1. Comparative Essay

2. Introduction Paragraph
Time Period
In the time period 1450-1750, merchants were
viewed differently among rulers from civilization to
civilization. In Ming China and Ottoman Empire, both
had absolute rulers who had their own opinions about
the merchant class in their population. Ming China and
Ottoman Empire are different in that Ming China looked
down upon their merchants whereas the Ottomans
respected theirs, however, both civilizations’ merchants
were wealthy despite how the rulers viewed them.
Missing Causation

3. Thesis Statement
The Ottoman Empire had a great relationship with
the merchant class, encouraged trade, and gave
merchants benefits, while Tokugawa Japan strongly
discouraged trade, looked down upon the merchant
class, and isolated themselves from the rest of the
world.
Missing Causation and
Similarity

4. Thesis Statement
In Tokugawa Japan merchants were given less
rights and lower status due to Neo-Confucian
governing policies and in the Ottoman Empire
merchants were treated well due to their religious
connections to the prophet Muhammad.
Missing Similarity

5. Thesis Statement
In Ming China, with the exception of Yonglo, the
merchants were frowned upon for both religious and
economic reasons. However, in the Ottoman Empire
merchants were loved and even given special privileges
by the sultans due to Islamic beliefs.
Missing Similarity

6. Thesis Statement
The Ottoman Sultan and the Tokugawa Shogun
both influenced and regulated trade, however, Ottoman
Islamic beliefs and centralized location created a
positive view of the merchants and a policy of trade
while Confucian ideals and a protected location created
a negative view of merchants and a policy of isolation.
Despite these differences each policy had a positive
impact on their respective society.

7. Sample Essay: Intro and Thesis
During period 4 (1450-1750) a new set of Empires
were founded and interactions between societies were
formed again. Trade routes continued flourishing and
merchants gained enormous wealth if they were
successful. In two such empires, the Ottoman and
Tokugawa Japan, the trading class had a unique
relationship with their ruler. Both Empires effectively
monitored and controlled their traders with their
extensive bureaucracy but differed in where traders
were placed in society due to their respective religions,
Islam and Confucianism and geographic locations.

8. Sample Essay: Body Paragraph 1
For merchants in both Japan and the Ottoman
Empire bureaucracy was built to ensure fair trades and
prevent the evasion of taxes. The Ottomans for
example, levied tariffs on foreign goods and provided
for inspections on the goods that were brought into the
Empire. In this way merchants would not cheat the
government. While trade was more limited in Tokugawa
Japan, similar restrictions were set on traders. They
were to be inspected periodically in order to ensure the
proper taxes had been paid and no illegal trades had
been made. Thus, in both the Ottoman Empire and
Tokugawa Japan traders were regulated with their
respective government leaders.

9. Sample Essay: Body Paragraph 2
While both societies regulated trade, Japanese
traders faced many more restrictions. After a turn
inward during period 4, merchants were restricted to
trading only with the Dutch, Chinese, and some
Koreans. Such trade only took place in Nagasaki Bay.
Also, trade with the Dutch only occurred a maximum of
once a year. This difference comes from two factors.
One, traders were considered a threat to Japanese
society, and the Shogun was concerned of a foreign
invasion. Secondly, borrowed Confucian values put
traders on the lowest part of their society below
farmers and peasants. Analysis

10. Sample Essay
These factors were nearly the opposite in the
Ottoman society. Unlike their Japanese counterparts,
the Ottomans were Muslim. The Islamic tradition
teaches that their Prophet Muhammad was a trader.
Therefore, merchants have a much increased social
standing. This coupled with an empire that effectively
served as a middle man for the Silk Road trade created
an empire extremely tolerant and accepting of traders.
Thus, while traders faced restrictions for these Analysis
differences they were not as severe.

11. Sample Essay
This point lends itself to one final difference:
geographic location. Being a group of islands, Japan
had little benefit from trading in a terms of sustenance,
most goods could be produced domestically. This
reason further eroded the standing of merchants in
Tokugawa Japan. The Ottomans on the other hand
focused on expansion, not nurturing domestic markets.
This, in addition to their key location as the link
between Europe and the lucrative silk routes forced a
reliance on traders. In this situation, the relationship
between merchants and government only increased.

12. Conclusion
Overall, during the 4th period interactions between peoples
expanded across the globe. A complex network of trade that
linked sellers of silk in Ming China with buyers in Europe
developed and lead to the rise of a powerful class of merchants. In
two such empires, the Ottoman and the Tokugawa, traders were
restricted by government overseers and investigators, in addition
to tariffs, but because of differences in geographic position and
religion the relationship between merchant and rulers was very
different. In Japan, it’s island geography and classic Confucian
values created a superior and inferior relationship between
Shogun and merchant. In the Ottoman Empire, Islam and it’s
“Middle Man” geography lent itself to less restrictive and more fair
relationship between the Sultan and traders.