Silk Road

The Silk Road had made a big impact on Europe. Transportation technologies in Europe were very slow and it was often a treat to acquire natural resources. The Silk Road had started to transport many products, and then overtime it had developed extensive trading networks overland and overseas. Another significant change was it soon became possible for merchants, diplomats, and travelers to travel and trade along routes that stretched from many countries. The Silk Road also acted as a communication device.

In the Social 10 textbook it mentions when Europeans would eat oranges, that the orange would be a very special treat. Before the Silk Road natural resources were rare. There wasn't a way to transport food that wasn't native to their country. The desire to acquire the natural resources became into motivation for developing trading networks. This motivation spurred on international trade, which was known in the dictionary as the interchange of raw materials and manufactured goods among distant groups of people. Soon the trading routes developed and went overland and overseas.

The development of the trading route connected many people. The Silk Road was the longest trading network that historians know about and it wended up river valleys, over mountains, and across deserts. By the first century diplomats, merchants, and travelers would trade along routes. Trading posts made possible exchanges, distribution, and storage of goods that were transported with pack animals and riverboats from the traders.

The distribution of so many goods and products made the Silk Road a communication highway. So many people met others of diverse cultures when they would trade over long distances. They didn't only trade but, they would exchange, give gifts, and make the payment of tribute. Knowledge, inventions, and religious beliefs were conducted from place to place. Many cities along the Silk Road route were cultural and artistic centers; people of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds would meet and intermingle along the route.

I think the Silk Road was a good development. The Europeans had a strong advantage from the routes and webbing of it. I also think it's amazing how a route stretched from the west Roman Empire to China in the east. The people must have experienced many new things and enjoyed the intermingling of new people.