The Trade Relations Among Europe and Africa, Asia and America

“No nation was ever ruined by trade.” This quote was said by Benjamin Franklin in the late 1700s. These words are so simple, and it seems like anyone could have said them. However, this quote has a bigger meaning in that throughout world history, trade has been so important to so many countries and it has led to many empires successes. It has occurred for a very long time, and it has progressed dramatically. Trade has changed a lot, but some parts of trade stayed the same over a long periods of time. In the era between 300 CE and 1450 CE, trade between Eurasia and Africa changed because the empires and kingdoms in power were replaced and their control over trade differed;

Although key elements of the trade between Africa and Eurasia changed during the era of 300-1450, a few factors stayed the same. In 300 C.E., trade routes were primarily between Europe and North Africa. The way that they changed by the time of 1450 was that they expanded southward and westward. By 1450, these trade routes went through West Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Indian Ocean. One factor that stayed the same during this time period was that the northern coast of Africa was always involved in the trade between Africa and the rest of Eurasia.

Europeans sought out lands that provided new sources of raw materials, cheap labor, markets, areas of investment, and military boosters. As European nations became competitive with one another, there was an increased pressure to practice Imperialism to maintain power. New Imperialism was motivated greatly by the Industrial Revolution and its advancements, and efficiency of manufacturing and supplying products. European nations also focused on opening trade routes that would give them places to sell their goods. Also significant was the Europeans desire to Christianize and “civilize” other nations through missionary work and the enforcement of European cultures and beliefs. The new Imperialism brought on social changes as well. Many people urged the taking up of the “White Man’s Burden”, bringing the European version of civilization to the rest of the world, regardless whether they wanted it or not.

In the 1400’s Europe had very little land for agriculture and settlement. The Europeans desired riches such as gold, luxury food items, land, and timber. None of these products could be produced in Europe so they had to find these resources elsewhere. This led to a lot of importing and trading with

Between 1450 and 1900 CE , British dominance resulted in global trade empires and a shift towards ocean-based trade in North America and China. But even with these changes, there were continuities.

During the mid-fifteenth century, the transatlantic slave trade occurred throughout the world and lasted well over four hundred years. Oversea trade between Africa and the Portuguese, along with other European kingdoms, formed, which began what is known as the transatlantic slave trade. Along with a variety of goods, copious amounts of slaves, roughly twenty-five million, were traded between the continents of Europe and Africa. Driving the trade were politics, economics, religion, business, and a desire for profit. Along with the majority of the African population being traded elsewhere in the world, the overwhelming amount of deaths and low fertility rate among the indigenous people neared the African culture to distinction. Among the documents provided, all can be grouped into two main groups: attitudes and impact. During the years 1450 to 1800, the Europeans showed a large amount of varied opinions towards the Transatlantic Trade slave and the impact of the trade towards the included civilizations.

After the muslims conquered constantinople, europeans wanted find sea routes to reach asian countries quicker and cheaper, This was due to the want of things such as silk and spices. Columbus traveled west, hoping to find Japan and China but found the New World Instead. The Europeans and the natives were both harmed and benefited through the European westward expansion. This was shown when animals were exchanged as well as many goods such as food and crops. Which benefited mainly to the Indian tribes and as well as european society. Europe also gained a lot of wealth from establishing colonies in the new world with mercantilism. Many harm was also done to both sides, it was shown when the Europeans set up the colonies in the new world, many

Due to the Natives getting in their way, they had to conquer them. This then led to the greed of wealth, trade, religion, etc. The Europeans at first had no real intention of traveling as a means of wealth or trade. It was originally to expand their land before their enemies had the chance to do so. Power and competition were the motivations for the Europeans, as they traveled to gain massive amounts of land.

Nations of the Old World have been exchanging and trading goods for hundreds of years. The wealthy were mainly the ones to receive goods that were predominately only common in other countries. The increase of trade routes between Europe, Asia, and North Africa saw a higher demand for region specific goods by many in society. Soon enough, the wealthy were not the only ones that were able to get their hands on international goods like tea, cotton, and silk. The higher demand for these goods created larger production, allowing the average person to buy these once luxurious goods.

There are many reasons as to why the Europeans were able to make empires far away from their homelands. The first reason being that Europeans were near the Americas unlike their opponents (Asia) in which were father away. The Europeans were determined to gain more land, enlarge the religion of Christianity, and expand the economy by gaining more territory. Every European had their own reasoning for wanting to expand therefore, everyone had their own motives. Another reason that enabled them was that they were also involved in trading which helped them transport items to and from the Americas. The last reason was the Europeans immunity to diseases. While many Americans fell ill because of all of the European diseases, the Europeans did not, enabling them to conquer more land.

Trade brings people from different civilizations and backgrounds together to a common place; it allows for the process of bartering to happen. The thought or idea of exchanging goods for another set of goods or money has historically helped colonies and civilizations grow and expand. It is necessary to sometimes set a “trade point” along a trade route so that it’s accessible by as many people as possible to expand on your options and to sell off or trade as much as possible. Once people started to realize that you can take a product that is of abundance in your region like spices, textiles, and/or precious metals and sell it or trade it to other regions to become financially rich,

"Trade is the oldest and most important economic nexus among nations. Indeed, trade along with war has been central to the evolution of international relations." - Robert Gilpin. The America’s impact on Eurasian trade and culture has had many factors that still can be found in today’s culture. Trade between the Asian and European cultures have had a lasting impact throughout the world. The Eurasian trade brought livestock and produce to the New World, but they also brought disease. The same thing can be said for the what the New World gave the European and Asian cultures.

Most European ideas were derived from a Christian context during the fifteenth century. The ideas were further developed from their roots and used to justify their actions. During the fifteenth century, Europe was struggling economically thought agriculture, industry, and trading (Massa, 2006. 19). Expanding nations would allow access to new environments where agriculture could grow and prosper. Establishing new ports would open up new trading routes between new nations and even more goods. Doing this would also politically represent and establish power among nations. Their growing populations could expand to new parts of the world via colonisation. All of these situations would generate a better economy for European nations and create political dominance in the world. However, when nations colonised territories, they did not take into account the Indigenous people preoccupying these lands. These tribes were prospering and ____ on their own, as they had done for centuries (do I need a source here cause I kinda just went off lol). When Europeans inhabited their lands, they justified their superiority over Indigenous people based off of their religion. Their cultural attitudes became their religious attitudes where Europeans felt like they had an obligation to educate the ‘heathens’ and save them

In many ways, nations can be defined by their trade relationships. Before the Age of Exploration, European nations remained isolated, with most of their trade coming from neighboring countries. Similarities between nations in close proximity to one another limited the amount of influence each culture had on the other, as their proximity allowed the cultures to blend regardless of trade relations. However, as the Age of Exploration unfolded, western nations rapidly came into contact with eastern nations. The massive differences in culture between East and West opened the door to new, dramatic influences on eastern nations. The colonization of China and Portugal provides one example of this form of influence. Although trade routes to China

The two stories discuss the European involvement in foreign trade. In China, Europe wanted to abolish the tributary system for they wanted more trading rights. Being barbarians, that was not possible. Similarly, in Southeast Asia, Europeans wanted to monopolize trade and export it back to Europe. In both cases, Europe wanted Asian trade exports to Europe.