DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION: TWO TRADING ALLIANCES

DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION:
TWO TRADING ALLIANCES
DIRECTIONS
The following question is based on the accompanying documents. (The documents have
been edited for the purpose of this exercise). The question is designed to test your ability to
work with and understand historical documents. Write an essay that:

Has relevant thesis and supports that thesis with evidence from the documents.

Uses all or all but one of the documents.

Analyzes the documents by grouping them in as many appropriate ways as possible and
does not simply summarize the documents individually.

Takes into account both the sources of the documents and the authors’ points of view.
ESSAY PROMPT
Compare the Hansa and Swahili trading systems and determined what accounted for their
differences.
Based on the following documents, discuss Post-Classical interregional trading systems.
What types of additional documentation would help explain the differences between the
Hansa and the Swahili?
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
During the Post-Classical era from 1000 to 1450 C.E., cities, which relied heavily on trade,
arose and flourished. At the same time, many smaller trading cities formed trading
alliances and associations. Two of the most successful and famous were the German Hansa
in Northern Europe and the Swahili cities along the coast of East Africa.
DOCUMENT 1
FOREIGN GOLD & SILVER COINS DISCOVERED AT SWAHILI CITIES:
From Classical and Post-Classical Era Trading Civilizations to 1450 C.E.
Kilwa
HELLENISTIC
PERSIAN
Roman
Byzantine
Umayyad
Abbasid
Seljuk
Mameluk
Mongol
Muslim, misc.
Tang China
Sung China
Ming China
Ceylon
Vietnam
South India
Mafia
1
Zanzibar
Pemba
2
Kenya
Somalia
22
1
6
46
5
2
2
4
20
9
3
4
185
2
2
2
7
1
4
1
15
1
6
2
1
16
6
4
4
2
Total
25
5
9
48
2
8
1
12
7
38
5
212
6
4
4
2
Kenyan Swahili cities are Mombasa and Lamu; Somalia includes
Mogadishu
DOCUMENT 2
The Hansa reply to a memorandum from the English Privy Council, after
the English arrested Hansa merchants and confiscated their property, 1469
“The Hansa came into being through agreement and alliance of different towns;
But the German Hansa is a firm confederation of many cities, towns, and
communities for the purpose of ensuring that business enterprises by land and
sea should have a desired and favorable outcome and that there should be
effective protection against pirates and highwaymen, so that their ambushes
should not rob merchants of their goods and valuables. The Hansa is not
controlled by the merchants; on the contrary each city and each town has its own
lords and its own magistracy by whom its affairs are directed. For the Hansa is
nothing other than a kind of alliance between towns, which does not release the
towns from the jurisdiction of those lords who ruled over them. The Hansa has
nro common council; but each town sends delegates, with instructions. The towns
of the Hansa assemble whenever there are questions to be discussed and decide
amongst themselves what they consider necessary for the good of their
merchants.”
DOCUMENT 3
Joao de Barros, Portuguese merchant and soldier from his book, Decades of Asia
completed in 1520s about his travels along East Africa’s coast
“It was part of the agreement between the pagans [of Sofala] and the Muslims of
Mogadishu that they should bring every year some young Muslims so that there
might always be in town certain [Muslim merchants]. When the King of Kilwa
learned from the fishermen of this part of the contract, he gave orders that a
ship should be sent so as to arrange to enter into commerce with the blacks.
With regard to the young Muslims for whom they asked, or if they wanted these
Muslims so far as to have a race of them there, some of the inhabitants of Kilwa
would agree to go and live there in a factory for merchandise and they would be
glad to take the pagans’ daughters as wives, by which means the people [Muslim
merchants] would be multiplied. By means of this entry, the Muslims of Kilwa
got possession of the trade. In course of time by means of trade which the
Muslims had with the blacks, the kings of Kilwa became absolute masters of the
trade in gold. From this time onwards the kings of Kilwa sent their governors to
Sofala, so that everything might be transacted through [Muslim] merchants.”
DOCUMENT 4
Declaration of the Hanseatic League for the prosecution of the war against
Denmark and Norway, their meeting in Cologne (a city), Holy Roman Empire,
1367
“We declare that we have agreed, firstly, that because of the manifold wrongs
and injuries which the kings of Denmark and Norway have inflicted and do still
inflict upon Hanseatic merchants, we have become their enemies and that we
shall loyally support one another in the following manner: namely, that the
Wendish towns together with the Livonian towns and with those towns which
are associated with them, will fit out ten ships, manned with able men-at-arms,
that is, 100 men to each ship, and that two supply ships shall accompany each
larger ship. The Prussian towns, that is, seaports, shall equip five ships of a like
kind. And when all ships [from Holland and Zealand and the Baltic cities] are
assembled in the Danish Sound, the whole fleet from both districts is to remain
with the warships and to do as the commanders bid them. Further, to cover the
costs, every merchant shall pay poundage on his goods. And similarly captains
shall pay poundage on their ships. This poundage shall be levied in every town of
the Confederation and is to be kept at the disposal of all those towns, which have
fitted out ships of war. The above mentioned Confederation with all its rules and
regulations shall remain in full force for a further three years.”
DOCUMENT 5
Abdul Hassan ibn Ali al Mas’udi, Arab traveler, merchant and geographer, from
Cairo and Baghdad, late 10th century C.E. about his trips to the East African
coastal area of el-Zanj, the Swahili peoples between Somalia and Mozambique
“The sea of Zanj reaches down to the country of Sofala and the Wak-Wak, which
produces gold in abundance and other marvels; its climate is warm and its soil
fertile. It is there that the Zanj built their capital; then they elected a king whom
they called [Swahili]. The king has under him all the other Zanj kings, and
commands three hundred thousand men. Although constantly employed in
hunting elephants and gathering ivory for domestic purposes, they wear iron
instead of gold and silver. Tusks form the country of the Zanj go generally to
Oman, and from there are sent on to China and India. That is the route they
follow, and were it otherwise, ivory would be very abundant in Muslim countries.
In China the kings and their military and civilian officers use carrying-chairs of
ivory; no official or person of rank would dare to visit the king in an iron chair,
and ivory alone is used for this purpose. Ivory is much prized in India; there it is
made into handles for the daggers or swords or in the manufacture of chessmen
and other gaming pieces.”
DOCUMENT 6
Renewal of the contract for the supply of foodstuffs and materials to and exports
from Bruges, Flanders by the Hanseatic diet [Parliament] in Lubeck, 1470
“And nobody, whoever he may be, whether he is a merchant in the Hansa, as a
burgess [citizen] or inhabitant, or whether he does not belong to the Hansa, shall
take cloth made in Flanders, Brabant or Holland into any Hansa town or its
territory, which has not passed through the market at Bruges or was not bought
or offered for sale in Antwerp or Bergen-op-Zoom at the fair held there.
Similarly all eastern Hanseatic towns, and all other Hansa towns, shall refrain
from supplying anyone, whether he belongs to the Hansa or not, with any staple
goods for passage through [the seas between the North and Baltic Seas], unless
he swears an oath beforehand or gives surety that he intends to take those goods
to the markets in Flanders and Holland.”
DOCUMENT 7
Ibn Battuta, Muslim traveler and qadi (religious judge), from the chronicles of
his visit to the coasts of East Africa, 1331 C.E.
“We sailed for fifteen nights and came to Mogadishu, which is a town of
enormous size. Its inhabitants are merchants possessed of vast resources. In this
place is manufactured the woven fabrics called after it, which are unequalled and
exported from it to Egypt and elsewhere. It is the custom that whenever there
comes a jurist or a sharif or a man of religion, he must first see the sultan before
taking a lodging. So I went to the sultan, as they asked. The sultan of Mogadishu
is Abu Bakr, son of Sultan Omar; he is by origin from [Northern Somalia] and he
speaks the language of Mogadishu, but knows the Arabic language. After we had
eaten, we went to the congregational mosque and made our prayers. When the
sultan came out, he said in Arabic, ‘You are welcome, and you have honored our
land and given us pleasure.’ On Saturday, the population comes to the Sultan’s
gate, and the qadi, with the viziers (chief ministers), the private secretary, and
four of the principal amirs, sits for deciding cases among the population and
petitioners. Every case that is concerned with the rulings of the Divine Law is
decided by the qadi, and all cases other than those are decided by the members of
the council. If any case calls for consultation with the sultan, he sends out the
reply to them immediately.”
DOCUMENT 8
Contingents of armed men, which Rostock (Hansa city in Northern Germany)
guilds had to furnish for the defense of the town, from official list of 1483
Porters (150)
Butchers (20)
Pewterers (16)
Shoemakers (40)
Coopers (20)
Linen weavers (16)
Blacksmiths (40)
Bridlemakers (20)
Hoopers (10)
Bakers (30)
Tailors (20)
Masons (10)
Retailers (30)
Tanners (20)
Carpenters (10)
Haberdashers (20)
Wool Weavers (20)
Old Tailors (10)
Furriers (20)
Fishermen (20)
Barbers (6)
Plus an additional 40 guilds with 2 to 3 armed men each
Total: 622 armed guildsmen
DOCUMENT 9
NAME: _____________________________________ PERIOD: ________ DATE: _____________
ADVANCED PLACEMENT DBQ HISTORY RUBRIC
BASIC CORE
EXPANDED CORE
Points
Points
1) Has an acceptable thesis.
1
2) Understands
the
basic
meaning of documents. Uses
all but may misinterpret one.
1
3) Supports thesis with appropriate
evidence from all or all but one of
the documents.
2
(Supports thesis with appropriate
evidence from all but two of the
documents.)
4) Analyzes point of view in at least
three documents.
5) Analyzes documents by grouping
them in three ways depending on
the prompt.
6) Identifies and explains the need for
three types of additional document
or source.
SUBTOTAL
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
(1)
1
Expanded beyond the basic core of
1 to 7 points. A student MUST earn
seven points in the basic core area
BEFORE earning points from the
expanded core area. Students may
earn from 0 to 3 points by doing
any of the following:

Has a clear, analytical and
comprehensive thesis.

Uses all documents.

Uses documents persuasively as
evidence.

Shows careful, insightful
analysis of the documents.

Analyzes bias or point of view
in most or all documents.

Analyzes documents in
additional ways – groupings,
comparisons, syntheses.

Brings in relevant “outside”
historical content.

Explains why additional
documents or types of sources
are needed.
1
1
7
0-2
2
9
GRADES: 9=97, 8=92, 7=87, 6=82, 5=77, 4=72, 3=67, 2=62, 1=57, 0=50
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