Posts Tagged ‘dutch east india company’
From the Archives: A Spy in the Spice Trade
One more post from the past dealing with the spice trade You know the beginning of this story. In the fifteenth century, Portugal under the leadership of Prince Henry the Navigator(opens in new tab) * began maritime exploration along the coast of Africa. More or less a hundred years later, a Portuguese fleet commanded by…
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Asia’s Inland Trade, or How the Spice Trade Worked
The way we learn the story in elementary school in the United States, European trading companies sailed East in search of spices and other luxury goods. What those merchants took with them to trade is generally left unmentioned–perhaps because it makes it clear that Europe was a backwater in the global marketplace until well into…
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“Closing” Japan
In 1853 , Commodore Matthew Perry and his squadron of four “black ships of evil mien” opened Japanese ports to trade with the United States, a literal example of “gunboat diplomacy”. * Most historically literate Americans are aware of Perry’s expedition in broad terms, even if they don’t know any of the details. Western accounts…
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