Change and Continuities in Trade Networks

The trading networks involved a new global circulation of goods, wealth, and labor. Silver from the Spanish colonies in the Americas flowed to Asia, where Asians were eager to exchange their goods—silks, porcelain, steel products— for silver. Asian goods were eagerly purchased in the Atlantic markets.

New Monopolies One way these patterns of trade were maintained was through monopolies chartered by European rulers. Monopolies granted certain merchants—usually through a joint-stock company—or the government itself the exclusive right to trade. For example, the Spanish government established a monopoly first over all the domestic tobacco grown and then over all the tobacco grown in its American colonies. The profits from this monopoly greatly enriched the Spanish government. The income from tobacco in Spain made up about one-third of total revenues.

Ongoing Regional Markets At the same time, traditional regional markets continued to flourish in Afro-Eurasia. However, improved shipping offered merchants the opportunity to increase their volume of products. The increasing output of peasant and artisan labor—wool and linen from Western Europe, cotton from India, and silk from China—exchanged hands in port cities with global connections.