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Essay Name       : 995.txt 
Uploader         : 
Email Address    : 
Language         : English
Subject          : History
Title            : The Commercial Revolution
Grade            : 92
School System    : parochial
Country          : USA
Author Comments  : FACTUAL
Teacher Comments : Good analogies
Date             : 11/13/96
Site found at    : homepage
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	The European Exploration established many colonies in Africa and the Americas. 
A new reservoir of revenue became readily avenue sparking the Commercial Revolution. 
Raw materials, gold, and other precious metals poured into Europe, eventually becoming
manufactured goods.  Slaves became a source of cheap labor and many Europeans spread
Europe's economic policies when they settled in the colonies.  Mercantilism, which stated
that a colony's purpose was to benefit the mother country, shaped Europe during
throughout the revolution.
	From 1492 to 1870 a new gold-salt and silk trade were established, creating an
international economy.  Most of the gold and salt came from Africa while Asia was the
major silk exporter.  New business rules were because of the influx of money.  Joint-stock
companies, as well as insurance companies, were created.  Joint-stock ventures were now
insured for damages that any of their ships suffered.  There was a new banking system,
becoming more prominent than the system set up by the Medicis during the early 1400s. 
Gold and silver coins were replaced by paper currency and bank credits were being
introduced.  The stockmarket was born, drawing its life force from joint-stock companies
and their speculations.  Monopolies arose when joint-stock companies incorporated with
each other.  Some of the European companies tried to stop the rise of monopolies. 
England passed the Bubble Act restricted the rights of joint-stock companies to
incorporate with each other.  Economic competition found a new intensity which it never
had before.  The economic bourgeoisie rose to power through entrepreneurial business. 
Social and political revolutions, as well as the Industrial Revolution, planted the roots of
modern capitalism.
	The Commercial Revolution continued into the 1900s with the spark of European
Imperialism.  The "Mad scramble for Africa" could best be related to bees in the spring. 
In the spring, flowers start blooming causing the bees to rapidly drink up their nectar.  In
the same way, the Age of Exploration and Commercial Revolution were the springboards
of the "Mad scramble".  European countries went into the exterior of the blossoming
continent and began tapping into its nectar: natural resources.  Third world countries came
into existence while European countries fought over trade agreements and resources. 
London became the financial capital of the world.
	Post War World II saw the last of colonial empires fall.  Conglomerates became
the new empires of modern society.  Nations had to play by conglomerate rules.  A
materialistic society became even more dependent on the economy.  Many third world
nations were suffering while Asian countries started to manufacture more goods, shifting
jobs away from many European nations.  Economic competition was heated.  In 1993 and
1994 the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement and General Agreement on Trade and
Tariff were passed to help ease these economic tensions.  They lowered tariffs and set up
quotas allowing for trade with less trouble.  The domestic system, created at the beginning
of the revolution, had finally became the dominant policy of Europe but the rest of the
world.
	The Commercial Revolution lasted from the 1400s to present times.  It gave rise to
mercantilism and eventually planted the seeds that would rid many countries of
communism.  The face of Europe was changed forever when the Commercial Revolution
provided the capital that was needed to start the Industrial Revolution.  Today, the
Commercial Revolution is still strong with the introduction of Silicone Valley, the era of
the information highway, and the world of computers. 
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