Fur. Fur is still around today, but the fight for it isn't nearly as difficult as it was back in the era this chapter talks about. We are now past discussing the spice trade, and are now talking about some of the difficulties in the fur trade. Of course, fur was seen and a commodity and still is. Fur comes off of animals which are sourced as a population, and when that population is diminished, so too does the demand increase while the supply decreases. It becomes a rarity, and then it becomes a fight for it. It is largely due to the Europeans that these fur bearing animals are becoming rare. Fur trading was almost a sport competed internationally, and each team was most dominant in their own home court. The French were best in the St. Lawrence Valley, the British in the Hudson Bay area, and the Dutch in the Hudson River (Which is now New York.)
The Europeans were definitely cheaters in this sport, since they would merely wait until the Indians would bring them the furs or skins to then trade them for other tools of British making. Native Americans were essentially a cheap labor force for the British.
Even though the Native Americans were protected for some time from slavery from the British because of their important role and their capabilities in hunting fur bearing animals, that didn't protect them from the new diseases that the Europeans brought with them.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Chapter Fifteen
Global Commerce is the title of this chapter, and it immediately warns me about what the rest of the chapter is about to be about, if that makes sense. Since commercial is a derivative of the word commerce, I know that this chapter is going to be about global business, so to speak. United Nations type stuff, international relations and things like that.
This chapter spans 300 years, and simply talks about a pair of countries and their methods of interaction and what they traded. Just like I mentioned in the fourteenth chapter, Strayer makes a sly hint at how Columbus wasn't quite as awesome as we all thought he was. Definitely not deserving of his own day off.
Anyway, the Europeans and the Asians start this chapter off by trading cinnamon, nutmeg, mace cloves and pepper, which were were widely used as condiments and preservatives and were sometimes used as aphrodisiacs. The Europeans were definitely aware of this trading, but were largely unaware of how it worked. For a while, a lot of this trading had seemed to just trickle in to the Europeans hands. The first major problem with this was that the Europeans knew that the source of all these goods and condiments and even aphrodisiacs were Muslim hands. So naturally, methods were created to circumvent these circumstances. A black market, but a little bright, perhaps a gray market suitable for the Europeans who chose to send a ship to Egypt to collect goods. Aboard this ship was one of the only commodities acceptable to the commodity-wealthy Asians; gold, or silver.
This chapter spans 300 years, and simply talks about a pair of countries and their methods of interaction and what they traded. Just like I mentioned in the fourteenth chapter, Strayer makes a sly hint at how Columbus wasn't quite as awesome as we all thought he was. Definitely not deserving of his own day off.
Anyway, the Europeans and the Asians start this chapter off by trading cinnamon, nutmeg, mace cloves and pepper, which were were widely used as condiments and preservatives and were sometimes used as aphrodisiacs. The Europeans were definitely aware of this trading, but were largely unaware of how it worked. For a while, a lot of this trading had seemed to just trickle in to the Europeans hands. The first major problem with this was that the Europeans knew that the source of all these goods and condiments and even aphrodisiacs were Muslim hands. So naturally, methods were created to circumvent these circumstances. A black market, but a little bright, perhaps a gray market suitable for the Europeans who chose to send a ship to Egypt to collect goods. Aboard this ship was one of the only commodities acceptable to the commodity-wealthy Asians; gold, or silver.
Chapter 14
Broken down and inside a nutshell, this whole chapter is about how Columbus isn't quite as awesome as we all think he is, and in some opinions, how he doesn't even deserver to have his own dedicated day, since he only found America by accident.
Secondly, in the same nutshell is the rise of the Russian Empire, and how that was awesome in itself, although it wasn't quite deserving of a holiday.
One of my favorite parts of this chapter was the quick discussion about how when Russia changed into an empire, it changed the fundamentals of Russia itself. When it became a cultural melting pot, the number of actual Russians diminished proportionately.
The Russian Empire also lasted for such a long time, compared with other Empires such as the Spanish, Portuguese, and British Empires. It lasted until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Secondly, in the same nutshell is the rise of the Russian Empire, and how that was awesome in itself, although it wasn't quite deserving of a holiday.
One of my favorite parts of this chapter was the quick discussion about how when Russia changed into an empire, it changed the fundamentals of Russia itself. When it became a cultural melting pot, the number of actual Russians diminished proportionately.
The Russian Empire also lasted for such a long time, compared with other Empires such as the Spanish, Portuguese, and British Empires. It lasted until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Sugar and stuff.
This handout was very easily much too long to read in one sitting.
I don't think i will ever actually fully read this article. However, from what I did read in depth about this handout, here is what I got from it:
The global importance of sugar was apparent from the moment it was discovered. Naturally, us as humans like things that are pleasing to use.
I have a bit of a segway, more of a question directed towards someone who is good at both history and maybe biology, but were our tastebuds designed to recognize sugar before we even discovered sugar? It was just something I pondered. Maybe it was a development, and similar to the way that Darwin argues that evolution is dependent on the environment, maybe the first humans to discover sugar adapted their taste buds, and as the years have rolled on, we as humans have slowly developed more and more of an appreciation for sugar. I personally enjoy liquid sweets, such as soda and chocolate milk and such.
I also would like to question the importance of sugar amongst the other commodities of high value; gold, silver, fur and such. Was sugar in not enough of abundance? Was there not enough of a labor force to harness enough of the sugar to yield a low enough market value? I see various spots throughout the article where sugar is described as something that was, back then, quite rare. It was known so some as "honey from reeds." And in another spot, sugar is described as dependent on exportation in order for the trade to flourish, only by its nature. I believe that that fact assumes that any small food additive is just as dependent on exportation for "survival," for lack of a better word. Such ingredients may be salt, spices, and maybe a few others.
It appears odd that some of the evidence and those who wrote the anecdotes are having a hard time adjusting to sugar as a daily usage item. They take it so seriously, especially in #3, where in his second paragraph, he says "I will endeavour to convince you, that whatever additional duty shall be laid on sugar, it will be at the cost of the sugar planter, at least for some years."
Now, I have not read further than that, so contextually I am unsure of what he is speaking about, but the aspect of seriousness struck me.
Sugar is a very serious thing.
I don't think i will ever actually fully read this article. However, from what I did read in depth about this handout, here is what I got from it:
The global importance of sugar was apparent from the moment it was discovered. Naturally, us as humans like things that are pleasing to use.
I have a bit of a segway, more of a question directed towards someone who is good at both history and maybe biology, but were our tastebuds designed to recognize sugar before we even discovered sugar? It was just something I pondered. Maybe it was a development, and similar to the way that Darwin argues that evolution is dependent on the environment, maybe the first humans to discover sugar adapted their taste buds, and as the years have rolled on, we as humans have slowly developed more and more of an appreciation for sugar. I personally enjoy liquid sweets, such as soda and chocolate milk and such.
I also would like to question the importance of sugar amongst the other commodities of high value; gold, silver, fur and such. Was sugar in not enough of abundance? Was there not enough of a labor force to harness enough of the sugar to yield a low enough market value? I see various spots throughout the article where sugar is described as something that was, back then, quite rare. It was known so some as "honey from reeds." And in another spot, sugar is described as dependent on exportation in order for the trade to flourish, only by its nature. I believe that that fact assumes that any small food additive is just as dependent on exportation for "survival," for lack of a better word. Such ingredients may be salt, spices, and maybe a few others.
It appears odd that some of the evidence and those who wrote the anecdotes are having a hard time adjusting to sugar as a daily usage item. They take it so seriously, especially in #3, where in his second paragraph, he says "I will endeavour to convince you, that whatever additional duty shall be laid on sugar, it will be at the cost of the sugar planter, at least for some years."
Now, I have not read further than that, so contextually I am unsure of what he is speaking about, but the aspect of seriousness struck me.
Sugar is a very serious thing.
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