In what way did the Dutch and English participation within the Asian sea trading network change by the middle decades of the 17th century?
a. For both the Dutch and the English, peaceful commerce came to be more profitable than forcible control and monopolies were aimed at European rather than Asian rivals.
b. Military expansion enabled greater commercial control due to the series of religious wars that had broken out in Europe.
c. As allies, the Dutch and English were able to establish a naval supremacy in Asia sufficient to monopolize all trade within the Asian sea trading network.
d. Both northern European nations abandoned the commerce in spices in favor of cotton and silk textiles.
e. Unlike the Portuguese and Spanish, the northern European nations undertook wholesale conversion to Protestantism of the inhabitants of the Spice Islands.
Answer: A