Question

Tomás de Mercado, Spanish scholar, Manual of Deals and Contracts, Seville, 1571.

High prices ruined Spain as the prices attracted Asian commodities and the silver currency flowed out to pay for them. The streets of Manila in the Spanish territory of the Philippines could be paved with granite cobblestones brought from China as ballast* in Chinese ships coming to get silver for China.
A heavy substance used to improve the stability of a ship.

Ralph Fitch, British merchant, an account of his travels to the East Indies, published in 1599.
When the Portuguese go from Macao, the most southern port in China, to Japan, they carry much white silk, gold, perfume and porcelain and they bring from Japan nothing but silver. They have a great ship that goes to Japan every year, and brings back more than 600,000 coins worth of Japanese silver. The Portuguese use this Japanese silver to their great advantage in China. The Portuguese bring from China gold, perfume, silk, copper, porcelain, and many other luxury goods.

Charles D'Avenant, an English political economist, An Essay on the East-India Trade regarding the debate on a bill in Parliament to restrict Indian textiles, 1697
Since we were supplanted in the spice-trade by the Dutch, our chief investments or importations from the East Indies have been in dyed cotton cloth, silks, drugs, cotton-yarn, and wool; part o which commodities are for our own use but a much greater part, in times of peace, were brought to London for sale to France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and our colonies.
For Europe draws from Asia nothing of solid use; only materials to supply luxury, and only perishable commodities, but sends to Asia gold and silver, which is there buried and never returns Can you make a dbq out of this info

Answer 1

The global economy during the Age of Exploration was characterized by a trade imbalance where Europe's silver flowed to Asia in exchange for luxury goods. This facilitated the rise of European merchant wealth, the adoption of silver currency in Asia, and underpinned the early stages of capitalism.

Step-by-step explanation:

Global Trade Dynamics during the Age of Exploration

The exchanges of silver and luxury goods between the East and West during the time of the European explorations illustrate the development of a global economy. Countries like Spain and Portugal, enriched by American silver, were able to trade with Asian powers, which did not highly value European goods, but showed immense interest in precious metals. This silver, used to trade for goods like silk, porcelain, and spices, not only facilitated the growth of European wealth and the rise of a merchant class but also influenced the Asian economies, especially that of China, which shifted to a silver-based currency system.

The Portuguese and Spanish established significant trade routes, exchanging European silver for Asian luxuries, which were then sold across Europe and its colonies, generating vast profits and giving rise to the merchant class. In the East, the economic dominance of China and India was substantial, with both empires producing a large percentage of the world's goods at that time. The influx of gold and silver from the New World to Europe contributed to the rise of capitalism, showing the early signs of a fundamentally interconnected global economy and the beginning of modern commerce.

The high demand for Asian goods in Europe and the significant outflow of silver had an impact on the economies of both regions, leading to extensive economic changes, including the Spanish economic downturn, due to excessive outflows of silver to Asia. The swelling European demand for Asian merchandise, balanced against the Asian appetite for precious metals, set the stage for the eventual shift in global economic dominance by the late 18th century.