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In the last two decades society and its members have familiarized itself with the term globalization and the aspects affected by globalization. Some Of these aspects include the increase of trade and capital around the world, and an increase in the exchange of knowledge. Mammary Seen, a Nobel-Prize winning economist was quoted saying, “Globalization has enriched the world scientifically and culturally, and benefited many people economically as well” (London). Everybody in the present world is now touched by the effects of globalization but that was not always the case.
This paper will discuss the origins of globalization and the major landmarks in history that have brought trade of ideas, goods, and eventually technology to a global level. Since he beginning of globalization and global trade there has always been a collection of core nations in competition with each other for economic dominance and access to the world’s resources. Globalization can be linked back before the times of the Enlightenment, when international trade was emerging. Once the world was opened up to these vast networks through world trade, it opened the doors for integration, migration, and the spread of knowledge.
Integration was now a large part of society and took on many different forms. One form of integration is consolidation, where smaller political units joined together and created an empire. With creations of such empires, smaller units such as kingdoms, tribal federations, or city states were swallowed up by a larger entity (Steelmaker Peterson 32). Empires usually had an emperor or monarch that ruled the entire empire, and large armies that could travel great distances so smaller city-states couldn’t exist.
World empires existed in several periods of world history some examples include the Roman Empire, the Near Eastern empire of Alexander the great, and the Egyptian and Babylonian empires much earlier. From 1450-1500 there was a major turning point in history, and the modernization of the oral came into play. When conditions became ideal for a world economic system, Spain and Portugal took the lead. They were the first to establish extensive overseas colonies and explore the world for new territories. C. R.
Boxer described the birth of world trade as “Only after the Portuguese had worked their way down the West African coast, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, crossed the Indian Ocean and established themselves in the Spice Islands of Indonesia on the shore of the South China Sea; only after the Spaniards had attained the same goal by way of Patagonia, the Pacific Ocean ND the Philippines-then and only then was a regular and lasting maritime connection established between the four great continents(Flynn Geraldine 201).
Traders often did not want to travel the entire route, and thus used locations termed “interests”. According to the Oxford Dictionary, an entropy is defined as a port, city, or other center to which goods are brought for import and export, and for collection and distribution. Once the entropy of Manila was founded, it was a major contributor to the beginning of global trade. The city of Manila was the first entropy that linked substantial, direct, ND continuous trade system between America and Asia (Ann. Geraldine 201).
The influence of long distance trade was minor compared to that of intercontinental trade at the time. Intercontinental trade had been taking place since the hunter gatherer age. During this period in history, intercontinental trade can be traced back to the first extensive trade routes which began up and down the great rivers, and maritime trade over the eastern Mediterranean. Global trade has had an enormous impact on the modernization of the world. Today, there is no country, nation, or individual that has not been affected by globalization.
Legerdemain’s the history and development of civilization ties are important to comprehending the evolution of globalization. The first truly global trading network came from the silver mined in Spanish colonies in the Americas. The trade with precious metals created the first continuous routes that circled the globe, and silver is said to be the most responsible for the birth of world trade. “China’s dominance as an importer of silver was as pivotal during the birth of world trade as is the industrial world’s dominance as importers of oil in today’s marketplace (Flynn Geraldine 206).
With China being the dominant buyer in he silver trade Europeans were the middle-man in the system. Europeans were neither the supply nor demand, but basically took the risk in transportation of the goods in order to try and make a profit. The Mining tried to retard the intrusion of silver to and from the coastal centers of merchant powers, but was irresistible (Flynn Geraldine 208). They decided to tax the silver with a single-whip tax reform and the market value for silver in Mining-territory was double the worth of anywhere else in the world.
Paper money in China had reduced its value to nearly nothing, so China’s exchange from paper- money to a silver based economy was crucial. Meanwhile the Spanish crown had private sector entrepreneurs working the New World mines instead of doing the excavation process themselves. They made their money and took substantial amounts of the profits by taxes. “The most famous tax was the quaint, a 20% severance tax on gross value, but there were many indirect taxes as well (Flynn Geraldine 210). Spain eventually used its mining profits to attack the emerging capitalist powers.
China received independence from British colonialism in 1 776 and then chose to opt out of the global trade in an attempt to bring about internal changes with superpower manipulation (Kerri). Europeans at this time were the only ones traveling throughout the world in search of more knowledge on religions, languages, cultures, and political orders of other countries. Printing with movable type, developed by Johannes Gutenberg a German goldsmith, marked a revolutionary departure from the old practice of copying works by hand or stamping pages with individually carved wood blocks.
The invention of mechanical printing dramatically increased the speed at which knowledge could be transmitted, and freed individuals from having to memorize everything they learned. Europe had the upper hand and began to spread the word on the various ultras and civilizations that had been encountered while traveling the world. This improvement in communication accelerated the flows of ideas and information. As world trade increased and expanded, so did the increasing awareness that separate nations were becoming more and more tied through economic exchange.
With population on the rise, manufacturers had an incentive to produce more in a shorter period of time. Each period of growth was accompanied by technological innovations in the domains of production, transportation, and trade, which allowed populations to overcome ecological constraints and human limitations by increasing radioactivity and transforming production (Abjured Fee 430). Soon after the first industrial societies took root, economic ties grew rapidly as did their importance.