The introduction of silver impacted the people of Western Europe and East Asia both positively and negatively depending on if they worked in the lower class or upper class. The introduction of the silver coin generated a currency change which made it harder for the lower class to earn money. During the period from 1450 to 1750 the consequences of the global flow of silver both benefited and had a negative impact on the people of Western Europe and East Asia.
The global flow of silver had some benefits to the people of Western Europe and East Asia regarding through trading merchants. In doc. #4, Ralph Fitch said that, “when the Portuguese go from Macao to Japan, they bring back every year more than 600,000 coins’ worth of Japanese silver. They use the silver to bring gold, perfume, silk, copper, porcelain, and many other luxury goods from China.”(Doc. 4). Ralph is saying that the
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The Portuguese then take their large amount of silver coins and uses them to get more luxury goods from China thus benefiting all three countries. In doc. #6, it says that “the ore at Potosi silver mine is very rich black flint and so huge is the wealth that has been taken out of this range since the year 1545. 326,000,000 silver coins have been taken out and this does not count the great amount of silver taken secretly from these mines to Spain and other countries such as the Philippines and China.”(Doc. 6). This says that this mine is rich with silver and merchants and workers have secretly taken large amounts of the silver for Spain, the Philippines, and China to help their economy. The people who secretly take the silver don’t have to pay the 20% tax or registry fee if they were taking the silver on
During the time period of 1450-1750, there were many changes as well as continuities in the economy of the Atlantic world form. One main change during this time was, the involvement of trading European firearms and other foods. This diversified the initial upbringing of the Atlantic world trade, which was different from its original usage of exporting slaves, gold, salt, and other goods. But this was both a positive and negative change for the economical status of the Europeans earnings increased, but negatively as well as there were more weapons used for violence. In relation, a continuity that occurred through this time was the use of the Atlantic world for the trade of African slaves.
With textiles from India restricted, it paved the way for Europeans to produce their own goods at competing prices with the Asians and stimulate their own economy. The Chinese, on the other hand, were receiving silver, an essential piece of their economy as it was their sole monetary form for taxes and other processes. In addition to unnecessary goods, the Spanish were experiencing increasing inflation. Tomas Mercado, a Spanish scholar, described the extent of this inflation caused by the lack of the circulation of the coins (Doc 1). The Chinese received so much silver for themselves that it could be used as ballast and the cobblestones previously used were left at the port.
Spain earned a lot through trading with China. Written by Tomás de Mercado in manual of deals and contracts, it represented that in order to but the products in China, they had to pay a high price which ruined the economy and let silver flowed out of Spanish Empire. Moreover, some of the goods that Spain bought were stones (Document 3). Besides the economy, mining silver required huge amount of labors to work extremely hard. Represent in Document 6, there were more 3000 Indian workers worked hard everyday to mine the silver.
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).
In Doc #6, the process to obtain the silver in Spain is to evacuate it from a very rich black flint. It takes thousands of workers and it is a very strenuous process. Spanish records show that millions of silver coins have been taken out. In Doc #7, Chinese merchants trade with Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean in order to obtain the goods they need in return for what they have. The Chinese merchants have found that when they trade with the Philippines they only return with silver coins.
The impact industrialism had on the Gilded Age was that it allowed people to gain wealth, improve materials, and to increase production. Industrialists like Vanderbelt and Rockerfeller are one of the main reasons this time period is called, the Gilded Age, because of how they were able to create monopolies within the railroad and oil industries and thus, make themselves rich. These two people impacted the Gilded Age by further improving people's lives with their ideas. Vanderbelt cut travel time to seven days with his first transcontinental railroad and Rockerfeller made homes safer by creating standard oil that won't be as dangerous as kerosene. People like them also shaped how we do business today by carving the path to nationwide trade
The silver trade in the 16th to 18th centuries brought economic and social transformations around the world. The changing flow of silver during this time changed every civilization globally; The Ming empire, the Spanish and Britain were effected both economically and socially. By the early 18th century, the effects of silver trade had both changed the operation of economics and social structure. Additional documents that could have explained and supported these changes; writings from the empire of Tokugawa Japan, the indigineous workers in the Potosi mines, business owners and their change in their payments and reliance on silver for profit, and the agriculturalists that saw the influence of silver on the trade of commodities all over the globe.
"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
The document by King Affonso I, titled Letters to King Jao of Portugal was written in 1526. During King Affonso’s reign, he saw many benefits of creating strong trading relationships with Europeans, specifically Portugal. To create a powerful alliance between the Kongo and Portugal the royal family converted to Christianity and allowed the process of importing European products. However, the importation of European goods appeared to diminish the economic society of the Kongo. In the letters to Portugal from King Affonso, he explains how the merchants who came to his kingdom are permitted to sell goods that are prohibited in the Kingdom of the Kongo.
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.
These leads to a permanent lower social class who will suffer in order to survive because they don 't have the silver they need to buy goods. In document 3, Wang Xijue is a government official for Ming China. He is reporting that although the Chinese government is collecting a great deal of money in taxes, by demanding tax payments in silver the government is actually hurting the economy. Because all the silver is spent to pay taxes there is very little left for people to use to buy farm products or tools or to hire laborers. Since they cannot afford to pay much in silver prices and wages are dropping.
They also brought disease to the Americas which they benefitted from. The Spanish discovered a mountain of silver, and adopted the Inca system which allowed them to force the indigenous to work without payment. The discovery of silver had a major impact on especially Europe and China. China changed so that taxes had to be paid through silver, This resulted in an increased silk production, and almost all Spanish silk producers were put out of business.
What was the Gilded Age and why did Mark Twain refer to it as such? To help understand this question, one must know the meaning of the word gild. Per Merriam Webster, the term gild means to “to give an attractive but often deceptive appearance to” (Gild, n.d.). After the Civil War the American people had become tired of all the corruption and simply wanted to see an end to it and to have a stable economy. The Gilded Age was fashioned to be prosperous times for all Americans, promising wealth, and an end to past political corruption.
What is imperialism? Imperialism is an approach to expand a nation’s power and their influences over other lands. Empires would look for expansion in their rule over other countries like Africa, Asia, and the Middle East starting in the 1870s and continued until 1914. But, was Imperialism beneficial for developing nations? Imperialism benefited developing nations from the positive aspects of technological advancements, economic gain, and political power.
“They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you. They’re going to hunt you tomorrow.” (Golding, 170). After all the chaos from previous chapters of the novel, Ralph realizes that he’s completely isolated and lonely.