Ottoman Empire

When empires expand, they all have a plan in mind on how and why they want to expand. It can differ from religious, wealth, or power reasons. It can also be with areas surrounding them or land far away. Simultaneously, empires can use similar military techniques, ways of keeping people in order, or ways of keeping up the economy. During the time of 1450 to 1800, the Spanish Empire and the Ottoman Empire responded to their empire building similarly in the idea that spreading their religion was their first focus, while there were differences in their social and economic values because their regions required them to be that way.

The Spanish and the Portuguese originally originate from the Iberian Peninsula where Christianity was popular. In an attempt to expand, the Spanish sought after America. They look at it as a land they could conquest and convert over to Christianity. The Ottoman Empire, who was originally Turkish rising in the areas of Anatolia and the Balkans, was founded under the religion of Islam. The sole purpose was to take Islam further. However, when they expanded it wasn’t like a monarch anymore but the sultans just handed power over to warriors.

That way they could spend time adding more people to the empire instead of just fixing the government. The Spanish, on the other hand, were more hands on. They created institutions, taxed the natives, and had forced labor going on. Their focus was geared toward making their empire stable enough that they could conquer more natives, not having to worry about the government. The main difference was that the Spanish were more hands on while the Ottoman’s concern shifted to status. Around the late Eighteenth century early Nineteenth century is when hierarchy became a major issue for Spanish while the Ottomans fell into place.

For both, the ruling class, the Europeans for Spanish and the sultans for the Ottomans, was at the top of the hierarchy. Beneath there is where both empires differ. The Ottomans had merchants and artisans beneath the sultans which was very uncommon. However, they gave much of the contribution of the arts for the Ottomans. They are the cause of shops being opened and public works being done that wouldn’t have been complete otherwise. On the other hand, the Spanish was more focused on your race and gender while still giving reference to your job.

Whites were at the top having the dominant roles, mixed races such as mestizo and mulatto in the middle, and black people at the bottom. Their structure was made so that Europeans would constantly rule and that slaves could only do their job: work. That way no matter how many people were added on they’d have the foundation that the empire can build off of. Lastly, the Spanish and Ottomans focus on building the economy had two different focuses. While the Spanish were concerned with silver, gold, and sugar, the Ottomans were focused on expansion.

When landing on Peru, the Spanish quickly created silver mine. That led to labor work of people of lower class. This way the Spanish has a wide rule of people that can continue to grow the mining industry as long as they continue to bring in slaves. Granted that that system worked, the Spanish could now export silver in exchange for goods. It’s in Brazil where they got the sugar to exchange for slaves that continued to make their population increase. On the contrary, the Ottomans wanted warriors in charge. Under their control war and taking of nearby territory became focus.

Janissaries, a group of an Ottoman army, got an increase in weapons which soon led them to dominating a lot of territory. Equally, both the Spanish and Ottomans went after an area they thought would be beneficial in growing. Ultimately, the Spanish and Ottomans had similar foundations while still being different. Both grew tremendously in their own way under their own religion. However, the empires ended because they were too focused on one area of the empire but not another. The Ottomans was with war and the Spanish with money. The important part was that both left a legacy behind.

The Ottoman Empire existed from year 1453 to 1923 and was one of the largest and most well organized empires in world history. The Ottomans were very successful and conquered enormous territories with their large and professional standing armies. The Ottoman Empire was a slave society and slavery was very popular among the Ottomans.

The sultan owned all property and had enormous power, and that was partly because he had so many slaves. That gave him much more control than if he had hired freemen, since slaves were always loyal but freemen could not be trusted in the same way.Islamic law regulates all aspects of the slave’s status. It lays down the obligations of masters and slaves and determines the relations between them. The law commends manumission but does not require it. No distinction is made between types of slaves — such as according to color, function, or origin of servile state. During the early period of Islam, most of the slaves were prisoners-of-war captured by the victorious Muslim armies.

With the stabilization of the frontiers,… this situation changed and many of the captives were exchanged or ransomed.Since the Sharia forbids the enslavement of free-born Muslims and Zimmis (protected minorities) who do not violate the conditions of their status, and since the various mechanisms of manumission and the absence of slave-breeding practices limited the ability of the slave population to reproduce itself, slaves had to be recruited from outside the Islamic world. Slaves in the Ottoman empire in general were brought from Eastern Europe and parts of Southern Russia. In the Islamic world slavery had religious rather than racial connotations, with most of the slaves in Ottoman history being Christians.

The Ottomans had many European and Central Asian “Mameluk” slaves and the elite Janissary troops of the Ottoman army were all Christian-born slaves taken mostly from the Balkans Male and female slaves in the Ottoman Empire; what their status and rights were, what work they had to do and who they were. Most male slaves did military service. They were either bought from Spain, North Africa or Venice, captured in battle or acquired through devshirme. Devshirme was a system by which young Christians were recruited for the army or the imperial civil service.The sultan had agents that searched for promising Christian children who they then converted to Islam and trained to be janissary soldiers. But the best of these children, in terms of physique, intelligence and other qualities, were selected for education in the palace school, where they instead were trained for civil service. There were also some slaves who were personal servants or bodyguards.

The sultan had slaves called “agents” who took care of his administrative and financial affairs, and these agents were actually the ruling class of the Ottoman society.They had the authority to collect revenues and their main function was to expand the wealth of the empire. Major slave import routes, 19 th Ottoman Empire Female slaves were mostly concubines or servants of their owners’ wives. Slave concubinage was the central element of Ottoman reproductive policy and most sultans never married. They did not have to because in Muslim law a child held the legal status of his father and therefore a slave concubine’s sons could claim the throne just as well as the sons of the sultan’s wife or a freewoman.The slave concubines lived in the harems and if a concubine gave birth to a child she then took care of it until it, if it was a boy, became about ten years old, or if it was a girl, got married. A boy would then be given a province to govern and the mother would look after him and make sure that he behaved well.

Some female slaves were given as gifts from lower officials to their superiors, for example the sultan, so that the lower officials would gain more status. There were not many powerful women in the Ottoman Empire, but one called Hurrem, or later Roxelana, has become quite famous.She was a Russian slave who was purchased for Suleiman’s harem and she soon became the sultan’s favorite slave. They had five children, four of them which were sons, and after a time Suleiman visited only her. About eight years later he married her and Hurrem became the first woman who went from slave concubine to legal wife. An Ottoman source of the early 17th century explains the exemption of Muslim Turks from the Devshirme: “If they were to become slaves of the sultan, they would abuse this privilege. Their relatives in the provinces would oppress the reaya and not pay taxes.

They would oppose the sanjak beyis and become rebels. But if the Christian children accept Islam, they become zealous in the faith and enemies of their relatives. ” The government considered the Devshirme as an extraordinary levy on the reaya (tax paying subject) not as the enslavement of its own subjects. There were levies every three to seven years, according to need. (Estimates very from 1000 to 3000 taken annually) When the youths arrived in Istanbul the best of them were selected as pages for the Palace. ..

They then went to Palaces in Istanbul and Edirne to receive a special training, while the remainder were hired out… to Turkish villagers in Anatolia before entering the January corps. According to Ottoman sources, Mehmed the Conqueror established this practice which was intended to teach the boys the Turkish language and Turkish customs. ..

. European observes record that the temperament and capabilities of each boy were carefully considered.Those who showed an ability in the religious sciences prepared for the religious professions; those proficient in the scribal arts prepared for a career in the bureaucracy. According to (one writer) who had himself been a page, the Palace education aimed to produce “the warrior statesman and loyal Muslim who at the same time should be a man of letters and polished speech, profound courtesy and honest morals”. But its fundamental aim was to instill complete obedience and loyalty to the sultan. Slavery in the Ottoman Empire has been stated as comparatively mild, which is quite true.Great men (such as the sultan) cared much about their own safety and wanted a big and loyal slave household, and therefore they treated their slaves well and with kindness.

Some slaves were actually wealthy and had slave households of their own, which proves that a slave career in the Ottoman Empire could be rather advantageous. People did not look down on slaves as if they were worth less, like it was the case in many other places in the world. Sometimes Christian parents even bribed the government to make them accept their children as slaves, since that meant social advancement for the children.Female slaves were sometimes abused by their owners though, but the mere fact that cases of such problems have been found in high court records tells us that slaves had quite an unusual position in the Ottoman society. Slave owners did apparently not have the right to do whatever they wanted with their slaves, even though they owned them. Ottomans had no history of segregation on racial grounds and many of those both black and white who were the descendants of slaves have intermarried with the Ottoman population.To sum it up, the male slaves in the Ottoman Empire were janissary soldiers, bodyguards, personal servants or civil service workers.

Many of them were Christians who had been acquired through a system called devshrime when they were young. The female slaves in the Ottoman Empire were either slave concubines in the harem or servants of their owners’ legal wife/wives. The slaves in the Ottoman Empire were not at the bottom of the society, they did actually have some status and many of them were wealthy.Slaves could even have their own slaves and gain power in the society. Slaves were accepted by the people and they sometimes had advantageous positions. It happened that Christian parents wanted their children to become slaves and they paid the government so that they would enslave their children. Though, after all they were slaves and they could not decide over their own life or do what they wanted to do, and it can be questioned if it really was something positive to be a slave.

By Recep MAZ

Compare/Contrast Essay Student Essay Samples Directions: Using the grading rubric, read the attached essays and score them. Be sure to read thoroughly, and remember that you are trying to find ways to GIVE the writer points, rather than trying to find ways to TAKE points away. With that said, however, the information must still be correct in order for a point to be awarded **You MUST record the final score, as well as why you are/are not giving the writer points. **You are allowed to give the essay 2 possible scores (Example: I think the essay is either a 3 or a 4). *Please do not look at the official explanation until after you have scored the essays. You don’t get any special reward for getting them right. The goal is to learn something. Essay Question: Within the period from 1450-1800, compare the processes (e. g. political, social, economic) of empire building in the Spanish Empire with the empire-building processes in ONE of the following: The Ottoman Empire OR The Russian Empire. CC Essay #1 (3RR) Between the years 1400 and 1800, new empires appeared on the globe. One of these empires is the Spanish and the other is the Ottoman Empire.

Both of these bear similarities but had their differences as well. They both carved out major chunks of the globe and were both major powers in the newly formed global world. Politically, economically, and socially, these empires were similar in many ways, but they had important differences that separated them apart. The Spanish were an up and coming world power in this time period between 1400 and 1800. They soon dominated overseas and trading. Differing from the Ottoman Empire to the east. The Spanish Empire was largely sea based.

Their advanced ships and naval technologies allowed the to discover new continents and claim them to be their own. The Spanish set up colonies for the economy to run and they relied heavily on imports from their distant colonies across the Atlantic. They imported large amounts of silver and food goods to run their economy. Also, the foundation of their empire was primarily focused on the spreading of Christianity. They founded the Americas on their slogan “Gold, God and Glory” as they forcefully converted the natives in the New World.

Also, their government was based on a monarchy with lesser nobles beneath him. The Spanish completely opposed the Islamic religion which can be seen it the Spanish Inquisition as they fought the Moors in Spain to make it purely Christian. The Ottoman Empire holds many differences against the Spanish Empire. Unlike the Spanish, the Ottoman Empire as a land-based empire that dominated the Middle East right up to Eastern Europe. The economy of the Ottoman Turks was based on conquering new lands and exploiting them for their value.

The Ottoman’s continued to conquer, not only so their economies wouldn’t fall but also to spread their religion, Islam. Unlike the Spanish, they did have some religious tolerance in their empire, but hey mostly forcefully converted who they conquered The Ottoman Empire was an ethnocentric one, not open to too many outside ideas. The Empire was reigned over by a religious leader know as the Sultan, but his advisors, or the viziers were the rue voices of the government. They made those who didn’t covert to Islam their military or the janissaries, unlike the Spanish who just enslaved or killed them.

Though having many differences, the Spanish and the Ottoman Empire were actually quite similar. Both were ruthless empires that conquered and dominated. Also, both empires wouldn’t have been established if it wasn’t for the desire to spread their religious beliefs and they both persecuted if necessary. Both of the empires had a lowe class of slaves or serfs that did all the work to maintain production and they both participated in the slave trade out of Africa. The governments of the Spanish and Ottoman Empire were run by religious icons or figures who had absolute control.

These empires were among the wealthiest in the world, but only the elite had the money. The economy of both the Spanish and the Ottoman Turks both would not prosper if they had not conquered in the first place. Politically, economically, and socially the Ottoman Empire and the Spanish Empire were similar in many ways. The Spanish and the Ottoman Empire, one dominating the sea and overseas, one dominating the land, were politically similar in governing system, but different tin the way the distributed their policies.

Economically, they differed in that the Ottoman’s relied on conquering and the Spanish on colonies but were similar in that they both needed to take over lands that weren’t originally theirs. Socially, the class system was rough and rigid in both with slaves at the bottom and absolute rulers at the top but they differed in the religion that was part of life in the two empires. Both empires would eventually see their downfall but for the time period 1400 – 1800 they made their time worthwhile, similarly and differently.

CC Essay #2 (3EE) European colonialism had an enormous impact on the world, then and today. What most tend to overlook, however is the empire of Russia, simultaneously rising in the east. In the 350 years after 1450, Spain and Russia built their empires, each with different locations, political structures , and goals. Spain, during this time period, was colonizing Latin America. A very small mother country, in relation to its colonies, was expanding greatly into weakly established tribal lands.

The strongest threat, the Aztecs were conveniently naive and unlucky, leading to their fall, and the ultimately largely uncontested spread of the Spanish Empire. In Russia, however, strongly established nations bordered a large mother country. Russia’s targets were its immediate neighbors. Russia needed careful diplomacy and established treaties and pacts to craftily add land to its empire, as opposed to Spain’s method of forceful takeover. Spain, in order to maintain control of colonies so far away, appointed officials to rule over designated areas and report to the mother country directly.

The landlords in the new colonies, who employed forced labor of natives, had to report to the officials. This was called the hacienda system. The Russians, by virtue of the means which they used to add to their empire, were forced to grant more power to their local governments, leaving them nearly sovereign. The landlords, employing forced labor of serfs, had to report to their local officials, who in turn made their own decisions. Oddly enough, the Spanish colonial system, spread out over the globe, was more centralized than the Russian counterpart.

The Spanish colonies were set up in such a manner as to yield the greatest economic benefit to the mother countries. Precious metals were exported in vast quantities to Spain, cementing Spain’s economic influence in the world market. Spain’s silver was especially valuable in China, who would soon only accept silver as currency. Cash crops such as tobacco, sugar and bananas brought more wealth to Spain and only served to make the colonies more dependent on the mother country to staple foods and supplies. Russia, however assimilated the newly acquired land into their culture.

Northern Eurasia has very poor farmland and so the farther south Russia expanded, the more crops Russia could make available. Northern Russia’s population could not support itself farming the dirt that the cold tundras provided, but the more warmer lands added to Russia’s empire, the more surplus crop that could be sent north. The most valuable resource of Russia’s empire was the vast numbers of people who could enlisted or recruited. Spain’s empire was meant to create wealth, while Russia’s was meant to create power. Two empires, occupying the same time period, were as different as empires can be.

Spain had a spread-out, yet centralized empire governing forcefully conquered lands with the goal of creating great wealth, while Russia created her condensed, loosely organized diplomatic coalition of an empire, with the goal of accumulating power, should war become necessary. CC Essay #3 (3M) The Spanish and Otoman Empire were both involved in the process of empire building during the period of 1450 to 1800. Though both began to develop economically, politically and socially, their underlying strategies for this process differed greatly.

The Spanish Empire followed and was helped along by the Catholic Church, while the Ottoman were a Muslim people that were governed by the Islamic religion. The differences between the Spanish and the Ottoman Empires stemmed from their very different religions, though the were both involved in global trade which made many of their developments similar. Economically, both the Spanish and Ottoman Empire had similar aspirations. During this period trade, as well as agriculture dominated.

The Ottoman Empire, like the Spanish Empire cultivated their own crops and through importing received their needed goods on one of the developing trade routes such as the Indian Ocean route. However, the Spanish Empire during this period also began the process of widespread colonization along with the Portueugese. The Ottoman Empire began to conquer surrounding regions but was not a part of the major movement into the Americas. Both Empires, however, took part in the developing and growing slave trade during this period. The Ottoman especially used African slaves, as it was against the Islamic faith to use Muslim slaves.

Economically the Ottoman and Spanish Empires followed very similar paths, though they differed significantly in their political structures. The Ottoman Empire based on Islam, and the Spanish Empire based on Christianity followed very different political paths. The Spanish Empire, for instance, began the process of colonization which meant the use of administrators as bureus. The Ottoman Empire also moved into surrounding areas in the Middle East, though they favored a more centralized form of government. Also a crucial difference was that the Ottoman Empire followed the Islamic faith.

This meant strict adherence to Islamic laws. Similarly, the Spanish Empire had no separation of church and state and received influence from the Catholic Church. This often meant that both political structures were dominated by a leader that was influenced by religious motives, rather than what was best for the state. This religious backing also produced a new practice for the Ottoman, the janissaries, or an army of Christian men taken as prisoners. The Spanish Empire relied on their own men to produce an army, such as the conquistadors which were used in colonization into the Americas.

The major differences between the Ottoman and Spanish Empires politically was significant as were those socially. Socially, both empires saw significant influence from religion. For example, the Ottoman Empire followed the practices of the Islamic faith, and remained tolerant of other religions in their Empire. However, those that were non-Muslim were forced to pay a tax, but conversion was still not mandatory. The Spanish Empire was not as tolerant of other religions, and missionaries were widely used to convert others.

Also in the Spanish Empire stratifications between those in Latin America and Spanish Europeans developed, along with colonization. The Ottoman Empire promoted relative equality among its people, as all were seen equal under Allah. Nonetheless, however, traditional ideas towards women remained the norm in both empires. Women were seen as child-barers and remained in the home, while in the Ottoman Empire some even were convened to the Islamic faith. Socially, as in other regions, similar developments occurred among the Ottoman and Spanish Empires in their social structure.

The period 1450 to 1800 saw many developments in Empire building for the Spanish and Ottoman Empire. Though, like in all other empires, these were forced to go through the tedious work of building a social, political, and economic structure, one major difference existed. In the case of the Ottoman and Spanish Empires religion had the biggest effect on the paths that were taken in building empires. CC Essay # 4 (3 AA) The Spanish Empire and Russian Empires during 1450 – 1800 were two different Empires with different goals in mind. The Spanish were more oncerned with overseas expansion, while the Russians were concerned with Westernization efforts. During 1450-1800 the Spanish were one of the leading countries in terms of overseas expansion. They were one of the first countries to have a representative sailor reach the New World. The reason for their great success in overseas expansion was the support the government had for it. The King and Queen payed for many explorations to new lands because they knew the fruit discovery could bear. They were rewarded with new goods and new markets of trade.

Soon, Spain began colonizing these newfound lands which benefited them even more. By colonizing lands rich with resources and commodities such as silk, gold, and silver, the Spanish made themselves the primary beneficiary. They were able to control imports and exports from these lands and open new trade routes. Also, in the colonies they made the citizens work for the prospects of Spain, for example searching for gold, or growing prosperous cash crops. The result of all this was that Spain was becoming increasingly powerful and spreading throught the world.

The Russian Empire during 1450-1800 was one that was trying to establish itself as a world. It’s leaders were focused using the ways of the West to promote itself. For example Peter the Great who greatly reformed Russia using Western European ideology. He rebuilt buildings, roads, and government systems. BY 1800 Russia, although not exactly a world power, had built itself up from its lowly state 400 years earlier. The major differences between the processes of Empire building between the Spanish and Russia from 1450-1800 was that Spain was already an empire to begin with which made it easier to grow.

Spain was already powerful around 1450 while Russia was not. Therefore Russia and Spain had two different mindsets about building up their Empires. Russia was focused on establishing itself through reforms of government, architecture and other things. Spain wanted to expand its empire and did so by using their navy and by taking advantage of these newfoundlands. It was easy for the Spanish to colonize these new lands because they had superior weapons, tactics, and they brought diseases with them that killed off many of the native populations. CC Essay #5 (BBB)

Within the period 1450 to 1800 the Spanish and Russian empires grew greatly. Both had changes in political structures, social structure, and economic structure. The political structure of the Spanish empire and Russian empire both changed within 1450 to 1800. The Spanish empire went from a monarchy to a democracy after having a few very bad kings and queens. The Russian empire went also from a monarchy to a democracy. This change also changed the social structure. As in most countries around this time the caste system was released and there was no more of it.

With the change of the political structure also came the change of the economical structure. Spain along with Britain, France, and the other western countries, became westernized with factories and the new trade routes faster than Russia. The Russian empire became westernized later because, of course, they were very far away from the major technological countries. But as Spain did Russia became very westernized. The two empires were very similar and Russia seemed to follow in Spains footsteps. AP WORLD Scoring Rubric for 2007 CC Essay: Empire Building in Spain, Russia & Ottoman Empire

Sample Identifier: 3MScore: 9 Strong thesis in first paragraph. (1 pt) Addresses similarities at beginning of 2nd paragraph and differences in first paragraph of page 2. (2 pts) Evidence abounds. (2 pts) Direct comparison in 5th line of page 2. (1 pt) Analysis on 4th line of page 3. (1 pt) Two expanded core points for thesis and rich evidence. Sample Identifier: 3RRScore: 8 Thesis is found at beginning of last paragraph. (1 pt). Addresses similarities in 5th line, page 1. Address differences in 3rd line of the 2nd paragraph. (2 pts) Rich in evidence. 2 pts). Direct comparison found on page 2, 1st paragraph: “Unlike the Spanish…” (1 pt). Analysis is found on page 3, at top: “Also, both empires wouldn’t have been established if…” (1 pt). Expanded core for evidence and comparisons. A strong 8. Sample Identifier: 3JJScore: 7 Thesis is found in the last sentence of the essay: “…politically, and socially different but economically both needed to expand…” (1 pt). Similarities are addressed in the narrative just above the thesis. Differences are addressed at the beginning of the essay (2 pts).

Enough evidence for (2 pts). Direct comparison is found in middle of page 1: “The Spanish however…” (1 pt). The analysis point follows immediately: “It was easier for the Spanish to expand rather than the Russians because…” Use asset model to ignore references to Ottoman Empire. A solid 7. Sample Identifier: 3CScore: 6 No thesis at beginning or end of the essay that compares (similarities and differences) of the process of empire building in Spain and Russia. Addresses similarities at the end of page 1, “…and Russia too felt the pull of expansionism. Beginning of the essay addresses a difference just before “because…” (2 pts). Rich evidence on page 1. Russian evidence is on page 2, 3rd line. (2 pts) Direct comparison in first sentence of page 2, which references the previous sentence. (1 pt) First sentence of last paragraph on page 1 isn’t a direct comparison because it is not true of Russia in 1450. Analysis of a comparison is found in the 3rd line of page 2, “…so Russia expanded eastward…” (Evidence may be found within analysis or within a direct comparison. ) Addresses similarities on line 10 of page 1.

Sample Identifier: 3EEScore: 5 No thesis. Addresses differences at beginning of essay. (1pt) Especially strong in Spanish evidence. 2 examples of Russian evidence. (2 pts) Direct comparison in second paragraph: “In Russia, however…” (1 pt) Analysis of differences between Spanish and Russian empires on first half of page 2. Sample Identifier: 3RScore: 4 No thesis. Addresses similarities in middle of first paragraph, and differences beginning in 4th line of page 2, in regard to the way each empire accumulated wealth as they expanded. 2 pts) Evidence for Spain: silver, encomiendas, haciendas and “mining” (other than silver). Ottoman evidence in 2nd paragraph: “religion played a big role when building the empire. ” (2 pts) Last paragraph unscorable because the argument is unquantifiable. Sample Identifier: 3AAScore: 3 No thesis. (“…Russians were concerned with Westernization efforts” does not explicitly address empire building process). Addresses differences in first paragraph. (1 pt) Evidence for Spanish empire building on most of page 1. Russian empire building evidence begins in 1st paragraph of page 2 (2 pts).

Attempt at direct comparison at bottom of page 2 is historically inaccurate. Sample Identifier: 3DDDScore: 2 No thesis. Addresses similarities in first two sentences of 4th paragraph. Addresses differences in first sentence of 3rd paragraph. 2 relevant examples of evidence for Spain, none for Ottoman Empire. No direct comparison or analysis. Sample Identifier: 3BBBScore: 1 No thesis. Addresses similarity in first sentence of second paragraph. Not sufficient evidence supporting empire building in Spain and Russia. No direct comparison or analysis.