Silver Exchange Dbq

When Spain found the Americas in 1492, they had no idea it would become their source to riches in the years to come. The escalation of the development of silver from the mid-sixteenth century to the eighteenth century caused social and economic changes by making the wealth of countries such as Spain and Japan increase, which increased economic opportunities within their trade partners, while also creating a social division in their own countries with the heavy use of slavery. Due to the findings of silver at Potosi in 1545, trade in Europe flourished and slaves played a more vital role in the search for Silver.

Before silver was discovered at Potosi, Spain was looking for a way to increase their worth. After they found the silver ores, they
Before the Spaniards moved to the Americas, the Indians used their prisoners of war as slaves and the elite class were their government officials and the military high officials. However, once the Spaniards took over, their social rankings sunk and they became the slaves. They were treated poorly, shown in many art forms shown in (doc 6) like engravings and water colors , which was a new form of media, by artists such as Jacques Le Moyne and their only use to the Spaniards was to provide them with silver and sugar, which they mined and grew on their home front, destroying the beauty and rising deforestation. Social changes also occurred in China due to their rising incomes because of the increase of foreign trade, because of its ban in 1626, stated by He Qiaoyuan, a Ming official (doc 4). The power of the merchants’ was originally low due to Confucian views, which led the whole country to believe that merchants were bad, but in reality, they could provide a boost in China’s economy. According to Wang Xijue, another Ming official, silver was required to keep the country’s economy steady (doc 1), which was possible with with the increase of merchants and their ability to make money with foreign