Chapter Reading Questions Week 2
What were the major commodities or goods being traded in the world between 1450 and 1750? What effect did this trade have on the people living in these lands? How did they fit into “the global economy”? (I was very confused on the third part of this question)
The major trades during this time period spices and silver. “Spanish America alone produce perhaps 85 percent of the worlds silver during the early modern era.” Fur was another major commodity being traded “like other aspects of imperial expansion, the fur trade was highly competitive enterprise,” along with slaves, silk, sugar, and manufactured goods. These trades affected the people positively and negatively. These trades opened up opportunities for people agriculturally. The Columbian Exchange led to new ways of humans interacting with their environments. For the slaves this overall had an negative impact on them, primarily due to the fact that they were being traded for goods and commodities. The slaves had to adjust to different lifestyle as well as the Europeans. Agriculturally, the production grew which caused for the New world to require more slaves for labor. They all fitted into the global economy because during this time period trade was everything. Trade is what connected the global economy, when Europeans needed workers they would trade, or when they needed goods they would trade.
How did the Atlantic slave trade transform African societies?
Africa became the focal point to the Atlantic world. This created new trans-regional linkages. Africa became a permanent part of an interacting Atlantic world. Because of the Atlantic Trade it slowed Africa's growth in population down. “Africa represented about 18 percent of the worlds population in 1600, but only 6 percent in the 1900.” Since the Africans who were in charge of the trafficking did not invest the earnings in the societies this did little to nothing for Africa economical...
