Silver Trade Dbq Essay

Before the Modern Era, international communication was not prevalent. Many factions were present between distant regions in the world, and regional trade flourished between lands that were close in proximity. Lands in the Americas or South America did not experience a strong connection to lands further east due to these gaps in communication. However, due to the emergence of silver, regional economies all combined to form one global economy. In this global economy, different, distant regions interacted through a common trade. Silver production, common from the 1500s to 1750, helped global interactions flourish. Different regions, specifically China and the Philippines, Spain and its colonies, and England collectively experienced shifts in their societies and economies through a combined need to interpose themselves in this global flow of silver, that was then expanded upon through different methods of gaining silver.
Before the emergence of silver, Chinese society isolated themselves from the global economy. Due to Confucian teachings and heavy voyage expenditures, Chinese officials restricted foreign interaction and trade. Also, being

an advanced empire, China saw no need to interpose themselves in foreign trade to gain supplies that they did not necessarily need. Because of this reasoning, limits were placed within China. Limits on certain expenses were placed in order to limit the use of silver within society. These restrictions on silver all served as a common goal towards preserving silver within society, as Ye Chunji, a Ming dynasty county official, defined this conservation to be beneficial, stating, “The frugal man with only one bar of silver currency can have something left over, whereas the extravagant man with a thousand can still have not enough,” (1). It is not surprising that Chunji, a county official, would state this as the government at this point in time stressed the preservation of silver greatly. However, due to this preservation, China’s economy and society experienced many negative effects. As previously stated, China preserved their silver because they were absent from global trade, restricting them from directly gaining an abundance of silver. The negative effects were expanded upon in Wang Xijue’s, a Ming dynasty court official, report to the emperor. After many attempts to preserve silver, China unfortunately experienced a scarcity of silver coins. Although the government required silver for taxes, the government themselves did not spend silver on their expenditures. Because of the scarcity, grain prices fell leading many tillers to receive less money for their labors. Also due to the scarcity of silver, less land cultivation occurred because many tillers abandoned the land they cultivated because they saw no need to labor for meager payment (3). It is not surprising that this was reported by a court official because China’s absence in the global economy did not allow them to gain further silver. Although many attempts occurred to preserve the silver within society, silver was still required for taxes and therefore much silver went to expenses for the government. This scarcity only increased China’s need for global trade. As reported by Ralph Fitch, a British merchant, China traded with Japan, who led the silver production during this time, through Portuguese sailors who traveled to China for the luxury commodities the empire could provide to them (4). In this interaction, China is simultaneously able to gain silver without venturing out into the global market through voyages. It is not surprising that these interactions would be accounted by Fitch as England showed much appreciation or attention towards this emerging global economy, and sought to preserve their place within this market. However, with this growing need for silver and interactions with different regions and peoples for silver, many burdens were placed on the lower class. In an essay written by Xu Dunqiu Ming, a writer who lived during the Ming dynasty, a shift in currency occurred within society. Before silver emerged, certain areas such as dye shops allowed customers to obtain what they needed through resources such as rich, soybeans, chickens, or other things they had access to or cultivated. However, the emergence of silver now enabled many areas to require a payment of silver by their customers. If they failed to attain silver, they were able to gain silver through a moneylender (5). However, this system placed a larger burden on the Chinese lower class. In this era, people of the lower class had little to no access to the silver China was attempted to accumulate. In this time of scarcity, peasants had to push themselves further into debt through this act of being lent money they could not pay at a later time. It is not surprising this was reported by a writer because many shifts were occurring in this time period that resulted in China becoming a society centered around silver. Although the emergence of silver allowed the resource to become a necessity to Chinese society and their economy, Spain experienced an even larger need than China for the silver that they, unlike China, had access to.
Unlike other regions around the globe, Spain had direct access to silver. Silver production was led by Spanish colonial America, and Spain exploited the land within the colony, and other colonies as well, in order to gain silver to place themselves in the global market. Along with these excursions came the enslavement of many laborers to this one mission of gaining silver. Antonio Vázquez de Espinosa, a Spanish priest, recorded the harsh conditions many East Indian laborers faced. Over three thousand laborers mined an abundance of silver for Spain for over forty years, allowing Spain to accumulate an abundance of wealth. Not only did Spain gain their silver through the registered mines, in which they paid taxes or fees for permission to mine, but they also gained silver illegally, by having it secretly smuggled to Spain (6). This act shows just how great the need for silver was in Spain. It is not surprising that the priest condemns the treatment of the East Indians because they are given poor conditions to work in. Spain’s need for silver is so great because Spain built their empire off of silver. The silver that Spain acquired went towards the colonization of lands that Spain owned and although Spain was able to stabilize and provide growth to not only the colonies but also to themselves through silver, Spain also encountered a few harsh sufferings, according to Tomás de Mercada, a Spanish scholar. He wrote how high prices of Asian products ruined the state of Spain’s economy. Although Spain required the goods sent by Asia, most of their silver went into this exchange, essentially allowing Spain to waste silver on small-term benefits, rather than on necessary operations such as colonization (2). It is not surprising that Mercada, being a scholar, would expand upon this negative effect because Spain’s heavy and harsh dependence on silver as a currency and method of gaining wealth led Spain eventually to a harsh fall. As Spain experienced a similar urgency, that to China, for silver, other countries in Europe, such as England, portrayed their interest in this emerging global market and debated whether their involvement in this trade would be beneficial or not.
During the Modern Era, England portrayed their interest in the global market by venturing outwards to different regions in the world in order to observe or obtain the resources being produced or exchanged in the respective regions. As previously stated, voyagers such as Ralph Fitch ventured to different regions because of England’s interest in the global trade of silver. However, many debates arose on whether England’s involvement would be beneficial for them. In an essay written by Charles D’Avenant, an English scholar, D’Avenant introduced a counter-argument to a bill that advocated for a restriction on East-Indian textiles. D’Avenant wrote how the goods England attained from their trade with the East Indies were not only used by themselves but also traded with other European countries. This trade allowed England to establish peaceful and beneficial connections with its neighbors. Although D’Avenant acknowledged that the commodities that England gained were small-term benefits, he concluded that England had established a permanent place in this trade, and these foreign commodities had become staples of English society and culture (8). It is not surprising that this was written by a scholar as D’Avenant would have a wide knowledge on the effects of trade on different societies and England itself. Silver allowed for society in England to flourish in the manner that it had previously been before the emergence of silver. Trade had allowed England to gain basic goods that were now used as a whole by society. The documents within that have been used have been beneficial in establishing the patterns of silver trade on a global scale, but one key region is necessary in tracking the effects of silver on different regions.
Japan, the leader of the silver production that occurred in this time, is essential in analyzing the effects of the silver trade.

Areas within Japan, such as Nagasaki, acted as the biggest suppliers of silver to regions across the globe. By leaving out Japan, the opportunity to fully analyze the connections established by Japan with other regions and the effects on Japan’s economy and society has been eradicated. However, with the documents provided, the silver trade drastically changed trade around the world by connecting different and distant regions across the world and establishing communication on a global scale. The emergence of silver catapulted many societies to amass their wealth and power on silver, and shifted the economies and societies of these regions towards relying on their stability through a dependence on

silver.