WW Chapter 7: Commerce and Culture

Silk Road Artwork

(Source: https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-middle-east/silk-road)

CHAPTER 7: COMMERCE AND CULTURE

500 - 1500

Engines of Commerce and Culture

The three major engines of commerce that fueled early trade were the "Silk Road", the "Sea Road" and the "Sand Road."  Before reading this chapter, I had never heard of any trade routes other than the Silk Road, but it cretainly makes sense that others developed.  Besides being ignorant of the Sea Road, I had really underestimated it's importance in trade.  Since ships could carry much more cargo, much greater distances at a substantial savings in cost, the goods that were transported opened up the trade markets to the masses rather than just the elite.  This meant that other goods, those besides luxury goods, could be transported for trade.  Not only was the Sea road important for an increased diversity of goods, but it influenced the new civilizations that sprang up around the ports of entry through religion, language and culture.  

The Indian Ocean was a catalyst of change as a result of China's restructuring after the fall of the Han Dynasty and the spread of Islam through the Arab Empire.  China's new flourishing economy offered new goods, services, and a new market for trade.  The Arab Empire Islamic extended from the Atlantic to the Mediterranian, unifying many diverse cultures.  Islamic traders were much more friendly with the merchant class.

In his reflections, Strayer compares what was happening then to modern day trade today.  I agree with his assement, that there are certainly paralells.  The inequities that existed between just a small handfull of economically powerful countries is slowly being offset by new economic powerhouses like China, Brazil, and India.  The relative equal footing of trading partners is much closer to what it was back in the first millenium.

The Merchants

Another thing that I hadn't given much thought to was the fact that merchants traded with merchants.  When we think of global trade, it's usually countries trdaing with each other in a policy driven strategic manner.  The fact is, that merchants were agnostic, for the most part, with respect any nationalist loyalties.   They traded with each other - the merchant classes.   This made ports and markets along the trade routes extremely diverse and very wealthy.  These places were home base to the merchants that resold the goods that were shipped along the routes.  The civilizations that rose there taxed the trade, adding to their own coffers.  Mankiw said it best: Trade makes everyone better off (at least in the long run).

Slavery

Along with the established trade routes came a conduit for a indentured labor force, namely slaves.  Slaves from East Africa were sold and shipped to wealthy households throughout the Arab Empire.  But why Africa?  Was it racial?  Was it because the African chiefs and kings were happy to enslave their peope and sell them to traders for profit?  Both?  Strayer dosen't make this clear, but it appears that it might have something to do with the warring city states of Africa - which took slaves from captured cities and in turn sold them to the slave traders.  It might be worth looking closer at this.

Overall, it seems that the goods that were traded were primarily things that civilizations couldn't get locally.  Staples, for example, like basic sustenance for a populations own consumption, were still produced locally.  Early traders traded expensive imported goods since the cost to transport them was so high.  As the world became more connected, and new technoogies made it cheaper to transport goods, specialization slowly became the norm.  And here's where Dr. Verma's economics class kicks in... Just because you can produce something, dosen't mean you should.  Produce what you are good at and trade.  It makes you more efficient, more profitable and less dependent on your own resources since raw materials are a zero sum game.