Network of Exchange (1200-1450)

Question 1

List the causes of the growth of exchange networks.

Answer 1

• The Crusades helped pave the way to expanding networks of exchange, as lords and their armies of knights brought back fabrics and spices from the East.
• Parts of the Silk Roads that were under the authority of different rulers were, for the first time, unified in a system under the control of an authority that respected merchants and enforced laws.
• The Mongols improved roads and punished bandits, both of which increased the safety of travel on the Silk Roads.

Question 2

List the improvements in transportation.

Answer 2

• Saddles for camels

* Centuries earlier, China had made advances in naval technology (rudder and magnetic compass)

Question 3

List the effects of the growth of exchange networks.

Answer 3

• Cities along the routes that were watered by rivers became centers of trade.
• To manage the increasing trade, China developed new financial systems. The copper coins they used became too unwieldy to transport for everyday transactions, so the government developed a system of credit known as flying cash.
• The growing demand for luxury goods from Afro-Eurasia, China, Persia, and India led to a corresponding increase in the supply of those goods through expanded production.
• Increased demand also led to the expansion of iron and steel manufactured in China, motivating its proto-industrialized.

Question 4

What was the long-term impact of Mongolian Invasions?

Answer 4

• Their empire was the largest continuous land empire in history.
• The Mongols built a system of roads and continued to maintain and guard the trade routes.
• After the Mongols declined in power, the kingdoms and states of Europe, Asia, and Southeast Asia continued or copied the process of centralizing power.
• Mongol fighting techniques led to the end of Western Europe’s use of knight in armor.

Question 5

List the causes of expanded exchange in the Indian Ocean.

Answer 5

• Spread of Islam: Although the Indian Ocean trade existed as early as 200 BCE, the expansion of Islam connected more cities than ever before.
• Trade of enslaved people
• Advances in maritime technology
• The trading networks in the Indian Ocean fostered the growth of states to help institutionalize the revenue from states.

Question 6

List the effects of expanded exchange in the Indian Ocean.

Answer 6

• Diasporic Communities: As a natural result of waiting for favorable winds for travel, these merchants interacted with the surrounding cultures and peoples of their regions.
• Increased demand for products caused trade to expand
• Swahili City-States: The Indian Ocean trade also created thriving city-states along the east coast of Africa

Question 7

Describe the trans-Saharan trade routes.

Answer 7

• By the end of the 8th century C.E., the trans-Saharan trade had become famous throughout Europe and Asia.
• Gold was the most precious commodity traded.
• For more than 700 years, trans-Saharan trade brought considerable wealth to the societies of West Africa, particularly the kingdoms of Ghana and Mali.
• Merchants also brought Islam, which spread into Sub-Saharan Africa as a result.

Question 8

List the environmental consequences of connectivity during the networks of exchange.

Answer 8

• As the population of China grew, people tended to migrate southward to the original Champa rice growing region, contributing to the growth of cities.
• The Mongols conquest helped to transmit the fleas that carried the Bubonic Plaque (AKA the Black Death) from southern China to Central Asia, and from there to Southeast Asia and Europe. The Black Death had a tremendous impact on Europe, killing one-third of its population there in a few years.