Turning Points in European Commerce:

From Asia to America

Turning Point: Western Europe Rediscovers Asian Goods

During the crusades, Western Europeans traveled to Southwestern Asia (the Middle East). They saw the outside world and began trading.

Imported from India: Spices

Indian spices were used to flavor and preserve food and as medicinal remedies.

Curry

Pepper

Cloves

Cinnamon

Items from China

During the Tang and Song dynasties, the Chinese experienced an explosion of intellectual thought and creative invention.

Imported from China: Nautical Tools

The rutter, airtight hull, new sail shapes, and the compass helped the Chinese master the seas.

Chinese

Compass European

Compass

Imported from China: Gunpowder

The Chinese invented gunpowder for fireworks and small bombs. The Arabs and Europeans exported it for use in cannons and later in guns.

Imported from China: Silk

• Lightweight, but strong • Cool in warm weather• In layers, insulates for warmth • Soft & smooth to the touch• Easy to dye

Quote Analysis #1 “…the number and wealth of the

merchants, and the amount of goods that passed through their hands, was so enormous that no man could form a just estimate thereof…In each of the squares is held a market three days in the week, frequented by forty thousand or fifty thousand persons, who bring [to the market] every possible necessary of life.”

-Marco Polo, an Italian who traveled to China and wrote a book about China’s advanced culture

Summary Question

How did renewed commerce with Asian countries affect Western

Europe?

Imports & Exports from Africa

Arab traders imported goods to

Europe from West Africa.

Later, Europeans exported

Africans to the Americas as a cheap source of labor.

Imported from Africa: Salt & Gold

African salt and gold were traded for equal value.

Turning Point: Columbus lands in the New World

Purpose for Exploration

• Find Spice Islands– Spain in debt to

Italians– Beat Portuguese to

the Spices– Control the spice

trade

Results of Exploration

• Charted new territory

• Found new sources of gold and new goods

Europeans Colonize the Americas& Export European Items

Exported to the Americas: Livestock

Livestock was new to the Americas, and in some cases, included startlingly

large animals.

Exported to the Americas: Medicinal Herbs

This European medicinal herb, the dandelion, became an American

weed.

Exported to the Americas: Agriculture/Food

Europeans brought many types of new food to the Americas, but one of the most profitable was sugarcane.

Onions Bananas Coffee

Grapes Wheat RiceSugarcane

0

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

14,000,000

16,000,000

18,000,000

20,000,000

1491 1618

Native Population ofMexico

Exported to the Americas: Disease

More native Americans died from European diseases than

were killed in battle.

Death due to disease 95%

War and other causes 5%

Triangle Trade & Slave Labor

Africans were exported to the American colonies as a source of cheap labor.

Triangle Trade Route Slaves arriving in Brazil

Spain and Portugal Colonized and Imported Goods from the Americas,

and the Caribbean

Gold, natural resources, and items made for Europeans were imported to Europe.

An illustration showing the Spanish conquistadors supervising the natives, who are carrying supplies for them. From the Granger

Collection, New York

Quote Analysis #2

“…as if they were monkeys, the Spanish lifted up the gold banners

and gold necklaces…Like hungry pigs they craved that gold, swinging the banners of gold from side to side.”

-An Aztec pointing out the confusion about the Spanish passion for gold as an object of desire in itself, since it was not their medium of exchange

Imported to Europe: Agriculture / Food

Tomatoes

Cacao Beans for chocolate!

Peppers Pumpkins Pineapples

Europeans were introduced to many new American food products.

Potatoes

Turkeys

Imported to Europe: Molasses & Rum

Sugarcane was grown in tropical climates, then used to make valuable

products and imported to Europe.

England Colonizes North America & Finds New Sources

of Wealth

The English looked to the north for a sea route to Asia and/or gold, but found natural resources which were more beneficial in the long run.

Imported to Europe: Natural Resources

Natural resources, such as lumber, were shipped to Europe where they were used to develop many different industries.

Imported to Europe: Cash Crops

Tobacco quickly became a valuable cash crop for the English.

Quote Analysis #3

“The colonies being established solely for the use of the [founding country], it follows that:

1. They should be immediately dependent upon it and consequently protected by it;

2. That they should trade exclusively with the founders.”

-L’Encyclopedie (1751-68). The great French encyclopedia

Summary Question

How did commerce with the Americas and the Caribbean

affect Western Europe?