A Changing World

The discovery of America as well as the discovery of the passage to the East Indies are two historically significant events that have had a huge and relatively transformative impact on humankind and this is evident in the results or outcome of its two discoveries.

The discovery of America was of great significance due to the role it played in facilitating the growth of industries. Trade was the greatest beneficiary with countries such as Spain, England, Portugal and France trading with America. The surplus that were produced in these European countries found a ready market in the United States. The discovery of East Indies was monumental given that it facilitated the bringing together of two worlds that were far apart, an aspect that further contributed towards the growth of trade and industry.

Part 2

a) Major Aspects of Old and New World exchanges

There are key aspects that characterize exchanges in the old and new worlds and these have facilitated growth and advancement of the global economy. These aspects are;

i) Supplementation of goods; old and new world exchanges involve the transfer of goods and products from one part of the world where they are in surplus to a different part of the world where they are scarce or relatively few.

ii) Trade routes and platforms; while traditional exchanges followed key routes that were distinct, the exchanges in the New World uses strategic technological platforms.

iii) Demand and supply; Old and New World exchanges are influenced and determined by demand with the level or rate in demand being determined by the needs of societies across the globe.

b) Specific Groups affected by Old and New World exchanges

i) Merchants are one of the groups that benefited from the exchanges. Their benefit was mainly financial since they controlled trading activities, mainly buying and selling goods from one place to another.

ii) The consumers were positively affected by Old and New World exchanges and this mainly happened through the meeting of their needs through enhanced access to goods and services that they needed from different parts of the globe.

iii) Governments; administrations benefited in various countries and this was mainly from an economic perspective with economies in areas where Old and New World exchanges thriving immensely.

iv) Suppliers; the suppliers of products and goods that are traded in the Old and New World exchanges are key beneficiaries and the improvement in their quality of living and standards due to increased income is evidence of the benefits.

v) Middlemen; Big businesses and multinationals are major beneficiaries of New World Exchanges and this is because they act as the middlemen between the consumers and sellers, just like middlemen existed in old exchanges. The success of old and new world exchanges is influenced in a big way based on the level of effectiveness of the middlemen.

c) Impact of new global trade routes on occupations and lifestyles of the Average American working in the colonies

i) Lifestyle improvement; There was a positive improvement on the lifestyle for average Americans working in the colonies due to new trade routes since they were able to earn more from the products they worked on.

ii) New opportunities; There was change in occupation with new opportunities in accounting and management as well as in other areas where trading was done, another positive aspect of new global trade routes o average American that worked in the colonies.

iii) Workforce overexploitation; There was an increase in demand of output and performance in terms of working hours and output for Average American workers in colonies to ensure that needed products and goods are available for trade.

iv) Access to a greater diversity of goods; new global trade routes improved the lifestyles of average American workers through enhancing their access to products and goods from new parts of the world. These workers needed these goofs for the purpose of meeting their needs, an aspect that can also be translated as improved lifestyle for these American workers.

v) Enhancement in specialization among American workers; the new routes led to increased specialization among Average American workers. Specialization was critical because it helped enhance the perfection of individuals and suitability to serve in various occupations.

References

Bancroft, G., & Nye, R. (2005). The History of the United States of America from the Discovery of the Continent. U of Chicago P.

Bouët, A. (2008). The Expected Benefits of Trade Liberalization for World Income and Development: Opening the “black Box” of Global Trade Modeling. International Food Policy Research Institute.

Helpman, E. (2011). Understanding Global Trade. Belknap P of Harvard UP.