"Silver has always been the redheaded stepchild of gold throughout human history (Simpson)." This is due to the fact silver is not as rare as gold or as highly regarded. However, silver has still made a large impact to the economy and population of today. As a large factor in world trade, globalization is due partly to this metal. Today, silver is not only used as an accessory but in many useful things we use day to day. The history of silver encompasses many years, countries and people and is still ongoing today.
Silver started as an element created by an explosion of a high mass star. It was then spread into the universe and was used to form planets by accretion , including our own planet , Earth. The atomic number of silver is 47 and the abbreviation is Ag. It has many positive and useful properties such as being ductile, malleable and conductive for electricity. Although a common method of using silver is to melt it and pour it into molds to form different shapes, silver, in its natural state, is found as a solid.
Silver's history began in the Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations around 3000 BC. Money that occurred from the silver industry led to the stability of civilizations and allowed them to stay in a area and farm instead of living as nomads. It started to be used for plates and silverware around 2500 BCE. During Ancient Greece, silver was harvested in abundance from the Laurium mines, which were near Athens. However in 100 A.D, Spain became the main producer of silver. They supplied the Roman Empire and the silver from Spain was a main component in trade on the Silk Roads. Silver was used not only to make coins for trade but also products made of silver were traded. From 500 AD to 1500 AD, a large growth took place i...
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...cy that led to expansion and trade and finally a commonplace material today. Silver will always be known as an element that is a building block of todays world.
Works Cited
"Early Global Commodities: Silver Connects the World." Bridging World History: Unit 15: Early Global Commodities: Video Segment. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
"The History of Silver." The History of Silver - at 925-1000.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
"Silver." - Chemical Properties, Health and Environmental Effects. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.
"Silver as an Anti-Bacterial." The Silver Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.
"Silver In History." The Silver Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
Simpson, Stephen. "A Brief 2000-Year History Of Silver Prices." Commodity HQ. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
"Spanish Silver Video." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
The global flow of silver effected the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century economically because silver made the world go round, socially because everyone was dependent on some sort of trade, and politically because silver was a high priority to important world powers. In this document based assignment, it would have been convenient to have a document about the opinion of either a Potosi Indian or a peasant from the commercial city of Hangzhou because both points of view would give further insight into the negative side of this time periods lust for silver, and how the insanity ruined lives.
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Edwards, B. (1998, January 2). Revere Foundry and Copper Mill. Retrieved from Paul Revere Home: http://www.paulreverehouse.org/bio/coppermill.html
The creation of societies in the West resulted in the blossoming of three new industries: mining, ranching, and farming. Mining began at large with the discovery of gold in California in 1849 and continued with other discoveries and “rushes” later on; these rus...
When Spaniards traveled west in the 16th century, they were able to find extensive amounts of silver in the Americas. At around the same time, the Japanese were also able to find great deposits of silver in their homelands as well. As such, the silver trade started, or as some may say, the start of global economy. With this trade, places like Europe that had little to offer to major civilizations were able to get more involved with trade being that they now could produce silver that was highly sought after. As it was in such high demands, especially in places like China, the global economy rose. Not only was silver used in making jewelry and weapons, it was also used as currency, however, it wasn’t just normal currency, it became currency that
Yushao Wu, Junwu Dang, Fang Liu, Tong Au, & Lili Wang. (2014). China Report of the Development on Silver Industry. Beijing: Social Science Academic
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