't work on it themselves. Instead, they had peasants who would live on their land and, in exchange, work for the noble and give him a share of the agriculture they produced. Some of the peasants were 'free', which meant they could leave the noble's land if they wanted to. However, many peasants were serfs, and they were forced to labor on the estate that they belonged to. Russian serfs were under the complete control of the landowner. Serfdom was hereditary and they could not leave the land. Their situation became comparable to that of slaves and they could be sold to another landowner in families or singly. By the 19th century it was estimated that about 50 per cent of the 40,000,000 Russian peasants. |
Europe
In Europe, the top of the social structure included the Kings and their family. Below them were the landed aristocracy. Because nobles controlled personal armies of knights, they could challenge a king’s authority if multiple powerful nobles joined together. During this period, the kings began to consolidate power taking power from the nobility. In places like in France, the nobility lost power to absolute rulers like King Louis XIV. Louis also had the nobles move to Versailles to keep better control of them.
Nobles in England would make gains mainly due to the parliament, the Magna Carta and Justices of the Peace. However, there was an emerging power struggle with the emerging merchant class and urban entrepreneurs. These urban entrepreneurs and merchants began making a lot of wealth from the colonies and trade. Their wealth bought influence in the government and society.
Nobles in England would make gains mainly due to the parliament, the Magna Carta and Justices of the Peace. However, there was an emerging power struggle with the emerging merchant class and urban entrepreneurs. These urban entrepreneurs and merchants began making a lot of wealth from the colonies and trade. Their wealth bought influence in the government and society.