Introduction
Between 1200 AD to present, there have been many changes in the world economy. The most important change is how integrated the world economy has become. When countries have a demand for something the first question is where is that supply going to come from. In the end, the way that all nations and places were able to meet their demands was by going internationally and getting it that way. The whole world found a way by sea and land to get the items that they needed and, in the process, connected the whole world through trade.
First Question
The first types of societies were agricultural and pastoral. Pastoral societies has less productive economies because they were nomadic and needed large grazing areas and supported smaller populations. They usually organized themselves by family and common ancestry (Strayer 334). The main pastoral group was the Mongols as they conquered from the Pacific coast of Asia to Eastern Europe (Strayer 342). Part of their large success was their vast network of trade. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a large and interconnect trading system was put in place. (Marks 33) The Mongols did not so much participate in the trade as they did tax it. They provided a secure route for merchants to take the long journey across Central Asia between Europe and China (Strayer 354). This trade route relied on mostly on middlemen, as it was a series of circuits that were all connected. An item can make it from Asia to Europe and cross through many hands with the price increasing each time.
This trade gave way to the Indian Ocean Trade as well as the Silk Roads in the fifteenth century. The Silk Roads connected China, Siberia, Central Asia, India, The Middle East, and The Mediterranean B...
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...ations. The French and the English created slave-based sugar plantations on the Caribbean Islands (Marks 83). The slaves also became a central part of the economies in colonial America as it kept plantation agriculture going (Class Notes 12/6/10).
The Mongols were the first pastoral group to basically become an empire. Then when China and Europe started to build themselves back up and start voyaging out into the sea, Trade became a worldwide idea. China started to use silver as their currency, which meant that they needed the bulk of the world’s silver in Asia. The rest of the world benefited from trading their silver into Asia. Silver was the first thing that really connected the whole world and specifically incorporated the Americas into their trading network. Then there was the fur and slave trade, which further brought together the world economy as a whole.
In the Background Essay Q’s, Doc B, Box 1, it mentions Hinduism. Doc A box 3 mentions confucianism. Rome worships christianity. Hinduism is technically Buddhism. These reasons explain that trade was never JUST physical items, but ideas and beliefs as well. The Silk Road made sure if you didn’t trade items you can hold, then you can trade items you can cherish. Finally, in the western civilizations (Rome), was accessed by boat. Boats could carry a ton more items and it was less of a walk for the merchants/traders. However, the Silk Road did lead a small backup path up north of Parthia. Around 27 B.C.E., the Roman Empire had only begun, but the silk road had been a thing for a very long time before that. About 3,073 years to be close to proximity. This took trade across seas! This was also how the Silk Road was Forgotten...boat travel became popular, less expensive, and easier to carry bigger loads.On Doc A, the map shows a series of dashes across the Mediterranean Sea. This represents the route to Rome by boat. Also on Doc A, the dashes on the backup path lead from east of India, to the north of the Caspian Sea, then south to Rome. Also, the timeline says 27 B.C.E.- Roman Empire begins. This time subtracted from 4000 B.C.E- Silk Cultivation in China, is about 3,073
Larger empires maximized long distance trade due to the demand for raw materials and luxury items. Because of this trade routes developed over land and sea to link various parts of the east. Some of the routes that formed were the Silk Roads, the Trans-Saharan caravan routes, and various sea lanes.
During the postclassical period, the expansion of trade had different interpretations around the world. Varying societies all reacted to trade in different ways due to how they viewed the situation. It had caused conflict in few areas around the world and also created peace as well as harm. Some communities had pros and cons to trade, like everything else. Some reasons for the positive or negative feedback on trade was due to religion, and or the philosophical system. Religion and the philosophical system was both pros or cons for trade in different civilizations. Religion helped with the spread of different ideas and religions across a mass area. Yet it had a negative input because then people fought, thinking their religion was more
The Mongols, or as the Western Europeans called them, the Tartars, were a nomadic, militant people that dominated the battlefield during the pre-industrial time period (“Tartars” 7). Over the span of the 13th century, from the Central Asian steppes in the east to the Arabian lands to the west, the Tartars subdued the unfortunate inhabitants and expanded their empire vastly. To the fear and dismay of the Western Europeans, the Tartars desired to triumph over all of Eurasia; therefore, the Western Europeans were to be conquered next. News of the imminent Tartarian attack rapidly spread through West Europe like a wildfire, and the powerful Holy Roman Church contended to prepare a strategy against the onslaught. In the year 1245, Pope Innocent IV, the head of the Church at the time, sent a group of Friars led by Giovanni da Pian del Carpini to gather some knowledge about the Tartars. It was a dreaded mission, one that would probably end in a terrible death, since the Tartars were a cruel people towards outsiders. Nevertheless, Carpini valiantly ventured into the unknown darkness, and returned to his homeland with valuable information about the Tartars. Through the insight he gained during his travels, he wrote his account of the Tartars in a report called the “Historia Mongalorum” (“Tartars” 19), which is known today as “The Story of the Mongols Whom We Call the Tartars”.
Mongol empire was the largest land empire of the world has ever seen. First began as a nomadic group of tribes. Mongols were united and emerged into an empire that conquered lands stretching from Europe to Central Asia under the rule of Genghis Khan. The Mongol empire was able to succeed in expanding, and conquering was due to their ability to adapt to any living conditions, their sheer brutality force, and their strong military organization.
Nomads were credited with being a large part in the spread of religion, languages, currency, teachings/educational techniques, between regions. New advancements also promoted regional interactions between Africa, Asia, and Europe. For example the invention of printing in China changed life in China but also in places that it spread to westward. Europe was one of the places that cultivated the advancement of paper and printing, causing an intellectual uprising in Europe and Asia. Gunpowder is another Chinese invention that has now made its way around the world and has changed the way we fight wars and use weapons in general. Technological advancements discovered and cultivated changed the economy and agriculture between Europe, Asia and Africa promoting more forms of trade and commerce. Trade between regions was practiced on a massive scale, routes were developed such as the Silk Roads, that furthered trade and regional connections. New forms of trade became popular such as slaves from Africa along with gold and fine art or glass trinkets. This is why there is much similarity in artwork between regions. For instance Europe mimicked a lot of Asia’s art techniques,
The Mongols are one of the biggest motorcycle gangs and organized crime groups. This writer will examine the Mongols criminal activity to prove that they are an organized crime group. This will be done through the examination of the group’s involvement in racketeering, murder, guns, drugs, and assault.
During the time period 1450 to 1750, the world went through major change and development. Nomadic power declined, and European Kingdoms became world powers. A world trade network was set up as contact amongst nations increased immensely. A population boom occurred throughout the world. Many civilizations that were once isolated were brought into the world economy. The Americas unknown until Christopher Columbus’ voyage in 1492 became a major part of the world economy as many European nations colonized much of the land. Large sea trade arose during this time period first by the Portuguese and Spanish and later by the English, French and Dutch. As European countries began exploring the Americas, an exchange of crops, animals, raw materials, diseases and new ideas were exchanged between the Americas and the rest of the world. This is known as the Columbian Exchange. One major component of the Columbian Exchange was the discovery of tobacco. Tobacco was first discovered in the Americas and became as cash crop. It was imported back to Europe, where it became vastly popular. As many middle class Europeans people began smoking, the demand for more tobacco from the Americas increased; colonies were set up to produce tobacco. With the demand for tobacco so high, labor was needed to farm the crop causing slaves to be imported.
Over the years there have been many great nomadic groups, such as the Vikings and the Kievan, but no nomadic group has been more successful than the Mongols. The Mongols have had many lasting influences on Russia, China, and even Europe. The Mongols have left a mark on the European trading systems in technologies as well as in their trading systems trade routes. One thing that stayed the same throughout Europe was their many religion.
The silk road, in it’s time, was a huge advancement to the trade and communication of many different kingdoms and empires. It stretched from China to Eastern Europe. The routes followed the northern borders of India, Persia, and China and ended up in Eastern Europe near modern day Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea. It was given the name the silk road because one of the main products traded along the route was silk from China. Merchants and Tradesmen traveled by relatively large caravans and typically brought along guards. The reason for big groups and guards was to help defend from bandits. The silk road carried not only silk, but other goods such as woolen goods, blankets, rugs, gold and silver, glass items, watermelons, peaches, spices, fragrances, jewels, ivory, and sugar. The silk road also spread diseases such as smallpox and the bubonic plague.
The trading has been conventional between the countries since several thousand years ago, however, the people were not enlightened regarding the distinct cultures and backgrounds. The
When Westerners such as ourselves and people native to Europe are asked what they know of the Mongols the answer is usually ruthless barbarians intent upon world domination. After all these years you would expect that the educational points presented to the different generations in school would have given a different view of the Mongol civilization. Leaving this vision instilled upon generation after generation is detrimental to learning the different positive aspects left behind by such a powerful empire. The nomadic lifestyle that the Mongols endured empowered them to become hardy warriors. The Mongols began their conquests in response to Ghengis Khans personal missions as well as a disruption in trade and the ecology of the land upon which they inhabited.
The Mongols influenced the world in many great ways, one of them was their vast trade system. They relied quite heavily on trade, not only to gain resources, but also to get their inventions and objects to the Europeans and then hopefully spread from there. The Mongols enhanced the trading system by composing the “Silk Road”. The Silk Road was a path/road that the Mongols had control of and it was a trade route that many travelers and traders took. Along the Silk Road, the main resource that was traded was silk, hence the name “Silk Road.” The
The Old World system was mainly Asia-centric. European states were far behind the Asian and Middle Eastern ones. According to the article of Janet Lippman Abu-Lughod which is named “The World System in the Thirteenth Century: Dead-End or Precursor”, beside the world system there were subsystems which were not “depending on each other for common survival in the thirteenth century”. There were three big circuits: Westers European, Middle Eastern, Far Eastern. “At that times the strongest centres and circuits were located in the Middle East and Asia. In contrast the European circuit was an upstart newcomer that for several early centuries was only tangentially and weakly linked to the core of the world system as it had developed between the eight and eleventh centuries.” As she mentioned, Europe joined the advanced world system of that time after 11th century, yet till 15th century it was not so effective. Although the states in east were developed, this did not reflect to political arena. Every state was powerful in its own niche and as a result of this there was not a hierarchical form of political balance. These states could be thought as pockets. Nature of this system was production. As Janet L. Abu-Lughod mentioned “the production of primary and manufactured goods was not only sufficient to meet local needs but, beyond that, the needs for export as well. Then, the way of function of this system can be understood: trade. Trade was the main economic activity of the Old System. Trade was mostly depending on exchange of goods. In spite of this, Chinese merchants were using paper money like a credit card and Arabic dinar was the dollar of that time. All of these show us that the trade was also Asia-centric. The popular trade ways were through Middle East and Asia. Beside the economic side, trade was integrating cities and societies.
This investigation attempts to analyze the Silk Road’s impact on cultural diffusion. The Silk Road was a trade route connecting Eastern China to the Mediterranean regions. It was incredibly important because it brought Europe, Asia, and the Middle East together in trade, and allowed them to trade goods and ideas. The parameters are the cultural diffusion east meets west and the spread of religion. It will focus on the time period between the 2nd and the late 17th centuries and the places investigated will be the west, (made up of Europe and the Middle-East) and the east (which refers to most of Asia, although in this investigation it will focus mostly on China). This will be accomplished through a thorough examination of historical books such as Horizon Book Division’s History of China, John S. Bowman’s Exploration in the World of the Ancients, and Daniel Waugh’s “THE SILK ROADS IN HISTORY”.