Essay 2006 Ap World History Dbq

The flow of silver from 1500 to 1750 C.E. drastically improved the economies of Latin American nations, which in turned allowed for a global shift in currency and altered trade. Also during this time period there was also a greater desire for global expansion and imperialism, as seen when Europe expanded towards the Americas. Interconnected trade allowed for more contact between various nations, but it also supported the idea that certain nations were superior. While Latin America was the source of the economic prosperity that occurred in this time period, nations such as Europe benefited largely as well; since Spain and Portugal still had control over the areas where silver was being mined, they were able to take the rewards and distribute for their benefit. Documents 2 and 4 describe how silver has become the leading trade object in East Asia.

The time period 600 BCE – 1500 CE was bringing many new innovations to trade throughout Eurasia. The extensive Silk Road connected European countries to the far eastern Asian countries (China and India), allowing the rare goods from China to find their way to European markets. New technologies in maritime trade included the production of lateen sails and dhow’s in the Indian region of trade. These technologies allowed trade efficiency to increase allowing states merchants and governments to make more money. Religious people and Statesmen had different viewpoints on this new wealth accumulation.

As the amount of silver increased, and the inflation caused by paper money, the Ming Chinese government required all domestic taxes paid in sliver. However, this policy caused a lot of problems in society. Reported by Wang Xijue to the emperor in 1593, the lack of silver coins in society caused the price of grain decreased, so farmers have limited return food (Document 3). Moreover, written by Xu Dunqiu in his essay the changing times, beside trading products with products, domestic trade was paid by silver as also (Document 5). Therefore, if normal people want to maintain their lives, they had to change their products with moneylender.

In this case, this gave Europe access to exports that they could take advantage of and use for themselves to expand their nations,

Most of the goods flowed from West to East. In Doc #4, Japan trades with the Portuguese. The Portuguese bring white silk, gold, perfume and porcelain and in return Japan only brings silver. The silver that Portuguese obtains, is used as an advantage point against China. The Japanese bring the silver in return for China’s gold.

They need to socially and economically adapted to fit with the global flow of silver. Documents number four and eight show views from different British people. Ralph Fitch, a British merchant, traveled to the East Indies. He said, that they was a ship “that goes to Japan every year, and brings back more than 600,000 coins worth of Japanese silver.” The Portuguese used silver to buy many different luxuries such as gold, silk, perfume, copper, and porcelain.

Document two shows that although Spain was originally in power due to their large quantities of silver, they were soon trading that silver for other countries' goods. This led to other countries obtaining large amounts of silver, reducing the impact of Spain and it's silver. With the author of this document being a Spanish scholar, he notes that Spain's economy is struggling and he knows this because he resides in Spain and has experienced first hand how silver has affected the local economy. Document three also talks about how people are losing money from the arrival of silver. The Chinese government began to require all taxes be paid in silver.

When Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492, he brought drastic environmental changes. This initiated the Columbian Exchange, or the knitting together of cultures, which represented cultural diffusion at its finest. While there were numerous positive benefits, it also began a trend of ecological release. Species of plants and animals brought over by the Europeans began to flourish because they had no natural predators and a different climate. Additionally, due to the many Spanish explorers migrating to the Americas, large quantities of silver in Postosí and Huancavelica were found and the Spanish forced the natives to mine and refine said silver.

"God, gold, and glory" is a simple way of expressing the motives behind the colonial expansion of Europe. "God", was the motivation of European missionaries to spread the word of the gospel, specifically the Jesuits, "Gold" was the motivation of merchants (and governments) to increase their overall wealth, and "Glory" represented an enormous power, which governments were willing to fight for. With this mantra, came the eventual discovery and colonization of Americas, which would contribute to the price revolution of Europe and the cultural and economic circulation of traditions and merchandise over the Atlantic, or in other words, the Columbian Exchange. Overall, the expansion of colonies in America shifted the center of economic power in Europe from the Mediterranean

With the newly established foreign trade, tea and silk were in great demand with exports increasing over 500%. Farmers saw how much the tea and silk industry was flourishing and switched from agriculture, leading to the appreciation of the price of food. In contrast, China’s import of western machine-made fabrics rose from 730 thousand pounds before the Opium Wars, to an incredible 2.3 million pounds by 1864, putting the traditional and pricier hand-made textile industry out of business. Many workers from other industries such as boatmen had also lost their jobs. With the widespread of poverty from the soaring food prices and falling employment, the Chinese economy took a great hit from foreign

This created extra goods lowering the prices of the goods. The skills of the

Lucy Wang Snavely AP World History Period 1 21 March 2016 Silver Article Summary In Born with a “Silver Spoon”: The Origin of World Trade in 1571, Flynn and Giráldez talk about global trade, silver, inflation, mining, etc. This article is controversial and contains statements that are different than the popular opinions that people often have.

Everyone that has studied the history of trade and slavery, have learned of the global flow of silver, that was active from the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century. It was because of the introduction of silver from America and Japan that the people of that era started to focus more on silver. Economically, the flow of silver in the 1570- 1750, affected the Chinese and the European(Documents 1, 4, 5, 8, and 7). Socially, this flow of trade has affected the lives of the Native Americans, Chinese, and the European (Documents 2, 3, 5, and 6). It’s also because of the Chinese and European greed, that they took the Native Americans from their native lands, to be used as slaves in mining for slave, and also of the trade they did

Especially trade through the Caribbean and Southern Europe, because finished goods were imported from England. Like it is nowadays, depending on the job a colonist worked, they would receive a different balance of coins than someone with a different job. Often individuals would complain that the amount they were receiving for labor was too low. Money was never enough even though it moved around in large

The Silk Road began during the Han Dynasty to trade goods to and from China. “ The network was used regularly from 130 B.C.E., when the Han officially opened trade with the west, to 1453 C.E., when the Ottoman Empire boycotted trade with the west and closed the routes.” The Chinese started using the Silk Road to mainly transport and trade their precious silk. It ran from China to the Mediterranean Sea and lasted about 1,583 years. It branched out and extended in different ways all across West Asia and Europe, and was named by the Silk Road by Ferdinand von Richthofen, a German geographer.