The Classical Period, dating from 600 BCE to 600 CE, was the primary era, in world history, in which trade between distant regions of the globe flourished. With major trade routes being formed, such as the Silk Road that linked Asia and Europe, interactions between different peoples became a reality, and because of this a major cultural diffusion occurred. Through trade, many regions experienced changes to their economic, social, and religious establishments from the exchange of goods, ideas, beliefs, and more. Many changes were witnessed in the economic structures of different regions as trade flourished within the Eurasian trade routes. Trade routes allowed for sedentary civilizations to connect with more nomadic groups, and this allowed for many to exchange goods with drastically different groups outside of their own regions. Different goods appeared out of regions such as …show more content…
Cultural diversity became a major effect of the actions of merchants. As merchants traveled further to distant lands, they tied themselves to the local culture by marrying women within the region. This led to many bicultural families being formed, allowing for cultures to spread and thrive in distant regions. Trade also allowed for different civilizations to gain a certain social appreciation for the cultures of other regions. As more travelers and merchants from Europe, such as Marco Polo, traveled along these trade routes, they returned to their respective societies with stories of the distant regions within Asia and their cultures. As the products of these travels were incorporated into different societies’ lives and recordings of travels became well-known, an appreciation for the Asian culture grew as more knowledge was gained. The recordings of travelers also increased the desire in many for access to the goods within the East, allowing for trade to flourish
Geography plays a key role with trade. The fourth painting that Brook shows us is called “The Geographer”. The main focal point in this painting is the globe that is located behind the man. During this time, knowledge of geography was far from perfect, but it was drastically improving. As Brook points out, the Spanish Jesuit, Adrino de las Cortes, was a great example of the moving geography of the epoch. The ship that he led was crashed onto the rocks of the Chinese coast by 1625, right after it had departed from Manila. This was completely by mistake, as they soon discovered uncharted territory. The people who had been living there had never seen any foreign people at a close range. It surprised them to see the wide span of people they brought: African Americans, Portuguese, Muslims, Spaniards, and the list goes on. This showed that the rise of the global world did not only imply goods and material objects, but also people from all
It can be said that Eurasia underwent large changes between 1000 and 1450. Governments were changing their methods of control and trade networks increasing globalization worldwide. Along with these new changes, scientific and technological innovations in Eurasia took flight and reached new heights unseen. As new ideas traveled main trade routes, such as the Silk Road and the Mediterranean, the effects of such were felt through an influx of contact between countries due to increased desire for new information and countries gaining a larger presence on the world stage. This phenomenon can also be seen
The modern world is linked through networks of communication and exchange between peoples. These exchanges between regions has changed cultures, economics, and politics. Through time the cultural influence between regions has consisted of many factors and elements but comes down to the spread of religion and religious teachings , movement of peoples, technological and cultural advancements affecting trade and commerce. Beginning with the Middle Ages in the years 1100-1500 , Africa, Asia, and Europe developed and influenced each other in several different ways. Starting with religion. The birth of Islam in the Middle East rapidly spread throughout Afro- Eurasia. Islam was attractive to people who were uninterested in the requirements of Christianity and the Church.
During the classical era, there were shifts worldwide with regards to economic imports and exports. As many societies transformed from hunting-gathering societies into specialization societies, global trade networks expanded. This led to the founding and growth of many complex trade networks, both on land and by sea. Two notable trade networks were the Mediterranean Sea network and the Silk Road. The Mediterranean Sea is in Europe, and the trade network lined the shores of Turkey and North Africa. The Silk Road was trans-Asian. It reached from China to the Eastern Mediterranean. While these networks had multiple similarities in their expansion and spread of religion and ideas, there were many differences. These included the type of materials
McCormick concurs that there was a drop in trade in the beginning of the seventh century but by the second half of the seventh century trading in places like the North Sea was a bustling place of trade. He continues to support his theory on the quick reemergence of trade through a series of documents that show by the middle of the eight-century there were at least six new ways to reach the Middle East. If trade is stagnated by Islam why is there a development of new trade routes? For McCormick the answer is simple, trade is booming.
Writing was the most advance because it was a privilege. It could be used as a tool for power because that’s how laws was made. It could be used as a tool of power over some people because if they didn’t know how to write, you could get them to do something for you. The king or pharaoh could control that power. It does apply and does not because nowadays most people know how to write and the ones that don’t, other people will want something in return.
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, culture is, “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group, or the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a place or time.” Culture links individual people with common traditions and morals, incorporating fundamental aspects of society such as holidays, meals, and the mode of dress. It is intrinsic in the very identity of humans. Throughout history, the West unexpectedly rose to power rather than the flourishing empires of Asia. It is my belief that these traits and customs associated with culture are the underlying reason for the rise of the West.
The periods of 1200-1450 and 1450-1700 were polar opposites for a multitude of reasons but the most important reasons the two were different were, the invention of the printing press, the enlightenment, along with one man, Martin Luther. These three things changed the course of world history and brought upon a period that led to the updating of human nature at a previously unseen rate. They challenged what was though prior to 1450, and helped humanity to develop and expand. Without the printing press, the Enlightenment, and Martin Luther we would be living similar to the people of the time did, 500 years later.
Many of us complain about the tough hours we work or the amount of chores we have to complete, but think about the truly harsh conditions that young girls and women had to work in the textile industry with very little pay and no accolades. Back in the 18th century, when the Industrial Revolution struck, it made it hard for female mill workers to enjoy being employed. Due to the terrible working conditions, the amount of hours worked, and the low wages were a few of the similarities that the female mill workers in England and Japan shared.
2.) The Asian sea trading network was traditionally divided into three distinct sections that each handled certain types of goods. With the arrival of the Europeans, these zones became blurred as there was an increase of trade between each zone and Europeans bolstered the textile and spice trade with their efforts in joining the trade system. Due to large amounts of trade, trading factories and ports were established all throughout Southeast Asia, establishing permanent points of trade, widening the area that the network influenced.
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.
In conclusion, while there were many changes occurring throughout the world during the time of the classical era, the most prevalent changes took place in India, China and Persia. These changes involved religion and philosophy being a means for justifying the class, gender, and political roles of citizens.
After receiving a job in a minor administrative position for the Mongol ruler, Marco Polo stayed in China for another seventeen years. Throughout this time he wildly traveled across the Chinese land and collected stories about his experiences in the foreign country. His book, The Travels of Marco Polo helped to shape Western European culture, though scholars question the legitimacy behind his stories since he left out many prominent features of the Chinese life.
So what is the Classical era? The Classical Greece era dates back to 500-323 BCE and was considered to be the period of maturity, discovery and achievement. During this era Athens was governed by a democratic government, there came a more rational approach to exploring and explaining the world and the Greeks took art to a more realistic and humanistic approach for the first time. (Sakoulas, 2002) During the Classical era the culture was based on a blend of their old culture and the new. The old being based upon religious beliefs while the new happen largely in part due to trade routes. Trade routes helped to bring men from different areas and cultures into Athens. This allowed Athens to become a sort of “melting pot” and allowed for great economic growth. From this sprouted things like the production of dramas, comedies, plays and artists. As stated by Steven Kreis “The Athenian d...
There were 3 different routes to the Silk Road covering many different countries and civilizations. This cultural diversity was bound to start mixing with so many different people and beliefs mingling every day. They exchanged music, art, architecture and as people settled along the road different cultu...