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The Americas started rising in the 1600s. That would preclude them as a factor in the Silk Road's decline.

adrusi 13y ago
But they were discovered in the late 1400s, resulting in a change of interest. Nations invested in New World colonies with similar goals as their trade with China. It would follow that trade with China decreased as resources were directed elsewhere.
- btilly 13y ago
  Actually trade with China increased due to the ease of direct trade.
  - cpleppert 13y ago
    The real trade with china didn't begin until silver mining took off in the 1550s. Before that, spices and the trade with the 'indies'(India) were the primary trading interests. Most maps didn't even get the eastern half of the Indian ocean correct until the mid-1600s and from the east the pacific ocean was a mystery for longer. Silver was the item that the chinese intensively desired for monetary reasons as multiple experiments with paper money failed due to runaway inflation and they lacked precious metals of their own. Almost 40% of the silver mined in the late 16th century ended up in china.
btilly 13y ago
If you believe this, then you were probably educated in the USA. Columbus sailed in 1492. The development of the Spanish colonies proceeded fairly quickly. The first Spanish city in the New World was founded in 1500, the first on the mainland in 1510, and by the 1530s a respectable empire had been carved out and colonized. By mid-century the New World was mining more silver than the old world. It is hard to overstate how late English colonization began. Perhaps one of the most striking examples which brings it home is that when the Pilgrims landed in 1620 they were able to communicate with the natives thanks to meeting a native, Squanto, who already knew English on account of having lived in England. The mythology that they found a virgin land, untouched by white men, couldn't be farther from the truth!
nl 13y ago
The Spanish treasure fleets which striped South & Central America of much of its gold first started sailing in the early 1500s. Even in the 1490's (soon after Columbus) Spain was getting significant amounts of Gold & Silver from America. That influx of wealth totally changed the balance of power in Eurasia. People these days don't realise how poor Europe was prior to the 1500s. For example, it's commonly thought that one of the main reasons the Mongols didn't push further into Europe was simply because there was nothing there that was worth raiding. Even the "rich" cities in Europe (Venice, Vienna, Paris) compared very unfavourably to comparatively minor trading centers in central Asia. For example, Paris was probably the largest European city in 1250 (population probably < 200,000) and it was about quarter the size of Merv when the Mongols killed all its inhabitants in 1221[1]. A truly rich city like Baghdad (prior to the Mongol sack in 1258) was in an entirely different league. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merv http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merv

But they were discovered in the late 1400s, resulting in a change of interest. Nations invested in New World colonies with similar goals as their trade with China. It would follow that trade with China decreased as resources were directed elsewhere.

btilly 13y ago
Actually trade with China increased due to the ease of direct trade.
- cpleppert 13y ago
  The real trade with china didn't begin until silver mining took off in the 1550s. Before that, spices and the trade with the 'indies'(India) were the primary trading interests. Most maps didn't even get the eastern half of the Indian ocean correct until the mid-1600s and from the east the pacific ocean was a mystery for longer. Silver was the item that the chinese intensively desired for monetary reasons as multiple experiments with paper money failed due to runaway inflation and they lacked precious metals of their own. Almost 40% of the silver mined in the late 16th century ended up in china.

btilly 13y ago

If you believe this, then you were probably educated in the USA. Columbus sailed in 1492. The development of the Spanish colonies proceeded fairly quickly. The first Spanish city in the New World was founded in 1500, the first on the mainland in 1510, and by the 1530s a respectable empire had been carved out and colonized. By mid-century the New World was mining more silver than the old world. It is hard to overstate how late English colonization began. Perhaps one of the most striking examples which brings it home is that when the Pilgrims landed in 1620 they were able to communicate with the natives thanks to meeting a native, Squanto, who already knew English on account of having lived in England. The mythology that they found a virgin land, untouched by white men, couldn't be farther from the truth!

nl 13y ago

The Spanish treasure fleets which striped South & Central America of much of its gold first started sailing in the early 1500s. Even in the 1490's (soon after Columbus) Spain was getting significant amounts of Gold & Silver from America. That influx of wealth totally changed the balance of power in Eurasia. People these days don't realise how poor Europe was prior to the 1500s. For example, it's commonly thought that one of the main reasons the Mongols didn't push further into Europe was simply because there was nothing there that was worth raiding. Even the "rich" cities in Europe (Venice, Vienna, Paris) compared very unfavourably to comparatively minor trading centers in central Asia. For example, Paris was probably the largest European city in 1250 (population probably < 200,000) and it was about quarter the size of Merv when the Mongols killed all its inhabitants in 1221[1]. A truly rich city like Baghdad (prior to the Mongol sack in 1258) was in an entirely different league. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merv http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merv