Vermeer's Hat, by Timothy Brook

Following the travels of Christopher Columbus and the Conquistadores, the Spanish soon realized that they were as a matter of fact, not off the coast of China. But rather than completely abandon the area due to its lack of gold, silk, and spices, they decided to stay for the abundance of silver. In this, they enslaved and killed entire populations in their quest for this mineral. However, in doing so they practically started a new economic era for the Europeans. The heightened flow of silver from the mid-16th to the early- 18th century resulted in social and economic effects in trade centers around the world by further integrating the Europeans into the global trade market and consequently increasing social divisions in China due to improved

From 1570 to 1750, silver was mainly mined in Spanish colonial America and Japan. They traded their silver and gold for Chinese luxuries and about 30% of all the silver exported by the Spanish Americas ended up in China. Having required that all taxes and trade fees be paid in silver, China’s economy was soon backed by silver. Though it may seem like this only affected China, this caused a great impact on the whole world both socially and economically because, like it said in document 1, even the poorest men had silver in China, but in Spain, prices of precious Asian luxuries increased, and, due to the widespread distribution of silver, the value of silver decreased (document 2), which harmed Spain’s economy greatly. This also affected Britain

The Silver trade (1500-1750), which involved the global trade and exchange in silver, radically changed the global economy with the countries involved. The Silver trade had various direct and indirect social and economic implications with the countries involved, some subtle, while others were radical. More specifically, it put Europe in a dependant and subordinate position to China on an economic level. In terms of China, it was beneficial to the economy of China, while, on a social level, caused more suffering to the lower class.

Tobacco was the first profitable crop in the new colony, and it encouraged tobacco planters to move farther and farther into the inland, intruding more and more into the native farmlands. (Brinkley, pg. 29) Tobacco created a great need for laborers. New workers to the colony were offered land, depending on the size of their family. This was the beginning of the concept of plantations. In 1619, 100 women were sent to the colony to become wives of the male settlers. This “promised the male colonists the full rights of Englishmen, an end to strict and arbitrary rule, and even a share in self-government. (Brinkley, pg. 29) July 30, 1619 the first elected legislature, the House of Burgesses was created. Also in 1619, a Dutch ship brought over the first shipment of African slaves. The slaves were forced into ships, shackled in the bottom of the ship, barely fed and were brought to Virginia. If a slave died during the voyage, their body was thrown overboard. “From mid-1670 to 1700, Virginia and Maryland imported about 6,000 slaves direct from Africa, most arriving the 1690’s.”(Morgan)

The population was majority black-slaves and with the downfall in the tobacco industry, plantation owners relied on them to become their own indentured servants.

The increased flow of silver altered the worldwide global trading both socially and economically. The global flow of silver from the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century caused social and economic issues by creating social impact in China, changing the economic purpose for trading, and the overall exchange between the Chinese and European nations.

In Vermeer’s Hat: The seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World, Timothy Brook uses Vermeer’s paintings to show the effects of trade on the world and the overall globalization occurring. Brook argues that this globalization had begun in the seventeenth century. He takes a look at Vermeer’s paintings, and uses them as windows into seventeenth century history to discuss further topics of interest. Through every painting, it leads to a door that

The first Africans brought in more or less as an experiment. Africans tended to share the same resistance to diseases that Europeans did, they were familiar with the types of farming and crops, and they tolerated the hot conditions well. Originally, it was a matter of a ship going to western Africa and attempting to capture or trade for enough slaves to fill their holds. As the trade increased, it was impossible for the Europeans to capture enough slaves on their own. They began to work with African agents, that tribal leaders captured prisoners from other tribes to sell to the Europeans. This became a big and efficient business, carrying millions to the west. These goods from Europe were carried to Africa and traded for slaves. When England decided to abolish slavery, this cut into the trade but did not end it. Other, European nations were still deriving profits, and had no interest in stopping. Changing technology, damaged ecosystems, increase of 'home grown' slaves all cut down on the demand

Slaves were a big part of history, and later causing the Civil War. The Portuguese began the enslavements of Africans in the fifteenth century, were they brought them to Europe to work as laborers or servants. Tobacco farming began in Virginia, Carolina, and Maryland, but was labor-intensive so they enslaved african americans, who later died from being badly treated, overworked,

Tobacco farming required much labor, and colonial America could not supply that labor with just the settlers already living there. This need for labor was satisfied by indentured servants and African slaves (3). Indentured servants raised the population by bringing in people who could not afford their way over to America (Weeks 1). The indentured servants were promised freedom and land after serving for a set amount of years (Pecquet 469). Soon after, as the indentured servants were getting less and less land than promised, if any at all, Bacon's Rebellion broke out in Virginia (Lorenz 14). This forced the colonists to find a different servitude option. They turned to African slavery to quench their desire for a cheap, reliable labor source (Weeks 1). At least 350,000 Africans were needed to produce the amount of tobacco to supply for the demands of the people (1). African slavery started racial tensions and

Africans first arrived in the area that later became the United States of America in around 1619 in the Chesapeake area. The large amount of fertile land in the area gave the settlers their biggest cash crop, which was tobacco. As time went by, more and more tobacco was being exported to England. Because of this, more labor was needed. This need for more labor was not only in the north, but in the south as well due to their mass production of cotton. This movement started the institution of slavery in America. Then, the colonies and other countries started to trade slaves and it became a business. The Royal African Company was the first slave trading company, which was started in 1672. The slaves were transported by the Middle

Throughout the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, the world witnessed a global expansion as well as a compaction of people, cultures, and ideas. The need for goods, as well as the process of mercantilism to inflate economies, was instrumental in the advancement of seafaring technologies, the need to spread religion, and the eventual globalization of the slave market. The four major regions in the world, which were the stepping stones of globalization, are Africa, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, the Americas, and finally East Asia.

Europe seemed to remain the most neutral in this desperate silver trade, choosing to remain only involved enough to observe. British merchants were not entirely reliant on trade to or from the Asian worlds so merely recorded how China received “nothing but silver” (Doc. 4) and the Portuguese use this to “their good advantage in China”. However, England could not remain completely unaffected as scholars such as Charles D’Avenant observed. Luxury goods especially spices and silks have become prominent in European culture. While Europe draws from Asia “nothing on solid use” it has “tasted of this luxury” (Doc. 8) and it is not advisable for England to pull out of this silver trade. England could afford to remain more objective, but it could not pull out entirely. It had roots planted early on, and it would cause severe social disturbance to tear them up.

Large amount of land and labor were required in the Tobacco agriculture. At first, these workers were mainly come from England itself and the promise of land attracted many workers. Later, the industry of Tobacco spread from Caribbean to Virginia. As a reason, colonists spread from one colony to another. At that time, the Dutch slave traders enslaved Africans to fill the needs of labor. This model was followed by the English. Many Africans became slave involuntarily and the first African slaves arrived in mainland North America in late August of 1619 when a ship carrying slaves from Africa docked in Jamestown, Virginia. They were different from indentured workers by their endless term of service.

Globalization is the process by which different societies and cultures integrate through a worldwide network of political ideas through transportation, communication, and trade. Generally, globalization has affected many nations in various ways; economically, politically, and socially. It is a term that refers to the fast integration and interdependence of various nations, which shapes the world affairs on a global level. Simply put; globalization is the world coming together. In this essay I will discuss multiple perspectives on globalization through the analysis of these three sources.