Essay 2006 Ap World History Dbq

After the Ottoman Turks gained control of the Middle East, trade with Asia became difficult for Europeans across land. Many European explorers began searching for sea routes to Asia to renew trade. When explorers found the Americas, they had their mind set on gold to cope with the deteriorating European economy, but upon arrival and the realization gold was minimal, explorers enslaved many Natives and put them to work to produce another metal abundant in the area - silver. At the time, they really had no idea about the global impact silver would make. The discovery of silver by the Spanish in the Americas in the period of 1550 to 1700 brought about vast changes in economic exchange and production by making the world more interconnected through

Many Europeans, on the other hand, did not experience the expanse of the benefits that Asia did. In document 7, Charles D’Avenant, an English political economist, illustrated the items that were traded between the Asians and Europeans. He described how the Europeans gave Asia silver and in return received many luxury goods such as silks and dyed cloth. These items only fulfilled the wants of the area, but they were never things the Europeans needed. D’Avenant wrote this piece in regards to restricting textiles in trade with Asia, a response to the disadvantages they were experiencing during the time. With textiles from India restricted, it paved the way for Europeans to produce their own goods at competing prices with the Asians and stimulate their own economy. The Chinese, on the other hand, were receiving silver, an essential piece of their economy as it was their sole monetary form for taxes and other processes. In addition to unnecessary goods, the Spanish were experiencing increasing inflation. Tomas Mercado, a Spanish scholar, described the extent of this inflation caused by the lack of the circulation of the coins (Doc 1). The Chinese received so much silver for themselves that it could be used as ballast and the cobblestones previously used were left at the port. With less silver in European circulation, inflation easily

Document 4 exemplifies how people became very dependent on each other. Portugal is used as an example, discussing how they used goods from China to get even more silver from Japan, and then used that silver to get more goods from China. This system made the people of the globe more interconnected and allowed everyone involved to gain goods. In addition to more dependency, taxation on goods became more common. Many areas were able to profit from this, including Manila (Doc 5). Since Manila was a big trading port, many ships came and went, and since three percent of everything on the boats were taxed, money came pouring in. It was a great opportunity for the economies of the port cities and largely worked to their advantage. Taxation is still a very common practice today and the spikes in trade stimulated by the discovery of silver helped to develop this. The discovery of silver also led to the better efficiency of trade. Document 6 shows how in the past, shops in China would sell their items and receive an assortment of items in return such as chickens, rice, or soybeans. In dye shops specifically, buyers were able to have multiple clothes dyed over a period of time and then could settle and trade for the total at the end. After the discovery and widespread use of silver, shops in China started issuing bills