Port Cities Essay

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Port Cities: A Gateway to other Worlds In the years between the 13th century and the 19th century many people depended upon port cities to get what they needed from other countries. A port city is a city that had a harbor where ships could bring import or export goods from one place to another. Often times these port cities were well populated and relied upon many people to get what they needed. These cities grew substantially with the growth of the cargo ships and passenger boats. More than likely these cities were located in an off-shore island, and most were strong holds of religion. These cities often were run by the motto “time is money.”(Spaulding, 40) The cities were governed by one leader with certain powers given to them by each of the cities that that ran. As time went on many port-cities became largely overpopulated and plagued with diseases, this would ultimately lead to the downfall of the cities, along with the swift formation of old-age technology. A much flourished port city that was started in the 13th century would be that of Suakin, which is located in north eastern Africa in the country of Sudan. Another rise and fall story of a port city is the Chinese Port City Quanzhou. This city flourished between the 10th and 14th century. Quanzhou was located in the southeastern region of China. Between the two of them the rise and fall are relatively similar. Both with great triumph and defeat, these stories are both very similar yet very different as well. The paper will describe the times that each of them faced along the path of great rise and great fail as we go back to the 13th century. Suakin was located a half mile off the mainland, only a shallow channel separating them. The two places were both nearly similar with both similar language and religion is consistent but the difference between the two is a concept of economic anthropology.
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