Final Essay Trade on the Silk Road

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Culture Exchange Using the Silk Road Barbara Smith HIS 103 World Civilizations I Instructor Bremen Hentzel May 7, 2012 Culture Exchange via Trade While the use of the Silk Road aided the transferring of diseases to different areas, this method also helped in spreading ideas about different religious beliefs. It also helped in spreading different cultures to other areas. There were many trade items transported among these roads that other areas could not produce on their own. Even though the use of the Silk Road helped in transferring diseases, trade also helped in spreading many products to different areas, because of the trading, cultures were learned and religious beliefs were spread. First the Black plague disease was started in Asia in the fourteenth century in Asia. This plague started spreading west and killed half of the populations in areas. This disease was spread by the merchants using the Silk Road by trading goods. According to Encounters in World History textbook, “The way a disease spreads in a particular society or region, for example, may tell us something about people’s lifestyles, their social conditions, patterns of mobility, and relationships with nature.” (Sanders, et al., 2006, p. 385, para. 2). The disease that was called Black Death was carried by the commercial land and sea routes. These routes were called the Silk Road; however, it was made of many roads that also branched off. The way the disease was spread was when merchants bought these trade items from Asia. The rodents in Asia had fleas and when fleas bit the animal that was carrying the disease the animal became infected. The fleas also produced larva in the fur which also had the bacteria called Pasteurella pestia. Once the rodents’ population decreased, the fleas went on to other animals this including humans. Some of the animals were often used for furs to
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