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Impact Of Spice Trade

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Spice Trade had a significant economic and cultural impact on the world. At around 3000BC, the Arabs traded spices and herbs among early civilizations. Then as trade began to develop, Europeans started to gain control of the global commerce. Venice was one of the most successful, efficient Italian cities that prospered through trade and became a formidable trading point because of its location. It became a monopoly of spice trade for a period of time. Subsequently, European royalty made a key decision to change the balance of trade by initiating spice-hunting missions. The spice trade influenced the economies of Portugal, Holland, Italy, India, South East Asia, and England, and was also the reason that America was discovered. It had a broad …show more content…

The history of humankind, its civilizations and the culture are all linked with the development of the trading industry. Throughout Asia, many people came together to help the exchange of ideas, art, lifestyles and goods. Religion was transferred through countries because of the Spice Trade. The popularity of Buddhism and Hinduism benefited the new markets. Buddhism traveled alongside the maritime trade, promoting missionaries, coinage, art and literacy. Islam spread throughout the East in the 10th century where the Muslim merchants played a crucial part in the trade. Christianity spread in the East where Islam and Christianity were they became the dominant religions. Many other customs were shared in Southeast Asia such as Languages. The Portuguese language became very important for trading. For example, there are still visible impacts of the Portuguese in countries like Macau. European people started to interact with Indians people and learnt many valuable culinary skills such as adding spices into their cooking. The Portuguese also introduced vinegar to India. “Many Europeans could not afford peppercorns or any spices. Other used pepper for special occasions, such as weddings. In richer homes, the spice cabinet was kept locked” (Spice it up, 2). This clearly shows that many Europeans started to use spices, which is a local cultural impact on the spice trades. The population started to increase in cities, as markets and empires were constructed, which resulted in bringing in great wealth to these cities. Cultural anthropology and economics are linked providing a clearer understanding of the spice

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