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In 1556, at the young age of 29, King Philip II, became the ruler of the mighty Spanish Empire, overseeing a realm on which the sun literally never set. With territories spanning Europe, the Americas, Oceania, Asia, and Africa, the Spanish Empire remains as one of the most influential institutions in history, with its cultural and linguistic legacy still present in society even today. To fund its global kingdom, Spain relied primarily upon an influx of raw materials and products exported from their transatlantic territories. Interestingly, it was Spain’s very dependence on these foreign goods, namely South American silver, that would prove to be its Achilles’ heel. Thus the following questions will be addressed: In what ways did this illusive mineral lead to the downfall of one the greatest empires of all time, and more broadly how did it affect other foreign economies most notably China. And finally, what toll did the creation of this massive silver industry play on Native Americans?

Escaping the effects of disease on their society, the Spanish fled to Mexico in 1519 and then Peru in 1532. They conquered the Incas in Mexico and the Aztecs in Peru, and shortly after created a civilization of their own in these respective places. The Spanish founded new governments in order to rule over these new societies. In 1521, The Vice Royalty of New Spain was created and in 1542, the Vice Royalty of Peru was created. Having conquered both the Incas and the Aztecs, the Spanish adopted many rituals and regulations from them since their views very much overlapped. One of the main aspects that linked the Spanish to both the Incas and Aztecs was their wish a lack of separation between government and religion—a very important part of Spanish cult...

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... was becoming very prosperous. This however, similarly to the Spanish, did not last for long. Inflation became one of their biggest issues, followed by the issue of spending way too much money on defending their nation by means of the Great Wall. Shortly after these problems arose, the Ming dynasty was overthrown by the Fu Manchus.

The first global market was that of the silver trade by the Spanish. Although this was much of an accomplishment, it came with dreadful consequences. Spain and China went through difficult times due to inflations. which in turn weakened their governments. The desires of the Spanish to find these precious metals lead to the deterioration of the Aztecs and Incas. Lastly, a catastrophic amount of people were killed in the process of purifying and mining silver due to the toxic behavior of the mercury used during the purification process.