Silver Trade and the Global Economy
By: Kat Davis
Tags: Fun, Silver, Commerce, Essay, Trade

This was for an essay in my AP World History class but I thought it was good so I decided to publish it on medium even though no on will read this because no one cares about the silver trade. I mean even I don’t, but I still wrote an essay on it to get a good grade because yeeeeeeuh :)

Between the years 1550 and 1800, the Americas, Europe, and China would all engage in a global silver trade bleeding out as a result of the previous Columbian exchange.The Americas imported slaves to help plant and harvest sugar, China was mass producing porcelain and textiles like there was no tomorrow, and European countries such as Spain and Portugal began to exploit Latin America territories for silver mining. Although the common motive for these countries participation in global trade was to make a profit, some made a lot more than that. A prime example of this would be the Spanish and Portuguese, whose mass exportation of silver would lead to, and be the cause of, the rise of social rank and class distinction throughout the world.

To begin with, the horrendous African slave labor done in mining colonies led to a social distinction between blacks and whites, which in turn encouraged the silver trade. As depicted in Document 2, enslaved Africans are shown mining for silver in Potosi, Bolivia. What is not shown in this picture however, is the extremely harsh conditions that Africans had to go through in order to benefit their white counterparts and avoid getting killed while inside the mines. In the picture, there are only twenty seven slaves visible, but according to Document 6, “336 million silver coins have been taken out” for the Spanish. Either there are thousands of more enslaved peoples inside the mountains, or this picture is historically inaccurate. Either way, the censorship of what goes on behind the scenes and inside the mountains where the real work is happening, contributes to the social distinction between blacks and whites as the Spanish refuse to depict Africans in a way that may make the Europeans look immoral and cause the viewers to examine the suffering of the enslaved, matches that of a white human being. This further encourages the silver trade as it makes it easy to justify the use for harsh labor in order to make a profit. This quite possibly explains why the artist, a Spanish man, decided to not include his name on his work, as to eliminate the scenario of being personally accused of propaganda, or perhaps to ease his guilty conscience.

Another example of how social class contributes and encourages the continuance of the silver trade is depicted in document 5, as the high economic value of silver in the Chinese cities such as Hangzhou, is suddently no match for the previous bartering system of everyday goods being used by the common people. This distinction between the primitive barterers and the wealthy silver users creates social distinction as those who barter are not to be trusted and must pay in silver first before being handed their cloth, when previously the cloth would be dyed and then paid for by common items like rice, wheat, and soybeans. The author of this excerpt, Xu Dunqiu Ming, describes how, “when you have your cloth dyed you receive a bill, which must be paid for with silver obtained by a moneylender.” The problem is, most of the common people who are so used to this bartering system, are not going to be able quickly pay for their everyday goods in the form of silver, or pay back their loans because of financial instability in comparison to the elite. In document 7, this economic change can also be noted as English economist, Charles D’Avenant, describes that the goods going from Europe to Asia are, “buried and never return.” This indicates that the Chinese have replaced their bartering and paper money system with a more effective use of silver coins, and it is there to stay. Although this is a great beneficiary for those who can afford it, not everyone can, and as a result several of the common people are left behind in poverty and cast down upon in society because they are not able to keep up with their country’s changing use of economy. This leads to a distinction in social class and the continuance of it, as the wealthy elite will demand for more silver in order to sustain their status in Chinese society.

However, Africa And Asia were not the only places that were socially affected by the growing silver trade. As can be depicted in Document 1, Europe was also undergoing sociocultural changes which can be shown through the Spanish colonies infrastructural development by building paved cobblestone roads and other buildings. In doing so, new trading posts would be planted along the way, allowing people to stop by and pay for items with silver. With help from China, this was able to be done, but just like in document 5, not everyone is able to adjust so quickly to this new system. This caused social classes to emerge through the distinction of buildings and roads that were either paid for by the Chinese in exchange for silver, or created by the poor townspeople making the most out of their natural resources. However, the use of silver was not only able to distinguish people socially through the use of money, it also had a contributing factor in the development of luxury goods in Europe from Asia. As Ralph Fitch, a British merchant depicts in document 3, when the Portuguese went to China to trade, they brought back luxury goods such as “perfume, silk, copper, porcelain” whereas the only thing they brought into China was silver. Not only does this again highlight the importance of silver in China’s economy and thus, development of social class, it also hints at how the silver trade impacted the social classes of Europe as luxury goods are being mass imported as a result of the silver trade. This leads to social distinction in Europe as only those who are able to afford silver, are able to in turn afford the luxury goods traded in Asia.

Due to the high demand and value of silver, it quickly spread throughout the world. However, because only those able to afford it could quickly adapt to its contemporary use of an economic system and use to purchase luxurious trade items, classes and rank based on economic stability that were already set in place, were highlighted and exemplified alongside with its other uses.