History of trade Essay

Trade is all about giving something in order to get something in return. But have you ever wondered when did they ever started? Well today we are going to talk about history of trade. 

Trade is everywhere and anywhere, from the supermarket to the comforts of your home. Your home? How can that be? Well, for example when your sibling asked you to do something, you would probably reply by saying only if you help me with this or let me have your snacks. This is also a form of trade, both parties gain something from exchanging a form of currency, and the currency in your household is like the example snacks or a form of service.

In modern day society money is the most universal form of currency for trade either paper notes or maybe a credit card or just a tap on your phone, but it wasn’t always credit cards back then. Before, seashells were a form of currency for trade, and they would usually use those seashells to trade for goods and services like we do today. 

Trade first began around 3000BC in Ancient Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Different materials such as spices, metals, and cloth, were traded. When cities got richer from trade and population grew, resources were at high demand and trade between neighboring cities become more prominent and trade began to grow. The development of trade also impacts systems of communication, Mong, transportation and culture. The Greeks traded pottery, jewelry, wine, olive oil and glass cups. They shared ideas and systems, like new farming methods and knowledge, they traded with a wide variety of people and with the trading of knowledge and goods helped the Greeks become a powerful civilization. The ancient Greeks were one of the first civilizations to trade by sea routes. Because of geography of Greece, they were excellent sailors and traded their goods by sending them on ships to other civilizations. 

The Silk Road was a trade network, the name silk came from Chinese silk, which was very high valued at the time,in 130 BCE it opened as a 5000 mile trading route connecting from Eurasia and North Africa. The countries that mostly trade are China, India, the Roman Empire, and Italy. The Silk Road became a huge trading network, the people would sell Chinese silk to wine or olive oil from the Italians. The merchants who sell these goods couldn’t travel all the way to the other side, so they would pass it to the next person who has a closer destination and they would pass it on to the next and so forth. The Silk Road opened new opportunities for everyone, more ideas were shared, bonds were made, traveling became more easier, and countries influenced each other.

The Age of Exploration during the 15th-17th centuries, many different European explorers began to sail around the world for the search of  New Lands. Christopher Columbus “discovered” that there are other civilizations across the Atlantic Ocean, the region he discovered were known as Americans or the Natives. There would be many consequences from this exploration such as the spread of new diseases and conflicts as the Europeans began to conquer and colonize. But there is a positive side to the Age of Exploration, more trading routes were opened like the Silk Road, new goods were traded with Europe and the Americans. Europeans had access to sugar, tobacco, chocolate and more, while the Americans gained grains, olives, peaches and new inventions from the Europeans.

There is much more to talk about the history of trade, like the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal, Amber Road and much more, but that is for another time. As you can see without trade there wouldn’t be new ideas, sharing of cultures, and foods. You probably wouldn’t be able to wear your favorite shirt without trade too, since it could be from China, then to Europe, and finally shipped to your country. I hope you learned something from this because I did, and please learn more about these topics.

Sources: 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade