On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 8:38 AM, Srini RamaKrishnan <[email protected]> wrote: > On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 5:29 PM, Heather Madrone <[email protected]> > wrote: >> I have heard that it was the result of an influx of precious metals from >> the New World, which increased the money supply and allowed the European >> economy to boom.
The precious metals made their way into the coffers of the Spanish and Portuguese. What was it traded for with Italy, France, Germany, etc? > Spanish gold retrieved after killing the Indians, and Brazilian silver mines > mined using African slaves. Still the British didn't have much access to it, > so they resorted to Indigo and Opium plantations in India when taxation > didn't yield enough for the coffers after maintenance of the troops. *cough* "Discovery of the New World": 1492 Spanish Armada: 1588 Battle of Plassey: 1757 Opium monopoly granted to the East India Company: 1773 (Note ~190 years *after* the Armada) Indigo plantations stated in India: 1770s To link the introduction of Opium/Indigo plantations in India to Spanish/Portuguese precious metal mining in the New World is to miss important and big details like the lucrative tobacco, sugar and cotton plantations, the birth of the USA, the trade deficit with China. Thaths -- Marge: Quick, somebody perform CPR! Homer: Umm (singing) I see a bad moon rising. Marge: That's CCR! Homer: Looks like we're in for nasty weather. Sudhakar Chandra Slacker Without Borders
