Europeans and Asian Commerce
Europeans wanted to get involved on the world of Asian commerce because of the desire for wealth in spices, and metals, their recovery from the Black Death, and to explore Christianity. The Europeans sailed to India for the first time during the voyage of the Portuguese sailer Vasco de Gama, and they wanted to do so in a way that bypassed Muslim and Venetians. First the Portuguese made their way into the Indian Ocean network. But realizing their goods and economy were unattractive and lagging in Asian markets, they established the "trading post empire" where they could forcefully control commerce and sell their shipping services, making use of their advancement in naval technology. The Spanish too decided to make a voyage to get into Asian wealth, discovering an "archipelago of islands" (607), naming it the Philippine Islands after Spanish king Phillip II, and taking over and establishing colonial rule there, rather than commerce (as the Portuguese did) because it was close to lands of Asian spice and socially weak, thus transforming Filipino society into largely Christian. When I read this, it began to make sense to me why most of my Filipino peers, and including myself, grew up in devout Catholic households.The British and the Dutch participated in Indian Ocean commerce through private trading companies, and they had more strength militarily and economically than the Portuguese. The Dutch established the Dutch East India company on the spice islands of Indonesia and Taiwan, using force, violence, control, and bloodshed. The British in India did establish three major trading settlements, but since they couldn't stand the powerful Mughal Empire that controlled India, they had to use "payments and bribes" (609) to be allowed to stay in India, and while spices were important in English trade, they focused more on cotton and textiles. When I was reading, I thought it was interesting how at first Strayer opens the section of the East India companies by saying that both the British and the Dutch were stronger "militarily and economically," yet he later goes into detail to describe how in fact the British were not as advanced as the Dutch, and the British couldn't even withstand the "powerful" (609) Mughal Empire.
In some ways, Asia was able to stand European forces, and the European presence was in some ways less important in Asia than it was in Africa and the Americas. Japan was experiencing feudal conflicts and Europeans felt welcomed amidst this. Then the shogunate was formed and unified Japan politically. Japanese merchants in Southeast Asia didn't receive the government support that Europeans did, but other Asian merchants had a large role in Southeast Asian trade besides the Europeans.
Silver and Global Commerce
The silver trade played a major role in global commerce in the world of the early modern era. Starting with China's huge economy there was a large demand for silver set which caused its value to skyrocket as it became a tax, then this demand spread globally, and silver was used to buy a vast number of goods. In Spain, the value for silver became inflated and caused envy and rivalry among other European states, but it didn't necessarily promote economic growth. Japan was a major site of silver production where silver profits were use to defeat feudal lord, to "unify the country" (613), and to develop a "healthy" and "market-based economy" (613) that caused Japan's Industrial revolution and economic growth. In China, participation with silver became deeper, more specialized, and more productive, and caused economic growth, all of which Europeans all the while wanted in on, but it also caused deforestation.
"The World Hunt": Fur in Global Commerce
Like silver, textile, and spices, fur was a "major item of global commerce" (616). Fur conveyed status and provided warmth especially during the unexpected period of cooling during the Little Ice Age, which made fur prices increase, causing its commerce to be a competitive business. Sadly, Europeans used Native Americans as a "cheap labor force" (616) for fur production and they hunted them, but though received valuable items in exchange like the Hurons did, the Native Americans experienced a large decline in population due to diseases carried by the Europeans, and they also tapped into the new commercial economy that was going on. The consequences of this massive fur trade include a decline in population and even extinction of fur-bearing animals, it improved the economy of the Russian Empire, and it caused Siberia to depend on Russia for fur goods. As for women, the fur trade affected them in good and bad ways. They married European men that were often abandoned when they returned home, spent more time in fur production, had less status because fur trade was for men, but their marriages eased cultural exchange.The use of fur for conveying status is still prevalent in our modern society.
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