Chapter 7 Online Commentary
I can't believe just how much I am learning in these chapters. Chapter 7 dealt with "Commerce and Culture". How interesting to read how the civilizations expanded because of the different trade routes that were available at specific times in history.
There was the Silk Road originally established in Eurasia which - as we know- was where the bulk of the human population resided. It was named after the commodity that was being sold. Women played a very important role here since it was them that had to take care of the silk worm environment so that the silk could be produced. They acquired the silk and wove the fibers into thread to make the luxury materials that everyone wanted.
Then there were the Sea Roads which used the Indian Ocean as the means for trade among China and eastern Africa.
Finally, there were the Sand Roads which were used to transport goods and services across the Sahara Desert. This trade route joined North Africa and the Mediterranean. All of these methods of travel were the primary means of expansion among the existing civilizations.
Since the Americas were out of the way in connection with the civilizations mentioned above, trading was not as cut and dry. They used land-based trade as the means to exchange resources between Mesoamerica and the Andes. A different sea-trade system was used. Instead of adopting the Indian Ocean to transport items, the Atlantic and Pacific coasts were used instead. This was much more practical for this section of the world.
The different regions would produce their own goods in their own lands. In order to obtain other items (luxury or basic necessities) that were not able to be produced locally, the peoples would trade their goods for other items in these trade routes. So in time, every region obtained goods from other far-away lands that would have otherwise been unavailable to them by other means.
Now, goods and services were not the only things that were traded. The religions and customs of different groups of people remained in other areas along the trade routes. Buddhism seemed to be the religion of choice for many in Eurasia and China. Sometimes these people would tweak the religions so as to make them more suitable for their way of life. Islam was soon spreading as well as Christianity.
So things seem to be all good in reference to these trade routes. Not so. With all of these positives come the negatives. Disease was another element that ravaged so many people. Many of these diseases were not known to certain areas so immunity did not yet exist there. When foreign-born epidemics entered unknown lands, hundreds to thousands of people died. In some locations, two-thirds of the populations were obliterated. The Bubonic Plague shadowed the Mediterranean. The Black Death annihilated many in China and through Europe. This was an unexpected result of the expansion of their civilizations.
There was the Silk Road originally established in Eurasia which - as we know- was where the bulk of the human population resided. It was named after the commodity that was being sold. Women played a very important role here since it was them that had to take care of the silk worm environment so that the silk could be produced. They acquired the silk and wove the fibers into thread to make the luxury materials that everyone wanted.
Then there were the Sea Roads which used the Indian Ocean as the means for trade among China and eastern Africa.
Finally, there were the Sand Roads which were used to transport goods and services across the Sahara Desert. This trade route joined North Africa and the Mediterranean. All of these methods of travel were the primary means of expansion among the existing civilizations.
Since the Americas were out of the way in connection with the civilizations mentioned above, trading was not as cut and dry. They used land-based trade as the means to exchange resources between Mesoamerica and the Andes. A different sea-trade system was used. Instead of adopting the Indian Ocean to transport items, the Atlantic and Pacific coasts were used instead. This was much more practical for this section of the world.
The different regions would produce their own goods in their own lands. In order to obtain other items (luxury or basic necessities) that were not able to be produced locally, the peoples would trade their goods for other items in these trade routes. So in time, every region obtained goods from other far-away lands that would have otherwise been unavailable to them by other means.
Now, goods and services were not the only things that were traded. The religions and customs of different groups of people remained in other areas along the trade routes. Buddhism seemed to be the religion of choice for many in Eurasia and China. Sometimes these people would tweak the religions so as to make them more suitable for their way of life. Islam was soon spreading as well as Christianity.
So things seem to be all good in reference to these trade routes. Not so. With all of these positives come the negatives. Disease was another element that ravaged so many people. Many of these diseases were not known to certain areas so immunity did not yet exist there. When foreign-born epidemics entered unknown lands, hundreds to thousands of people died. In some locations, two-thirds of the populations were obliterated. The Bubonic Plague shadowed the Mediterranean. The Black Death annihilated many in China and through Europe. This was an unexpected result of the expansion of their civilizations.
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