2.1- The Silk Road

Causes of the Growth of Exchange Networks

Causes of the Growth of Exchange Networks

• the Crusades

• China wanted European gold and silver

• Europe wanted silk, tea, and spices

• China had gunpowder, porcelain, paper, and compass inventions to trade

• Europeans used overland routes (no direct sailing yet)

Causes of the Growth of Exchange Networks: New Empires Rise

• Mongol Empire helped expand trade the most

• Respected merchants and enforced protection of traders

• New trade routes established

Causes of Growth: Transportation Technologies Improve

• Caravans

  • Safer to travel with than alone

• Camel saddles increased weight of trade loads possible

• Chinese advanced naval technology

  • Magnetic compass, rudders, junk ships

Effects of the Growth of Exchange Networks

• Cities and oases

• Caravanserai

• Commercial innovation

• New economy and banking systems

• Increase in demand

Effects: Cities and Oases

• Cropped up in spite of the Silk Road’s hot, arid, and lacking water climate

• Cities grew along trade routes and water sources

• Kashgar was in Western China and produced water, food, and textiles and was Islamic scholarship center

Effects: Caravanserai

• Inns for traders to rest in

• Became hotspots for cultural exchanges

Effects: Commercial Innovations

• China developed a money economy

  • Used money for bartering instead of commodities

• Government had system of credit called flying cash

  • Paper money could be deposited and collected in another place

• Banking houses established in Europe

  • encouraged stable and convenient trade

Effects: Commercial in Europe

• Crusades increased European interest in Asian luxury goods

• Northern Europe and Scandinavian cities founded commercial alliance of Hanseatic League

  • Controlled timber, grain, leather and fish trade in North and Baltic seas

Effects: Increase in Demand

• Increased demand in luxury goods

• More production

• Silk and textiles were exported

• Increased production of iron and steel

• Proto-industrialization

Money economy

use of money for bartering instead of commodities, developed when copper coins became too impractical for trade as it expanded

Flying cash

Government credit system that allowed merchants to deposit and collect paper money at various locations under money economy

Banking houses

Developed in Europe under new money economy; revolutionized flow for world trade and encouraged and supported trade through convenience and stability