Strayer Chapter 14 Review - Vern

Vern Chao

World History 2

22 January, 2017

Chapter 14 Reflection

• In Strayer's chapter 14, there is a focus on commerce, globalization, world trade, and there are time stamps involved in each event.
• In the first section of the chapter, Strayer discusses why Europeans traveled and invested in Asia. A major trade and value that the Europeans had with the Asian people were tropical spices such as cinnamon, mace, cloves, and pepper. In exchange for their tropical spices, the Asian people received gold or solver from the Europeans.
• In the following section, the chapter educates viewers on the Portuguese commerce and its efforts towards trade in the Indian Ocean. The chapter mentions that the Portuguese would use military force to aggressively conquer or control small states. However, the chapter also mentions that the Portuguese mainly wanted to own commerce rather than territories. In the end, the Portuguese were not successful in dominating the Indian Ocean space. Instead, the Portuguese had "carried Asian goods...selling their shipping services because they were not able to sell their goods" (673).
• After studying the Portuguese, the chapter focuses on East India companies. This section heavily discussed about the British and the Dutch. This chapter  mentions that the Dutch and British "displaced" the Portuguese and that the Dutch and British were both economically and militarily advanced than the Portuguese. 
• In the last several parts of the chapter, Strayer teaches the significance of the Asian commerce, the significance of silver, the significance of fur, and how fur (along with other trades) contributed to global commerce.