While the basic purpose of the Silk Road remained mostly the same, its’ goods and destinations went through many changes. The road started as a small transport route for Eurasian merchants, but later turned into an important economical and cultural necessity. Once Asian products, like spices and fabrics, were used by Europeans, they became dependent on them. This also occurred in Asia, and it began to shape both cultures. Also, due to the large amount of political changes that occurred during this expanse of time, the Silk Road also traveled through the new countries that began when the Roman Empire collapsed.
These different empires that were being built at the time created fluctuations in trade. The Silk Road changed from being on a small scale to expanding throughout Eurasia; then little interaction occurring between Asia and Europe. More trade in the Ming Dynasty followed after and then the Indian Ocean Trade becoming an alternative way of trade to the Silk Road. During these changes, there were also continuities that always happened no matter how much the Silk Road had changed. The change in trade patterns was caused by the strength of the different empires along the Silk Road.
Many aspects of the African and American economies remained unchanged by maintaining an agrarian based economy. As trade began to increase between Europe, the Americas, and Africa, many social transformations began to take place. The national monarchs that lived within Western Europe wanted to increase their power and began to look for more trade routes to increase their wealth. This rise in trading led to the growth of the middle class in Western Europe. The middle class developed because the increase of trading opened up room for specialized workers Along with the growth of the middle class bankers, capitalists, and other occupations also began to develop.
For example, there was improved navigational aids, refinements in shipbuilding, better mapmaking, and new legal arrangements and accounting practices which made shipping easier and cut the costs of seaborne trade. Another major new navigational instrument that helped this enormous revolution was the needle compass. With the new sea-lanes booming with profit and trade, this began to change the entire agriculture around 1000 CE. This also gave birth to the growth of commercial cities. By the late tenth century, many of these new cities were the anchorages of the maritime trade.
Waterways were also a way for transportation, to cut out a lot of land, and cut out time. Waterways are a faster way for trade and barter. Steam boats were what pioneers used to travel down the waterways to trade and sell goods. Railroads were still used for closer travel, with items that did not need to get there as fast as possible, because railroad cars do not move very fast, although the steam engine improved the speed of transportation also. The United States did make rather large changes over 100 years, from 1776 to 1870.
The building of canals, Turnpike roads and railways allowed raw material within Britain to be transported to where they needed to be quickly. The British Empire has plenty of trading ships allowing cheap raw materials (cotton) to be brought back to Britain through Liverpool. Trading ships also carried finished goods from the mills out of the countries and canal boats, horse and carriages and trains later on transported finished products throughout Britain. Building a mill, equipping it with machines, and buying the materials to get it up and running was expensive; meaning the products made had to be sold for a profit. Often meaning that the materials needed were bought in overseas colonies for unfair prices and sold on to make a large profit some of which went back into buying new equipment to allow more cotton made faster and at a lower cost, increasing the profit even further.
CCOT Essay Trade has and always will be an important part of the global economy. Trade flourished with the creation of the Silk Road and the colonization of the Americas. Many organizations have been created to regulate or exploit trade, such as the Hanseatic League and the East Indian Trading Company. Between 650 and 1750 C.E, trade and commerce in the Indian Ocean region witnessed changes like the dominance of trade and population; it also stayed the same in the sense that religion was used and goods were in demand. Over time, commerce in the Indian Ocean region witnessed changes in trade dominance and population.
Western Europe remained isolated from one another and relied on independent economic and social developments. Western Europe’s trade was no longer land based which presented many new possibilities. Many new problems arose with this new found world changing experiences with the exchange of new trading products. However new diseases, and the separation of many families due to slave labor all came along with these economic and social transformations. Trade between 8000 BCE and 1750 CE which was a period marked in time by exploration and imperialism, a global economy emerged in which Western Europe through commerce interacted and exchanged goods such as animals, food/spices, and even slaves.
As migrations continued, trade increased. This diffused technology, ideas, and goods from civilizations to other parts of the world. The main trade routes used were The Silk Road, The Indian Ocean Trade Route, and the Saharan Trade route. People affected the diffusion of ideas and goods by making products to make their own life easier. Trade routes were the most important way that these goods were
Because of Columbus, the new continent, America, was found by virtue of traveling. Now it is one of the biggest nation on the world and have strong influence in terms of political, economic and social changes.. Travel can exchange the idea of living. Due to difference in geographical locations, people have different customs and traditions. The traveler could adopt the traditions of the visited places if he believes those are better way. If there is no traveling, how could people taste the different cultures and understand other people.