Causes And Effects Of The Silver Trade Dbq

Documents 2 and 3 talk about how the mass influx of silver caused inflation in the

taxes and trade fees be paid in silver. During the mid-sixteenth century to the early

The constant need of silver for trading became a disaster for China. China did not have their own supply of silver which made them rely more and more on trading. Farmers and peasants’ conditions were worsening because the value of their goods were decreasing. The “scarcity of the silver coin”(Doc.3), the government couldn’t pay their peoples and labor workers were starting to receive less money. The trade of silver was causing chaos with their economy and hindered it. And as a result of all of this, “less land is put into cultivation”(Doc.3). Which caused an economic crisis in china. They would no longer trade with goods like grains and proteins, it was now all about the silver. This not only affected the poor peasants and farmers, it also affected the upper class people. It started as a small unnoticeable issue which grew to a political

From there, the silver slowly made its way to China, where most of the silver ended up at the end (Doc 1). In addition, Charles D’Avenant, an English scholar, writes an essay about

ii.Merchants, adventures, and government officials had high hopes of finding metals and new areas of trade ( access to the spices )

This meant that all money they made had to be sent back to them, for

The gold certificates, not many were left in circulation, used to pay the ransom was the only reason that

This marked the first “debut” of America’s international stage. Yankee traders exchanged Appalachian ginseng, frontier furs, and Mexican silver for highly coveted porcelains, teas, silks- the luxury goods from China. America’s “founding” European fathers and mothers crafted their elite identities with the purchase with the purchase of the latest, most stylish of these goods. Overland and by coastal sea routes, Canton and the Pearl River Delta region was global center for these coveted luxury goods. Craft production centers and tea producers met the deeds of all corners of the world. European ships of kings and queens lined up to trade with Chinese merchant princes. The balance of trade was decidedly in China’s favor. From Salem to Baltimore, port merchants serving as middlemen in the China trade turned great profits, giving rise to America’s first generation of

This situation displeased the British, as there was a steady flow of silver leaving Britain.

Chinese porcelain of the 14th or 15th century was transmitted to the Middle-East and the Near East, and especially to the Ottoman Empire either through gifts or through war booty.

Yet despite any conjectures drawn from accounts of scholars, merchants, officials and priests it is impossible to know the full extent of the economic and social effects of silver without the voice of the common people. It was the commoners, laborers, slaves, farmers and peasants which bore the full brunt of the trade. Their every day lives relied on day to day paychecks, which mandated how they survived. It is the rise and fall of poverty in the peasantry, the social unrest or benefit of the commoners that would reveal the true effect of silver. The majority of all of

Japan was a large exporter of silver, copper, sulphur, camphor, iron, swords, lacquer, furniture, sake, tea and high quality rice. Southeast Asia was a major hub of entrepôt activity. There, Indian textiles, Japanese and American silver and Chinese silk and ceramics were traded for Southeast Asian pepper, spices, woods, resins, lacquer, tortoise shells, pearls and deerskin. The Indochinese countries, especially Vietnam, were also significant exporters of sugar. (Frank, 1998)

value." Due to people having realized the universality of silver and gold, a person could at one

In Asian countries, gold was used in varying degrees. Archaeologists have discovered pieces of gold jewellery in Buddhist Afghanistan dating from around the time of the birth of Christ. China was another country to make extensive use of gold. From around 1100 BC, gold was used as inlay in bronze items and different types of jewellery. Gold craft continued in China throughout the various royal dynasties. When Chinese settlers moved to Korea in around 210 BC, they brought their extensive knowledge of goldcraft with them. This changing global context, underpinned by new and resilient sources of demand,

Clearly, as a result of the Spanish American silver imports, careless imperial spending ignited revenue-raising tariffs to soften debt at the cost of diminishing the fiscal value in China—leaving a monetary vacuum of inflation to ravish the Chinese lower class.