European Trade Routes 1100-1500

“No nation was ever ruined by trade.” This quote was said by Benjamin Franklin in the late 1700s. These words are so simple, and it seems like anyone could have said them. However, this quote has a bigger meaning in that throughout world history, trade has been so important to so many countries and it has led to many empires successes. It has occurred for a very long time, and it has progressed dramatically. Trade has changed a lot, but some parts of trade stayed the same over a long periods of time. In the era between 300 CE and 1450 CE, trade between Eurasia and Africa changed because the empires and kingdoms in power were replaced and their control over trade differed;

Europeans were motivated to conquest to gain money, and trade was one of the channels where they found it. However, during

During the time period 600 C.E. to 1450 C.E., trade networks were relied upon to transfer goods, ideas, and services. Both the Trans-Saharan and Silk Road trade routes depended on animals, luxury goods, and economic growth. However, the trade routes differed in animals, types of luxury goods, and success of economic growth.

Even though these aspects describe the ways that change occurred with trade between Afro-Eurasia, one important part did stay the same. North Africa was consistent and always a key part of trade between the continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia. In 300, North Africa was the only area that traded with the Mediterranean. In the time of the gold-salt trade, European venders and Islamic merchants arrived in North Africa. North African merchants still traded even when Europeans started to shift the balance of trade to the Americas starting from the mid-1400s. This is how trade systems between Africa and Europe stayed the same between the years 300-1450.

In Africa there were three great empires, first the Ghana Empire who domesticated camels and carved trade routes all across the Sahara then

The Indian Ocean Trade Network, as well as the silk road had aided in cultural diffusion, and the transmission of ideas, however these routes were different in the way in which they were traversed and what ideas were specifically transmitted. The Indian Ocean Trade route

The trading routes, created by the desire from both the New and Old World for exotic foods and animals,

The early voyages by the Portuguese and Spanish were motivated by gold, trade and the spread of the Catholic faith through religious conversion. The voyages of a few adventurers show that the Spanish and Portuguese goals were to spread Catholicism, expand trade, and expand the kingdom of the Spanish and the Portuguese to the new lands they’ve discovered. These adventures were Christopher Columbus who attempted to find a new route to Asia to extend Spain’s trade and to colonize, Bartholomew Columbus and his successful founding of Santo Domingo, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his

Trade has been an important commodity since the settlement of mankind. Trade routes as the Silk Road, Turquoise Road, and Gold Road have connected communities and countries throughout the continents. Trading doesn’t always involve commodities; trading can include technology, disease, and religion. Early global trade experienced wealth and prosperity because of the demand for goods, knowledge of the sellers, and expanding trade routes. When it comes to trading, supply and demand are a key factor, as seen in Document 1, trade routes reach worldwide.

First, the economy brought Eurasian civilizations together through the trading routes. When traveling through the Middle East, Africa and Asia, Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta states that “Some of the Chinese own large numbers of ships that they send to foreign countries. There are no people in the world wealthier than the Chinese.” (Ibn Battuta, and H. A. R. Gibbs.). China was a very wealthy civilization in this time and their trade with other lands allowed them to form relations with the lands that they traded with. Other countries would want to trade with China due to its known wealth. In “Traveling Salesmen, Traveling Taxmen”, Kenneth Pomeranz and Steven Topik describe the Indian Ocean trade and state that “since India was probably the world’s largest exporter from 1500–1700, the horse trade was a crucial link in world trade.” (Kenneth Pomeranz and Steven Topik). Most of the horses being traded were coming from India, which means that many merchants wanted to go to India so that they could get valuable horses. At this time, horses were very valuable because it was a way of transportation, so some people wanted to buy them. This brought people together by bringing them to one area to exchange commodities and it allowed access for a way of transportation to be able to trade in the future. The Department and the king of Ancient Ghana states that “In the eighth and ninth centuries, Arab merchants operating in southern Moroccan towns such as Sijilmasa bought gold from the Berbers, and financed more caravans.” (“Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.”). These people were traveling to different

Trade networks in Africa from 1000-1750 CE changed, such as the increase of the slave trade, yet continued to have some of the same characteristics, such as the exports.

During the 1400’s empires of our past ruled and conquered lands for greater then what we see today. The world at this point was vast and unknown and agricultural reigned supreme. Societies were built and run around agricultural as were their success. Empires and societies depended on the resources coming from far off lands of Asia and Africa to spur their revolutions. Trade networks were set up to ignite globalization throughout the world. These trade networks linked together trade routes and subsystems to regions of the globe. The most central trade routes and subsystem in my mind were the variating routes that linked Asia to Europe one of these routes was the third route, which was also the route Marco Polo traveled. This route enabled products

The controversial scholarly journal of Robert S Wolff explores the history of the first trade encounters between the Portuguese in Africa and Asia, controversy lying in its separation from the Western narrative. Throughout the article, the author is trying to figure out the motives or other considerations playing a role behind the actions of Portuguese and other Europeans, such as choosing violent ways of making a profit in the lands of Africa and Asia, rather than using the existing trade networks, to emerge as the world ruler. In his view, Europeans had claimed themselves to be the “center of the world” way before they have risen to that title. European countries were looking for profitable trade in wealthy lands full of gold, consequently lack of resources and other valuable goods became a barrier to their success in the already existing channels.This is seen in da Gamma’s first encounter with the local ruler of Calicut, where his gifts were considered substandard to that of the poorest merchant, as seen by the local advisor.

During the 1500’s the Atlantic System served as trading networks connecting Europe, Africa and the Americas. For the purposes of transporting goods to and from the Atlantic basin (Bulliet, 516). A large portion of the Atlantic system was used for the African Slave Trade through what is called the Middle Passage (Bulliet, 516).

It was not an uncommon thing for groups of people that inhabited small areas to show another group of people something they thought of as valuable. If the counter group found an item interesting, they would exchange it for another item to appease their acquaintance. In a sense, worldwide trade came from this small gesture. Societies that were too small and the populations were not vast enough for boats to stop, often were not involved in the circle of global