The Histrory of Trade

 

About 2500 years ago, the world as known to Europeans included Europe, North Africa, and today's Pakistan in the east till the Indus river. The Europeans had no idea of the world outside Europe. When the European kings heard about the treasures of the East from the traders, they sent sailors on expeditions to find out more about the unknown world. America was discovered, Africa was researched, and new trading routes were found to bring back the spices of South-East Asia. As technology advanced, the trading goods were transported across different parts of the world not just by ships, but also by trains or aircrafts. -  Welcome here!

How did one travel earlier?

In the Stone Ages man shifted from one place to another only when the food at the first location became scarce. Families carried their possessions with them with the help of dogs or her animals. In regions with abundant water simple boats were made for transportation. After the invention of the wheel, new possibilities of transportation came up. Invention of carriages, wagons and later cars made travelling easier and faster. The only requirement was a network of roads.

How did the North American Indians carry their possessions?

The original inhabitants of America frequently lived in the prairies. Since there were no roads on the prairie, vehicles with wheels could not be used easily. In addition, the wheel came to the American continent only with the vehicles of the European settlers. The native Indians used a travois for transportation: a triangle made of two long rods tied at one end and with a crossbar at the other end. Over this a piece of leather or fabric was stretched to carry load. For centuries Indian women or dogs pulled these vehicles. Later, the horses introduced by the Europeans took over this job.

When was the wheel invented?

It is not known exactly when the wheel was  invented. The Sumerians used wheels about 5000 years ago in Mesopotamia. The first used it as a potter's wheel, and a few centuries later as a wheel on carts. In their excavations in Northern and Western Europe, archaeologist have found remains of discs from the Stone Age. The wheels of the Sumerians were wooden discs, which were fixed on an axis with spikes. The first wheels with spokes also originated in Mesopotamia. Around 2000 BC the Sumerians built these lighter wheels for their war chariots, as did the Egyptians around 1600 BC.

What did boats look like in the beginning?

The first boats were simple logs, which people carried over rivers and seas. These log boats were made from a hollowed-out tree trunk for a safer journey. A long rod was used initially, and later a paddle was used, for controlling the boat. In regions without trees boats were made from other materials. The Indians made their boats from birch bark and the Eskimos made them from animal hides and leather. In southern Pacific, the coastal inhabitants used outrigger canoes about 5000 years ago. They had laterally placed floats, which made the boats more stable and faster.

who built the first network of roads?

The first network of roads was built by the Romans who were experts in road building. More than 2000 years ago they planned and built a network of roads, which covered the entire Roman empire and made very corner of it accessible. Messengers, traders, and government officials-mainly soldiers-travelled on these roads between the capital city of Rome and the provinces. At the end of 4 BC, the Roman roads were fortified so that the heavy war chariots of the generals could also travel on them. But gradually deep furrows started appearing on the pavement, and the chariots used to move as if on rails.

Did you know that...

There were rest houses all along the roads built by the Romans? The travellers could eat their, stay the night, and feed or change their horses.

The Indians immigrated from Asia to America around 15,000 years ago, during the Ice Age? There was probably a land connection at that time between Siberia and Alaska, which they could use.

How was trade done earlier?

The Stone Age man was not aware of any trading. They hunted for their own requirements, later they started cultivating fields. When the wild animals became scarce in a particular area or the crop was bad, tribes moved forwards. Eventually, people came across the other groups that cultivated and produced different things-an exchange of goods started. For the exchange of goods, the value of the goods had to be determined. This could not be done without numbers, measures, and weights. Scales and calculating devices such as the Abacus were invented, the trading activity expanded and a real triangular trade arose.

Who invented the numbers?

The  first written number system is about 5000 years old and comes from the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. But man wanted to specify quantities even much earlier: of the animals killed or of mushrooms. In the beginning, man counted using the finger joints on each hand. Even today. young children are taught to count on their fingers. It is known about the Stone Age man that he used tallies by cutting notches in wood, bones, and stones. Similar tally sticks were even used in England till the 19th century.

This form of abacus is used even today by many Chinese retailers. Each of the five wooden beads on the left bottom count in units, the ones above them tens, and the one above them hundreds. The beads on the right bottom each count five units, above them 50, above them 500. Very big numbers can be shown by moving the beads.

How does an abacus work?

Abacus is the most ancient tool used for the purpose of calculations. It consists of a frame with rods or wires, on which spheres are beaded. The value of the spheres depends on the rod, on which they are beaded: units, tens, hundreds, and so on. By moving the balls one can do the four simple mathematical operations as well as more difficult calculations. The result can then be read from the position of the balls. Abacus is used even today in some countries of retailers, such as China and Russia.

What is triangular trade?

Triangular trade means trading through a third party. There is no direct exchange between two trading partners. Instead, dealers buy the goods from an overseas market and sell them in the home market to the consumer. They are, therefore, an intermediary between the manufacturer and the consumer and make a living from the profit made by selling the goods. The term triangular trade is often associated with the trading of slaves in the 18th century: Europeans travelled to Africa with goods like weapons, cloth, salt,bought slaves in return, and sold them in America in exchange for cane sugar products such as rum.

Who invented the scale?

In 5000 BC, the Egyptians were the first people to build the beam balance and weigh goods. Pans hung from both ends of a balance beam. In one pan the load to be weighed was placed, and in the second pan the weights were put, until both the pans were perfectly balanced. The earliest and the smallest unit of weight was a grain of wheat and it was used to weigh gold. The steelyard has been used as a weighing device since 2000 BC. It has two arms of different lengths and uses a counterweight that slides along the calibrated longer arm to counterbalance the load on the other arm and indicate its weight.

How were distances measured?

In ancient times, the Egyptians and the Babylonians used their body parts as measurement tools. A very old unit of measurement is the cubit: It is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Smaller lengths were specified by the length of a finger or the span of the palm-this is the stretched hand from the tip of the thumb to that of the little finger. The foot was also used to measure distances-just as the step and the double step. The Romans also used these measures. A Roman mile had a thousand double steps, and each double step measured five Roman feet.

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