China Was The Critical Turning Points In 1200-1800

China and Portugal held most of the global power with the Black Death, navigation and slave trade being the critical turning points in 1200-1800. China was a major global power based on the amount of territory it held, its advanced technology, and efficient trade system. The Song dynasty, 960-1279, were the first to use a monetized economy using silver coins and paper money which was revolutionizing since they no longer had to carry around heavy gold where they went. Song dynasty trade was at the top with high demand for their exotic products that the Europeans were slowly becoming more and more dependent on, “export of manufactured goods (silks, porcelain, books) and import of raw materials (spices, minerals, horses)”. Under the rule of the Mongols, 1279-1368, China’s territory expanded through rapid conquest from the east to the banks of the black sea. They were able to conquer most of their territory by fear and being able to adapt to the environment that they were in. The Mongols also provided protection to the traders on the Silk Road, issuing passports, allowing for more merchants to feel secure to travel through

The Black Death traveled through the Silk Road and spread to all of Europe leaving destruction and a lot of corpses in its wake. Since with the fall of the Mongols in 1368 came the loss of security, on the silk road, that was established during the Mongol rule. Merchants then turned to maritime trade routes rather than land routes for safety although still wary of pirates. The Portuguese lead the way for sea navigation with Vasco da Gama’s voyage, 1497-1499, from Portugal, around the northern tip of Africa and laying anchor in India. Thus leading to the shift in global power from China to Portugal, since it had control over one of the main trade routes of this period and the silk rode’s popularity was