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. Silver was said to be the “product most responsible for the birth of world trade” and was considered valuable/profitable to various countries. China was the main consumer of silver which led all the silver mines in the world to sell silver to China. Although China was a pivotal country and played an important role in the birth of world trade, it was neglected due to eurocentrism. Silver was introduced
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.
Socially and economically, the global silver trade from the mid-16th century to the 18th century had a negative effect on the rest of the world. The trade’s earlier benefits did not last long, as it eventually weakened the Spanish kingdoms and Ming dynasty. The dependence on trade and the uneven disbursement of the product lead to the fragility of the economics of those governments that depended on silver. The economic effects can be seen in document 2, 3, 4, and the social effects of the silver trade can be seen in documents 5, 6, 7, and 8. According to the documents, the middle man profited the most from the dependence on silver, while the countries importing and exporting silver suffered massive damages.
By wasting labors in mining silver, Spain could barely develop tiger plantation economy. Therefore, the silver required of China, and labors at mining caused the shortage of Spain
Jessica Scano Mr. D’Auria 10 AP World History Flow of Silver DBQ The booming growth and development of silver during the mid-16th century to the early 18th century had various social and economic effects in many European, Indian, Japanese, and Chinese societies. The growth of silver in China and Japan made them ‘hot-spots’ for other nations. Britain, Portugal, and Spain plentifully benefitted from trading silver (doc 7, 4, 2) whilst other nations had discrepancies over the topic because it caused corrupt governments (doc 1, 3, 5, 6, 8).
There were Spanish American countries involved, the Europeans and Chinese were active around the flow of silver. Major silver mines were located in Mexico, South America, and in Japan. (Doc,1). Trading of silver flow allowed many countries to experiencing having goods, especially the Portuguese. This was giving the global trading a good effect, allowing different and luxurious items come into their world.
However, an imbalance of trade occurred between Asia and Europe by Asia receiving luxury goods while Europe received regular goods. It was believed that Asia had the upper-hand during the trade, due to the fact that they were receiving the gold and silver. In reality, Asia wasn’t sure on how to benefit from the luxury, and in result proved that the ones who had the upper-hand didn’t always have to be responsible of trading luxury (Doc. 8).
Silk was considered a highly desired commodity across Eurasia. One reason behind this was the fact that silk was used as currency and as a means of accumulating wealth in Central Asia. It then became a symbol of high status in other parts such as China. It also became associated with the sacred expanding world religions of Buddhism and Christianity. There were various major economic, social, and cultural consequences of Silk Road commerce.
From 1500 to 1750, silver production in the world was led by Spanish Colonial America and Tokugawa Japan. Silver trade was lead through a connection between four great continents, but there was no direct trade link between America and Asia. In that time, limits were placed on the amount of silver spent, prices increased and decreased depending on the supply of silver and silver production led to more importation and exportation of goods, as well as new ways to pay also developed due to silver production. In the 1570s, the Ming Chinese government stated that all taxes and trade fees should be paid in silver. Most silver flowed over the Pacific, out of Acapulco, to Manila, ending in China.
With the globalization of this trade, it impacted many empires in the Americas and Afro-Eurasia. Once the global silver trade started in the sixteenth century, empires across Afro-Eurasia and the Americas were affected socially, such as Native Americans having to overwork themselves because of the Spanish desire for silver, and economically, with a change in
During the time of the 1650’s the Americas were not a part of what is now the United States and other countries in Central America and as well as the Caribbean. During those years European countries who were dominate in exploring the world and conquering new lands were the British, Spanish, French and the Dutch. The world economy was greatly impacted by the production of goods the Americas could provide Europe and even parts of Asia. The America’s were rich in materials that could not be made vastly, like the production of cotton, crops, tobacco and as well as natural gems like gold and silver that would increase wealth of the country who was exploring the region at the time. The British crown at the time was a powerful nation and if not the most powerful in wealth and military with great number of troops and
While some were able to benefit others did not for several reasons. Firstly, China who was a dominant power in that era had a high demand for silver. Trade between china and other countries was
Both of these contributed to a more global commerce since new crops could now be introduced to the Old World and silver was highly valued all over the world. The European settlers were aware of the aforementioned facts and took advantage of the rich lands that could be found in the Americas. They farmed extensively, and the Native American techniques for harvesting in difficult land helped them. Furthermore, knowing that South America had rich silver deposits, the mined for the valuable material to export it for profit. This remained mostly unchanged during this time since Europeans had no need to look for other sources of profit.
Although China did not become industrialized, pushing the limits of the old biological regime with old technology and their growing population size forced China to become a very labour-intensive agricultural giant in order to support themselves. Overall, although the world had left behind an old and insufficient biological regime, the Industrial Revolution brought with it its own challenges for mankind. Things like cotton, tea, silver, opium, iron, and steam were all items that dominated the Industrial Era. Tea and opium were mass produced by the Chinese, and England stripped silver from the New World to pay for these goods.
Having the use of trade available to different nations made it easier to focus on aspects of receiving the raw materials to make countries more valuable. According to a reliable source, “Overseas colonies could serve as reliable sources of raw materials not available in Europe that came into demand because of industrialization” (911). This meant that they could get rubber from rubber trees in the Congo River basin and Malaya and use it to make many things, from tires to pipes. Tin came from colonies in southeast Asia and copper came from central Africa. Tin and copper were mostly used to make tools and weapons.
The characters of many popular movies tend to have various mental and physical illnesses, but they are often romanticized and not portrayed correctly. In Silver Linings Playbook, both of the main characters have a mental illness and they are displayed fairly accurately. However, it is slightly romanticized and leaves the viewer with the impression that everything is okay after a kiss and that together, the main characters will both be much better with their illnesses. Silver Linings Playbook is about a man named Pat Solitano who has just returned from an eight month stint in a mental hospital and has been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. He was required by law to be treated in the mental hospital because he had previously almost beaten a man to death after discovering he had an affair with his wife, Nikki.