Silk, Sea or Sand: The Development of Trade in Third-World Civilizations

Trade was important to these new civilizations because it shaped daily life, affected their working lives by making them specialize in making products for sale outside of the region, distinguished elite groups by their luxurious foreign possessions, transformed political life and allowed for the spread of religious ideas, technological innovations, disease and plants and animals. I feel like it was also important because it brought different cultures together and allowed them to grow and develop new ideas. It made life easier for some populations because they now had access to products they needed to live better lives and gave them more opportunities in growth. This chapter discussed three different trade routes- The Silk Roads across Eurasia, The Sea Roads across the Indian Ocean, and The Sand Roads across the Sahara. The Silk Roads moved luxury goods, Buddhism through the activity of merchants (changed as it spread), and unfortunately diseases which had devastating consequences because the people had not developed an immunity to the foreign diseases they came in contact with. The Sea Roads were the world's largest sea-based exchange and communication system that operated based on the monsoons and had transportation costs lower than Silk Roads because they could put larger and heavier items on boats than camels. The Sand Roads allowed the North African and Mediterranean world to connect with interior West Africa and they traded gold, salt, and slaves with the West African empire. All three of these trade routes were important because they connected people across long distances.