Commerce and Culture ~ AP World History Chapter 7

Trade in human history

The exchange of goods and services between people throughout history.

Interconnections of long-distance trade

The relationships and connections created by trade routes that spanned long distances, linking different regions and civilizations.

Goods, culture, and disease along trade routes

The wide range of items that were transported along trade routes, including physical goods, cultural ideas, and even diseases.

Commerce in the Eastern Hemisphere vs. Western Hemisphere

The differences in trade and commerce between the Eastern Hemisphere (Asia, Europe, Africa) and the Western Hemisphere (the Americas), and the reasons behind those differences.

Silk Roads

One of the world's most extensive and sustained networks of exchange, primarily focused on the trade of silk, but also facilitating the exchange of other goods, ideas, and cultures across Eurasia.

Growth of the Silk Roads

The expansion and development of the Silk Roads, which connected different regions of Eurasia and facilitated trade between agricultural and pastoral societies.

Goods in transit along the Silk Roads

The wide variety of goods that were transported along the Silk Roads, including luxury items for the elite and market goods produced by peasants in China.

Cultures in transit along the Silk Roads

The spread and transmission of cultural ideas, particularly Buddhism, along the Silk Roads, leading to the transformation and adoption of new religious beliefs and practices.

Disease in transit along the Silk Roads

The exposure to unfamiliar diseases that occurred as a result of long-distance trade along the Silk Roads, leading to the spread of epidemics and the exchange of diseases between different populations.

Indian Ocean trade network

The extensive and important trade network that connected various regions around the Indian Ocean, facilitating the exchange of goods, ideas, and cultures.

Weaving the web of an Indian Ocean world

The development and expansion of Indian Ocean trade, starting from the time of the first civilizations and growing with the rise of Islam and the economic and political revival of China.