In the 16th century, the Spanish Empire produced unprecedented amounts of silver. Much of this silver passed through a vast trade network and eventually arrived in Ming China, the greatest producer of consumer goods in the world. Develop an argument that compares the extent to which increased global connections affected the Spanish and Ming empires in the 16th century.

In your response, you should do the following:

Respond to the prompt with a historically defensible thesis or claim that establishes a line of reasoning
Describe a broader historical context relevant to the prompt
Use specific and relevant evidence to support an argument in response to the prompt
Use historical reasoning (e. g., comparison, causation, or continuity and change) to frame or structure an argument that addresses the prompt
Use evidence to corroborate, qualify, or modify an argument that addresses the prompt

The global flow of silver from the mid sixteenth century to the early eighteenthcentury generally had very negative social and economic effects. Despite early benefits,the increased trade eventually weakened the Ming Empire and the Spanish states throughdependency. Based on the documents, although the middleman benefited through thefacilitation of trade, the effects of silver production ultimately damaged the society andeconomy of the states/empires that supplied or demanded silver in vast quantities.In China, many people first believed the increase of trade and thus the increase ofsilver was beneficial to the Ming Empire. Indeed a portion of the flow was necessary,especially when the emperor declared that all taxes and trade fees be paid in silver. Dueto the scarcity of silver in China during the late 1500’s, many people were forced to turnto middlemen. This caused the value of products, particularly grain, to fall, whichaffected all areas of China’s economy and the people of China as well (Document 3).Wang Xijue’s report to the emperor demonstrates the need for silver. Being a courtofficial, this issue was likely a concern for him because it could cause public unrest,which could ultimately lead to a rebellion against the Ming government. However, beinga court official presents an interesting bias because he could have been exaggerating hisclaim in order to ensure he kept his government position. As stated in document 2, “the nationalgovernment requires silver for taxes but disburses little silver in its expenditures. As the price ofgrain falls, tillers of the soil receive lower returns on their labors, and thus less land is put intocultivation.” The Ming government was hoarding all the silver they received and as a resultChinese farmers barely received any silver for their crops.

Explanation:

I hope this helps a little bit

light-year  

the distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year, equal to about 9.46 trillion km (5.88 trillion mi). light-years are used in measuring interstellar and intergalactic distances.  

parsec  

a unit of distance used in astronomy, equal to about 3.25 light years (3.08 × 1016 meters).  

parallax  

the apparent angular displacement of a celestial body due to its being observed from the surface instead of from the center of the earth (diurnal parallax or geocentric parallax) or due to its being observed from the earth instead of from the sun (annual parallax or heliocentric parallax)  

absolute magnitude  

the magnitude (brightness) of a celestial object as it would be seen at a standard distance of 10 parsecs.  

apparent magnitude  

the magnitude of a celestial object as it is actually measured from the earth.  

redshift  

an increase in the wavelength of radiation emitted by a celestial body as a consequence of the doppler effect.  

the great thing about your imagination is that it doesn't have to make sense! if i were you i would be stuck in space, no communication with earth travelling around and around, you can only guess how long its been since your communication broke down. you land on an undiscovered planet, you do a scientific investigation examining the elements and conditions. you come across alien lifeforms.  

best of luck!