The flow of silver from Japan and Latin American colonies to Europe and Asia led to massive wealth that would eventually cause problems such as inflation and trade imbalance in the economies of Spain and Ming China.
Spain was one of the major producers of silver. It controlled the mines in Latin America where silver was produced, and traded it around the world but especially to China. The Chinese economy required silver, and they traded many commodities in return for it .From the abundance of silver, and subsequent trade, Spain grew massively wealthy and powerful. The glut of silver into Spain’s economy allowed the arts and sciences to develop, but also led to high inflation. The Spanish also spent tremendous amounts of silver to fund many
…show more content…
The economy’s reliance on it meant they must keep trading for more and more silver, in exchange for chinese luxury good like silk.
Doc 3: Xijue shows that the importance placed on silver negatively affected agriculture. Silver was so important to he economy people turned away from agriculture to moore profitable pursuits, like silk making. (That led to more silver.) As an official, he is trying to appear respectful and not criticize the government.
Doc 5: In document 5, Xu Dunqiu Ming writes about the use of silver as the main form of currency. Previously, customers could pay with commodities like grain, rice, or animals.
Doc 7: Document 7 goes into more detail about the trade imbalance. He Qiaoyuan was a court official who was in favor of the trade. He writes about the huge profits that could be made from trade, where silk worth 100 bars of silver could be sold for to 200 or 300 bars in the Philippines. Since he is reporting to the Emperor, he might be trying to be respectful and polite. He is arguing for a specific position and not discussing issues that might countermine his position in the argument, or affect his job as an
Politically, World Powers craved practically nothing but silver from Asia. (Document 8) When silver was in such high demand, the business structure in many places changed dramatically. In China, the previous Bill of Credit, where citizens could purchase items with means other than money (for example, rice, wheat, or chicken) was removed and it was heavy enforced that everybody must pay for everything with silver. (Document 5) Lust for silver caused many political injustices around the world as well. Antonio Vasquez de Española, a Spanish priest wrote about the brutality existing between Spain and the Potosi Indians
During the Revolutionary War, at Valley Forge, which is Washington’s winter camp, 18 miles outside Pennsylvania, soldiers went through a very rough time during the tough and hard winter months of 1777 and 1778. Many soldiers didn’t have shoes, jackets, blankets, and proper warm clothing. Also, there was barely enough food for everyone. For example, in Document C, Dr. Albigence Waldo, (a doctor/surgeon at Valley Forge) , states, “No meat! No meat!” Without meat, the Patriots wouldn’t the proper protein they need, especially since they are fighting in a war! The question is, Would I have quit and left Valley Forge? After some lengthy thinking, my answer is, ‘no,’ I would not have quit and left. This is because, the Patriots had a great and caring
Valley Forge, was the toughest obstacle the Continental Army had to face during the Revolutionary War. For about nine months in the cold winter, these soldiers stayed in this area for them to"... be close enough to Philadelphia to keep an eye on the British"(Background). By the end of the war, the colonists were victorious in gaining their independence. Regardless, I would abandon my position as a soldier at Valley Forge. My reasoning are due to the multiple hardship they endure such as living in a harsh environment, sickness that lead to death and lacked numerous resources.
Imagine, sick soldiers, small huts, vomit, smoke everywhere near you, people crying "No Meat! No meat!" the terror of seeing everyone suffer. During December of 1777, Washington decided to set a winter camp at Valley Forge for the next few months. They set up "huts" with cold hard straw to sleep on. March 1st is the end of my enlistment, and I would leave/ not re-enlist, because of the terrible conditions, the risk of dying, and if it was truly worth it or not.
In this process, they succeeded in influencing Japan greatly. However, they were not as successful with China. At the end of the eighteenth century, China’s goods were much sought after by Britain. However, the Chinese saw Europeans as savages and did not want to trade with them. During trade, there was an imbalance in China’s favor, because the Europeans were forced to buy Chinese goods using silver.
Much opportunity arose for Europe and Asia, such as trade, since they were also able to attain silver from the new world. Trade was taking place in Asia, Europe, and Africa, and in all three continents people were interacting like never before. The Europeans were able to trade silver for many other goods such as expensive spices such as pepper, ginger, and saffron. This helped in the preservation of their meats considering they ate mostly meat and butter. The Europeans, living in colder climates, used these dyes to add pizzazz to their clothing. The Europeans craved new luxury goods
Originally Spain found success with finding gold or other mineral wealth not by colonizing, but by conquering and enslaving the local population, such as the Aztecs. As a result, Spain discovered that there was no gold or other mineral wealth to be found past t...
Sparta was known for being strong, but was it really? In case you don’t know, Sparta was a Greek city-state. Sparta only focused on war. Spartans were only taught the basics of other topics. Spartans were trained for 13 years just to fight. Reading and writing were only taught in Sparta for practical reasons. The strengths didn’t outweigh the weaknesses. There were more weaknesses to Sparta than there were strengths. The strengths of Sparta didn’t outweigh the weaknesses for three reasons. The first reason is that the babies were killed just if they looked weak. The second reason is that the Spartans barely new anything about other topics (math, reading, writing, etc). The third and final reason is that the helots outnumbered the Spartans 50 to 1.
Around the beginning of the sixteenth centruy, many countires had started to explore farther away and finding new territories. New products like sugar and taobacco began to emerge around the world in many places. Many countries in Europe were gaining power due to the control of colonies in the Americas. Asian countries did not explore as much, but still managed to remain large and powerful for a while. The global flow of silver had economic effects on inflating prices of goods and stimulating econimic policy of mercantilism, and social effects on negative effects on the lower class around the world during the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century.
Gold was the resource that attracted Spaniards to the Island of Hispaniola, because it was also King Ferdinand's interest (De la Riva 2003 ). Thus it ended up becoming the ultimate goal of the Christian Spaniards sent to Hispaniola to acquire gold and swell themselves in riches. (Las Casas 1552).Trading was also the key to getting wealthy; the more resources available for trade the more wealth will be gained. Resources in the New World attracted the Spanish conquistadors to Latin America.... ... middle of paper ...
was the currency of the United States. The gold standard was perceived as not sufficient
Sangvhi, Saurabh. "Trading China.(US Senate Votes To Extend Normal Trading Relations With China)(Brief Article)." Harvard International Review 1 (2001): Academic OneFile. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
The idea of mercantilism was for nations to export more than they important and accumulate gold or silver, but mainly gold, to make up the difference (Mercantilism, n.d.). At the heart of mercantilism was that by maximizing net exports that would lead them to the best route to national wealth (C.W., 2013). This started “bullionism”, the idea that the only way a person could measure a country’s wealth and success was by the amount of gold that had (C.W., 2013). The best way to achieve “bullionism” was by making fewer imports and much exports. By doing that they make a net inflow of foreign exchange and maximizing the country’s gold stock (C.W., 2013).
The origin of the gold standard came from the use of gold coins as a medium of exchange, unit of account, and store of value. While gold has played these roles since ancient times, the gold standard as a legal institution dates from 1819, when the British Parliament repealed longstanding restrictions on the export of gold coins and bullion from Britain. Later in the 19th century, the United States, Germany, Japan, and other countries also adopted the gold standard. At the time, Britain was the world’s leading economic power, and other nations hoped to achieve similar economic success by following British precedent. Given Britain’s preeminence in international trade and the advanced development of its financial institutions, London naturally
Guanxi, a special word in Chinese, stands for all kinds of relationships, which is one important concept in Chinese culture. In many cases, Guanxi is about connections in social networks that can be used to help accomplish certain objectives or goals one has. Furthermore, it emphasizes connections one can use for conducting a favour or receiving a favour from the mutual connection. The Chinese word guanxi as stated above, in directed translation means relationship. Guanxi consist of two words, guan and xi. Guan means to close up or a door. Literally, thinking, someone inside the door is known to separate between insiders and outsiders. The word guan is also used to mean doing a favour for someone (Hsu and Saxenian, 29). Xi on the other hand means to extend relationship to another party. The word Xi is used in place of maintaining a long term relationship. With the above definition in mind, guanxi is used to refer to “drawing closer connections with people in order to gain personal relationship with the parties” (Luo, 2007). Guanxi is seen to have originated a long time ago and its exact point in history cannot be traced. All that is known is that the concept has always been in existence to bring people together and helps people who have good social ties. As the saying goes “reciprocity respect for hierarchy, and the ritual materialization of sentiment.” People are not treated equally in this traditional society so they start to depend on important people. Indeed, under this philosophy, Chinese strive on managing their guanxi with special persons in hope of better opportunities. Finally yet importantly, in Confucianism, guanxi network is dedicated to building harmonious relationships...