Bernstein\'s Book, a Splendid Exchange:how Trade Shaped

¶ … Bernstein's book, a Splendid Exchange:How trade shaped world" retitled switch exotic spices

Global Trade

For quite some time, the western world, spearheaded, of course, by Europe, has made a point to access both the far and the middle east in order to exchange commodities and goods in what was the beginning of global trade. This proclivity is well documented within the historical narrative of William Bernstein's book entitled A Splendid Narrative: How Trade Shaped the World. The valuables that Europeans have historically sought from the far and the middle east included exotic spices, sugar and tea, the likes of which were largely not available in the western hemisphere. As Bernstein explains in great detail within his manuscript, this desire of Europe's to access these goods of the middle east was eventually transformed from the luxuries afforded by extravagant spices to stable commodities that would eventual create the world economic trading system as it is known and understood in contemporary times.

Historians and contemporary thinkers alike must realize that the initial impetus for European imperialism and the colonialism that ensued was for these powers to initially find routes to the eastern powers that had the aforementioned commodities. The initial discoveries of the so-called new world were all traced to this longstanding desire of gaining additional routes to trade. In that sense, the trade in spices was a huge opening for Europe in both the 15th and 16th centuries, because it was this end of seeking spices that led to Europe's discovery of much of the territory that it would come to colonize within the Americas and the islands (such as Barbados) that were located within relatively close proximity to them. Christopher Columbus was seeking to find access to trade routes when he came upon the new world in 1492. Vasco da Gama was able to sail around the southern portion of Africa in order to land in India in 1498, seeking trade. The desire to gain the spices and other luxury items that were desired from parts of the Orient largely fueled the imperialistic pursuits that followed, and which eventually resulted in global trade.

The way that trade developed, of course, was also fairly longstanding in the sense that once these new lands were located and accessed by Europeans, they followed a pattern for fostering global trade that had taken place several times before in the history of the continent. Essentially, what happened was that Europe's aims for trade in the new world gradually yet inexorably shifted from the luxuries of spices and other exotic substances to those that could be used to generate pecuniary means. This tendency was certainly evinced within the history of the original European settlers in the United States (and in the islands next to it such as Barbados and other areas), who had to learn to abandon their desires for such luxuries in order to produce a means of both sustenance and survival. The focus shifted to tangible goods distinct from spices which included cotton, sugar, and coffee.