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"In its day, the spice trade was the world’s biggest industry. It established and destroyed empires and helped the Europeans (who were looking for alternate routes to the east) map the globe through their discovery of new continents. What was once tightly controlled by the Arabs for centuries was now available throughout Europe with the establishment of the Ocean Spice Trade route connecting Europe directly to South Asia (India) and South East Asia." 
Richard Aitchison's curator insight,
April 3, 2018 8:10 AM
A very insightful article and shows the uttermost importance of geography in many phases. First off, it shows the importance of having key resources within your country or region. Southeast Asia is know for its spices which made it especially key during the age of exploration. Also, which is key is how do we get there? What are the best trade routes? Over the years, first the Romans then the Ottoman Empire controlled key lands in which connected Europe and Southeast Asia. Since, the Christian Europeans did not want to work with the Muslims they found new trade routes and well eventually we end up discovering the New World (the Americas". This shows how everything like always connects. Southeast Asia, which for most of its time has been colonized up until almost the mid 1980s is finally starting to grow on its own. It will be interesting to see how they use there own resources to try to gain traction in the global markets throughout the next few decades and it we see any smaller world powers come out of the area. The spice trade dominated thousands of years of trade, but Southeast Asia has many other key resources as well and it will be key for politicians and businesses in the future to capitalize on this into the future.
Nicole Canova's curator insight,
May 2, 2018 3:06 AM
It is no exaggeration to say that the spice trade shaped the world as we know it today. Southeast Asia's location made it the only place in the world to obtain some of the most popular spices and other goods. Meanwhile Constantinople, being situated squarely between Europe and Asia, was the perfect middleman through which spices could get to markets in Europe -- where demand was high from Antiquity through the Middle Ages -- until the city fell to the Ottoman Empire and turned its back on Europe. This motivated Europeans to develop the sailing and navigational technology necessary to find sea routes to Asia, which led to the discovery of the Americas, and the rest is history. What followed were centuries of colonization, conflict, trade, and globalization on a scale the world had never seen before. All because people were crazy for spices that could only be found half-way around the world.
Corey Rogers's curator insight,
December 15, 2018 8:22 PM
The spice trade not only opened up all the amenities Southeast Asia had to offer but spread their culture throughout Western Europe. It also opened up new routes for Europeans to explore Eastern Asia and then sail around the world.
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Brought to Europe from the New World by Spanish explorers, the lowly potato gave rise to modern industrial agriculture
Kaitlin Young's curator insight,
December 13, 2014 12:57 PM
Potatoes are one of the most widespread foods in the world, due to its resiliency to harsh weather conditions and its ability to grow to large sizes. Potatoes can also be traced to show the beginning forces of globalization. Before modern communication and transportation technology, globalization occurred at a much slower rate. Globalization spread through trade routes in the forms of foods, resources, and therefore cultures and people. 
BrianCaldwell7's curator insight,
March 16, 2016 3:52 PM
The Colombian Exchange is a term that describes the most dramatic biologic transfer in history. European explorers brought animals and agricultural items from the Old World to the New and subsequently brought back items from the New World back to the Old. This exchange profoundly reshaped many societies as agricultural diffusion of the potato lead to the changes across northern Europe.
Tags: agriculture, food production, diffusion, historical, colonialism, Europe. |
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From
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People have been farming — and eating — a GMO for thousands of years without knowing it. Scientists have found genes from bacteria in sweet potatoes around the world. So who made the GMO?
Jamie Strickland's curator insight,
July 7, 2015 12:08 PM
Once again, the term GMO has been used without regard for process. We need to make sure our students have a clear understanding of what it means for a crop to be "genetically modified" now. Although I get some eyerolls, this is why I continue to include an origin of agriculture segment in every introductory class I teach.. 
Jose Soto's curator insight,
August 5, 2015 9:48 PM
Yes, the title is somewhat misleading (isn't that almost expected these days?), since humanity has been selectively breeding crops since the first agricultural revolution and genetic alteration can occur independent of human intervention. Humanity has always been using the best technologies available to improve agricultural practices. The term GMO though, is usually reserved for scientific, technological modifications that were unimaginable 100 years ago.
Tags: GMOs, technology, agriculture. |
