Commerce and Culture AP World History Notes Chapter 7

Transcription

1 Commerce and Culture AP World History Notes Chapter 7

2 Why Trade? Different ecological zones = natural uneven distribution of goods and resources Early monopolization of certain goods Silk in China Spices in Southeast Asia

3 Trade: Long-distance trade developed This trade shaped culture and society Trade = mostly indirect Chain of separate transactions Goods traveled father than merchants

4 Significance of Trade: Economic Altered consumption Ex: West Africans now able to get salt to flavor and preserve their food Changed the day-to-day lives of individuals Ex: trade specialization --> led to less self-sufficiency and more dependency

5 Significance of Trade: Social Traders became their own social group Sometimes viewed suspiciously --> why are they making money without making the goods? Trade became a means of social mobility Money = land = power and status Trade used by elite groups to distinguish themselves from commoners Only they could afford luxury goods from far away like silk or ivory

6 Significance of Trade: Political Controlling and taxing trade motivated the creation of states and kingdoms Wealth from trade sustained these states and kingdoms and facilitated their growth

7 What Else Was Traded? Religious ideas Technological innovations Disease-bearing germs Plants and animals

8 The Silk Roads

9 The Silk Roads: Growth Eurasia = often divided into inner and outer zones with different ecologies Outer Eurasia = relatively warm and well-watered China, India, Middle East, Mediterranean Inner Eurasia = harsher, drier climate Eastern Russia, Central Asia

10 The Silk Roads: Growth Result = steppe products traded for agricultural products and manufactured goods from inner Eurasia Birth of the Silk Roads trade network Hides, furs, livestock, wool, amber, horses, saddles

11 The Silk Roads: Growth Construction of classical civilizations and empires added major players to this trade network Persian Empire, Greek Empire, Roman Empire, Han dynasty, Gupta Empire Result = Silk Roads continued to grow

12 The Silk Roads: Goods Most goods traded = luxury goods rather than staple goods Destined for an elite and wealthy market Only goods worth transporting with such high transportation costs

13 The Silk Roads: Goods Silk = major product in high demand China had a silk monopoly until the 500s --> then others gained knowledge of silk production Increased the supply of silk along the Silk Roads

14 Silk Makes the World Go Round Used as currency in Central Asia Became a symbol of high status in both China and the Byzantine Empire Used in the expanding religions of Buddhism and Christianity Ex: worn by Buddhist monks Ex: silk altar covers in Christian churches

15 The Silk Roads: Goods Volume of trade = small But social and economic impact of trade = big Ex: peasant in China produced luxury goods instead of crops Ex: merchants could make enormous profits

16 The Silk Roads: Cultures Major result of trade along the Silk Roads = the spread of Buddhism From India to Central & East Asia Spread by Indian traders and Buddhist monks

17 The Silk Roads: Buddhism Buddhist temple in Dunhuang (an oases city) Spread to oases cities in Central Asia Voluntarily converted Buddhism gave these small cities a link to the larger, wealthy, and prestigious civilization of India Many of these cities became centers of learning and commerce

18 The Silk Roads: Buddhism Transformation of Buddhism Original faith = shunned the material world Now Buddhism = filled with wealthy monks, elaborate and expensive monasteries, and so on Buddhist monastery in China

19 The Silk Roads: Buddhism What type of Buddhism spread? Mahayana! Buddha = a deity Many bodhisattvas Emphasis on compassion

20 The Silk Roads: Diseases Long-distance trade = resulted in exposure to unfamiliar diseases

21 The Silk Roads: Disease Athens ( BCE) = widespread epidemic; killed 25% of the army Roman & Han Empires = measles and smallpox devastated both populations Mediterranean World ( CE) = devastated by bubonic plague from India

22 The Black Death Spread due to the Mongol Empire s unification of most of Eurasia (13th- 14th centuries) Could have been bubonic plague, anthrax, or collection of epidemic diseases = killed 1/3 of European population Similar death toll in China & parts of Islamic world