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History Essay In 15 th century Europe began to acquire a new type of economic relations due to the period of the commercial expansion. The new needs required new economics system. Before that period Europe had been feudal. It meant that the main and principal source of wealth was land and agriculture. The new circumstances generated mercantilist system which considered commerce to be the fast opportunity to catch money by selling products of agriculture. The mercantile activities speeded up the economic growth.
The change from feudal to mercantile systems led to capitalist organization of agriculture and trade. The early stage of capitalist relations caused political changes. In the period of feudalism, the centers of trade and wealth had been city-states, but with the emergence of mercantile relations this role was shifted to nation states. The mercantile system was based on commerce. The new relations established and ceased the control of economic activities which had been kept by the Church, feudal nobility, city guilds and town councils.
This freed the private sector from the communal controls of feudalism and gave the way to control of the market system. The new nation states provided the policies which invested and encouraged manufacturing agriculture, domestic trade, and trade within their own colonial empires. This economic growth interfered with the international trade. At the same time, the international trade was favoured by aristocratic or governmental policies and designed to support economic interests of aristocratic groups. For example, Spain exported wool according to their nobility's interests, and thus, had to import grain.
As a result a smaller wealthy class of farmers emerged. New economic relations encouraged some innovations in daily life of the city nations. Cheap food prices increased the demand for some items of luxury. There were no need to import Chinese porcelain as it was imitated; daily diets of the citizens were enriched with coffee, brandy, gin. The percentage of basic education among the population increased. To protect the flourishing city nations required high expenditure on army from the governments.
And these investments stimulated clothing and arms manufactures. All this contributed to the growth of consumption, increase of production and distribution, concentration of wealth to government policy, colonial trade, and military expenditure. New needs increased demand which created new markets. As it was mentioned, Europe began commerce expansion. The population of the countries which had trade affairs with Europeans adopted some changes. Those people who gained from trade received new status in society.
As a matter of fact there were constant quarrels for getting control over the territory between the coast and the source of supply inland. Trade in the countries under European expansion caused changes in their social, political and production organization. European countries purchased fur in the territory of coasts, bays of North America. It altered the relationships and socio-political patterns between the Indian tribes who supplied fur. When in one area the number of furs declined, one tribe moved to another area and made war against the other tribes for it. The Iroquois Confederacy, a big association of five nations, which was formed in the Valley of the Hudson River, stated to expand the territory of the Huron to the northwest of them.
They made profits by exchanging European goods and precious stones. These commodities played a chief role in building social status and exchanging gifts, which maintained the working relationships. Thus the influence of trade changed Iroquois life style from horticulture to hunting and trading. Africa provided America with cheap labor of slaves... In this case slaving turned into a business where all the roles were allocated. Africans were responsible for capturing, maintenance, overland transportation of slaves.
European companies took charge of transoceanic transport, the 'seasoning' or breaking-in of slaves, their distribution. This system of trade influenced political orders in Africa. Slaving gave to the rulers those political groups which played the major roles in trade affairs with Europeans. Thus, for example, the Oyo in the South of Nigeria increased its authority by exchanging slaves for European commodities.
But on the other hand, this source of power attracted other political groups in the country and caused war. The tribe Dahomey rebelled and Oyo had to fight a battle with it, which lasted over a century. Dalmeys goal was to control coastal areas which were under Oyo and set their own business the English. Due to the advances in ocean navigation, European nation states had more opportunity to deliver goods from Africa and America by sea and bypassed the overland trade links with Asia. Europe broke existing modes of trade with the countries of the East Asia. The amount of such commodities as spices, tea and manufactured goods increased in European markets which resulted in lowering their prices.
But in India and other Asian countries English goods had very high prices. India was one of the colonies of England and thus I think it had to adopt the new basis of mercantile economic system. This resulted in severely limited colonial manufacturing and lowered the prices for crops. But there were a number of goods, for example, tobacco, which could be exported only from the colonies, and which became a source of big incomes for India.
For the purposes of trade and protection from the potential attacks, England altered the political and then social orders in India and gave it a military support. I think, that the greatest impact of Asian trade with Europe lied in their cultural interaction. Asian countries got to know European culture and religion. It caused a widespread recognition of European coinage, charters, university and so on. And in turn their, European people acquired some realities of the Asian world.
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Research essay sample on Asian Countries Economic Relations
