The primary flow of silver had severe effects economically and socially from 15000-1750. Some effects are the economic imbalance which caused social suffering, the social anarchy of robbing and more, and when the economic imbalance caused them to be active within the trade business which helped their economy. Documents 1, and 3 show the social effects that evolved from economic aspects. In document 1 it shows that the demand of silver had effects on the poor and also the rich. The source of document 1 was Ye Chunji, who was a county official during the Ming dynasty. The intent of this document was to show how the poor were happy what they had and the whole …show more content…
The farmer were working even harder than they were in the past for less money. The imbalance of the economy affected them abundantly. Documents 3, and 5 also show social effects from the flow of silver. Once again document 3 intent is to share about the negative effect and downfalls of the flow of silver. In this document it’s expresses how the poor sufferers, specifically farmers. For the fact that they were working way harder yet for so little money. Document 5 backs-up. Document 3 In Document 5 it brings up the imbalance of the economy. Document 5 states how people were expected to pay in a certain amount of silver for food. However the less privileged people such as the poor couldn't afford to pay that amount of silver. This led in social anarchy. This caused for negative social effects, this made people go/take extreme measures. They started to steal, and or rob, and even sell a member of their own family as slaves just to be able to provide for all or majority of …show more content…
So with that being said can we trust the, documents expressing the suffering of the poor as if they're poor. A lot of economic aspects had negative social effects. Documents 2, 3, and 4 also show economic effects of the flow of silver. Document 2 is all about the imbalance if the economy. Fair the fact that in document 2 it state show they invested/spot so much money on Asia instead of Spain. This later on creates an negative outcome. The intent I'd this document is all about economic imbalance. Document 3 is related to document 2 which talks about the economic imbalance. For the fact that because of the imbalance that's what creates the suffering of people. That’s what makes them want o be more involved. Document 4 backs-up 2, and 3, this document is all about the economy. This ties in with both but mainly document 2. For the fact that if it wasn't for the economic balance which cause suffering this document wouldn't exist. Document 4 intent is to convince, and tell us that we need to get in on the action! To be apart of the whole trading element in order to benefit ourselves. Which it did ! Although the sources of these articles are wealthy men so
In document 3, Wang Xijue, a court official reported to the emperor in order to avoid a rebellion against the national government. He informed the emperor that the people weren’t really fond of the way that the government were spending the money (silver). In document 5, Xu Dunqiu, a writer wrote an essay called “The Changing Times”. His essay is obviously titled this way because in it he talks about how things have changed overtime in the economy. For example, customers/clients could get their cloth dyed and could negotiate ways to pay the shops like giving them rice, wheat, soybeans, etc., but now they had to pay the shops and trade with their silver coins. In document 7, just like Wang Xijue (document 3) He Qiaoyuan,
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
Silver production in the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century increased substantially due to Spaniards gaining control of Potosí. This led to them creating mines in the area, which was rich in silver. By doing this, they substantially increased the silver in the hands of the Spaniards, which they mainly used to pay for luxury goods and products from Asia. The silver trade had long reaching effects on the social and economic state of empires and countries worldwide from the time period of the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century. Socially, the silver trade affected the Chinese social mindset and structure and caused them to change. Economically, the silver trade negatively affected the economy of Europe overall.
There was many challenges individuals faced such as harsh punishments for stealing a miner’s gold, or someone else’s gold. If a miner’s piece of gold was stolen or someone decided to claim the miner’s gold then that person would
A major effect of the global flow of silver is the economic dependency required.In Document 5, Xu Dunqui Ming purposefully explains the growing of heavy silver use in his city’s economics in 1610, leading to silver becoming the required and standard payment for cloth dying and other services, along with silver now a necesity in their lives.Wth this new standard payment of silver in China, where it is unaccessible in their own environment, they depend on Europe and Spain to in exhange for China’s goods pay in silver to make it readily available for China’s inhabitants. In
One can see the argument from the farmer’s side. The banks gave out loans with exorbitant interest rates simply because they could. From 1865 to 1895, the population had risen by close to eighty percent whereas the amount of currency in circulation had only gone up by about sixty percent. With this deflation, the farmers were paying back double and triple the amount of money that they had originally borrowed. With free coinage of silver, these loans would be balanced and the farmers could suddenly afford their mortgages. This argument for silver was made famous by William Jennings Bryan’s “Cross of Gold’’ speech at the democratic nomination convention. Bryan would not rest until the Crime of 1873 was rectified. McKinley however shows the counter argument towards this radical inflation. Coining silver would be a temporary stay of execution for the farmers. It would not make farming any more profitable, but would only cheat the banks out of money that the farmers had agreed to pay them. The farmers were
how the riches described were very exaggerated. The story talks about how the government took advantage of
One of the most heated debates of the time period was over the gold standard monetary policy. In Document ‘E’ the crop-lien system or sharecropping is demonstrated. It shows how the farmers are profiting little or no money at all by the 1880’s, however the government, along with the wealthier citizens, were trying to implement a gold standard, eliminating silver currency altogether and creating some deflation. The farmers, most of whom were already in debt, advocated strongly against this monetary policy. They were in favor of a bimetallistic system. The Farmer’s were already indebted to the people they leased their land from, and if there was a monetary policy, the amount of money they owed would remain the same, however the value of that money would increase. Document ‘J’ is a clear opposition to the monetary policy by the farmers. Through the fight
Document 2 strongly states that silver flow began to snowball towards the Asian commodities in Asia, rather than those in Spain. This was due to the fact that prices of Spanish commodities were very high and people turned to the less costly Asian commodities. As an effect, silver flow started to concentrate in Asia and around Asian commodities. Wang Xijue, a Ming dynasty court official, reports to the emperor in document 3 about the scarcity of silver coin and the negative effects it has on the value of grain. Grain was a main cash crop in the Ming dynasty in the late 16th century and when the price of grain dropped, cultivators earned less of a profit. This snowball effect was directly based upon the price of silver because when the government takes the silver and doesn’t distribute it, there is less silver to pay for the grain. As a result, this reduces the amount of food produced and the population of the dynasty is reduced as less land is put into cultivation. Silver’s indirect effect on the amount of food produced affected many societies throughout the globe in the mid-seventeenth century and early eighteenth century. Document 4, 5 and 6 are expressing the constructive economic impact on the global flow of silver. In document 4, the positive economic effect on the global flow of silver is that silver coins are a great use of currency. Portuguese use the Japanese silver coins to their
In document 3, Wang Xijue speaks to explain that the grain was always so cheap, they never paid attention to the silver coin, but since the government needs the silver to pay for their taxes, many of the tillers in the soil are lowered, and less land is put into cultivation. In document 5, a writer, Xu Dunqiu Ming, says that every time that you dye a cloth with rice, wheat, chickens, or other fowl, you must pay with silver from a moneylender. And lastly, in document 6, a spanish priest is emotional about the fact that the more than 3,000 Indians are put to work when there is 326 million coins that have been taken out of the silver
It was a class difference because the rich felt “free silver” would devalue greenbacks or paper money. Poor farmers would advocate for “free silver” because of the depression they were stuck in. They felt it would stimulate the economy and help America rise out of economic failures. The symbol for the silver issue to the sectional classes, the northerners and southerners, was more political. While Rich republicans and “gold” democrats (rich democrats) had the same opinions about the silver issue, democrats in the lower classes were for the movements. Democrats felt it would help America with the finical rut after the wars. The “free silver” movement helped silver and currency circulate, stimulating the economy while creating political debate and reform. The U.S. put in place the Gold standard Act in 1900, which established the value of a dollar. The symbol of free silver became associated with populism and unions. It pointed ordinary Americans against bankers, monopolist, and robber barons. In the early 1900s the silver issue was no longer considered a viable option to stimulate economy
What are the main ideas and/or issues of the article as it relates to the chosen topic?
To combat landlordism, he employed various strategies such as heavy taxation on the largest landowners of Jiang-nan (Brook, p. 79). However, these attempts were not enough to undermine the gentry’s landholding power (Brook, p. 79). With his late-Ming perspective, Zhang Tao would later write, “the rich get richer and the poor, poorer” (Brook, p. 79). This reflection would further gain relevance and legitimacy as the Ming dynasty advanced.
-The dispersion of silver had unforeseen outcomes, Spain had to re export goods from Europe to America to pay the European suppliers and cover Spain’s taxes
tract," Journal of Law and Economics, 21 (1978) 223-233; or Caves, R.E. and Murphy, W.F. "Fran-