Zane Niemand
Martin Johnson
HST 197
November 12, 2014
The silk roads were a series of routes between China and the Mediterranean that were used for trade. The name became popular for the prominent trade of silk merchants used it for. A German geographer named “Ferdinand von Richthofen” (196). , created the name for the roads because it was used for transportation of silk. It was the world’s first international means of transporting goods. China was the biggest producer of silk at the time while the Romans had a strong demand for the product. It was an excellent way for people to trade goods that went across India, Asia and china. The Silk Road was the most unique discovery for trading at the time, making it a lot easier for merchants to trade goods.
The connections formed by merchants arguable changed the world of trade more than any political or religious superiors. The silk roads weren’t really a road, but rather two routes that went from the Mediterranean to Asia and from there to China. The silk road also had sea routes where many of the goods got transported via ships to Rome and Japan. The silk road shouldn’t just be thought of as a road since it involved sea trade and was an amazing network of trade across
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Silk was the finest fabric available therefore there was genuine demand for it. The Chinese who were sowing the products were not allowed to share their knowledge with foreign individuals because the Europeans were not able to produce this sort of substance and the Chinese were not planning on sharing it with them either. The people during this time didn’t have any fancy clothes. The clothes they wore were uncomfortable and made of cloth, so when they got a hold of silk clothing product it changed their whole perspective on what to wear. This is why there was such a high demand for silk at the