Meredith, Smith 1

Allison Meredith, Julie Smith

Bennett
Humanities period 5
20 January 2016

The Eurasian world, throughout much of the worlds history, dominated and
shaped global trade patternsand therefore the economy of the entire world. Around the
16th century, China, having always been an economic powerhouse, became incredibly
fascinated by silver; to the extent that it soon began taxing its citizens for the valuable
metal. The new policies had an enormous impact on the world, not only from a financial
standpoint, but the change inspired exploration, innovation, and fostered many cultural
changes across the globe. Due to the high demand for silver in China, prices for the
already valuable metal rose dramaticallyputting it in a position of extremely high
demand, and motivating many European countries to seek involvement in the silver trade.
The Europeans newfound desire for silver aided their economic growth greatly, however,
it was due to this desire for silver that many moral dilemmas rose to the extent that they
did. The introduction of many silver mines in South America disrupted the lives of Native
peoples, as they were brought to work in the deadly mines. The need for silver was
stronger than everand its stimulation on the global drive to create and explore was far
ahead of the actual means to do so without the aid of forced labor. These natives were
forced to work in the harshest environments and several had funerals held just because
they were drafted to work. This silver production, although boosting economies like that
of China, greatly destroyed Latin America and many of the natives lives.

Meredith, Smith, 2
The production of silver brought misery to the lives of many native peoples, and
the selfish attitude of Europeans seeking wealth in the trade had negative effects on
dozens of Spanish-American families. When the China began taxing its citizens in silver
during the mid 16th century, the worldwide demand for silver rose exponentially--urging
many European countries to pursue the wealth and prosperity of the mines found in
Bolivia and other parts of Latin America. This initiation of European interest sparked a
rise in superiority that led to the enslavement to many native people just for personal gain.
These interactions typically ended with the natives dying from Eastern-borne illnesses or
working to death for little personal gain. While many of the natives toiled away in the
hellish silver mines, their European employers seeking personal gain from silver profits
stood by as they lived comfortably and watched the natives suffer. The suffering and
destitution that resulted from the Europeans selfish behavior set a precedent for many of
their colonization attempts in the future, and the treatment of native peoples remained
cruel--at the very least--for many years to come.

Meredith, Smith 3
Although Chinas newfound desire for silver inspired exploration, innovation, and
competition within many countries, the worlds labor force was simply not enough to keep
up with the quickened pace of technological development. Forced labor, human suffering
the obvious solution to the issueseemed inevitable at the time, as a result of the silver
dilemma. Without the rapid demand for silver, perhaps technological innovationand
therefore forced laborwould have grown at a far slower pace. South American peoples
would have been far less suppressed and would not have received the incredibly low
wages they did, and slavery would not have escalated to where it wasin fact, it might
have been suppressed far earlier in history, if forced labor had not seemed necessary, and
been forced to develop in such a short time.