Effects of the Commercial Revolution

In the third and the second millennia B.C. long-distance trade supposedly had the character of an expedition. By the start of the last millennium B.C., however, a new approach to engaging in such trade emerged. Based on the principle of colonization, it was pioneered by the Phoenicians and Greeks, who established colonies along the Mediterranean Sea. The new approach to long-distance trade, known as the commercial revolution, led to changes in a number of political and economic patterns.

 

For the first time, the planting of colonies in distant lands became possible. The Phoenician settlements in the central and western Mediterranean, such as Carthage, and the slightly later establishment of Greek colonies are early examples, while the settlement of south Arabians in Eritrea around the middle of the last millennium marks the subsequent spread of this sort of commercial consequence to the Horn of Africa. In the third or second millennia B. C., a state such as Egypt might colonize areas outside its heartland, such as Nubia. But this colonization comprised military outposts and ethnic settlements that were planted to hold the contiguous territories of a land empire, not distant localities far separated from the home country.

 

The commercial revolution constructed the economic basis as well for a new kind of town or city, an urban center that above all serviced trade and was home to the crafts and occupational specializations that went along with commercial development. The urban locations of earlier times commonly drew trade simply because their populations had included a privileged elite of potential consumers. Such towns had arisen in the first place as political and religious centers of the society, they attracted population because power and influence reside there and access to position and wealth could be gained through service to the royal or priestly leadership.

 

Wherever the effects of the commercial revolution penetrated over the last millennium B. C., kings and emperors increasingly lost their ability to treat trade as a royalty sponsored activity, who intended to preserve the commodities of trade as the privileges of immemorial power and position. Instead, their policies shifted toward controlling geographical accessibility to the products of commerce and to ensuring security and other conditions that attracted and enhanced the movement of goods. No longer could kings rely on agriculturally supported and religiously based claims to an ability to protect their lands and people; now they also had to overtly support the material prosperity of their people compared to other societies. And rather than exerting a monopoly over prestige commodities, as had Egyptian kings of the third and second millennia, and redistributing such commodities in ways designed to reinforce the allegiance of their subjects and enhance the awesomeness of their position, rulers turned to the taxation of trade and to the creation and control of currency, more and more relying on duties and other revenues to support the apparatus of the state. It was no historical accident that the first metal coinage in the world began to be made in eighth-century Anatolia (modern Turkey) and that the use of coins rapidly spread with the expanding commercial revolution. The material bases and the legitimizations of state authority as we know them today had begun to take shape.

 

The commercial revolution tended also to spread a particular pattern of exchange. The early commercial centers of the Mediterranean most characteristically offered manufactured goods—purple dye, metal goods, wine, olive oil, and so forth— for the raw materials or the partially processed natural products of other regions. As the commercial revolution spread, this kind of exchange tended to spread with it, with the recently added areas of commerce providing new kinds of raw materials or new sources for familiar products of the natural world, and the longer established commercial centers—which might themselves have lain at the margins of this transformation—producing, or acting as the intermediaries in the transmission of manufactured commodities. India, for instance, had developed by the turn of the era into a major exporter of its own cotton textiles, as well as naturally occurring materials, such as gems of various kinds, and at the same time its merchants were the intermediaries of the silk trade.

 

【Paragraph 1】In the third and the second millennia B.C. long-distance trade supposedly had the character of an expedition. By the start of the last millennium B.C., however, a new approach to engaging in such trade emerged. Based on the principle of colonization, it was pioneered by the Phoenicians and Greeks, who established colonies along the Mediterranean Sea. The new approach to long-distance trade, known as the commercial revolution, led to changes in a number of political and economic patterns.

 

1. The word “pioneered” in the passage is closet in meaning to

A. adopted

B. described

C. demonstrated

D. introduced

 

【Paragraph 2】For the first time, the planting of colonies in distant lands became possible. The Phoenician settlements in the central and western Mediterranean, such as Carthage, and the slightly later establishment of Greek colonies are early examples, while the settlement of south Arabians in Eritrea around the middle of the last millennium marks the subsequent spread of this sort of commercial consequence to the Horn of Africa. In the third or second millennia B. C., a state such as Egypt might colonize areas outside its heartland, such as Nubia. But this colonization comprised military outposts and ethnic settlements that were planted to hold the contiguous territories of a land empire, not distant localities far separated from the home country.

 

2. All of the following groups are mentioned in paragraph 2 as establishing distant trading outposts in the last millennium B. C. EXCEPT

A. the Greeks

B. the Egyptians

C. the Phoenicians

D. the south Arabians

 

3. In paragraph 2, why does the author mention the colonization of Nubia by the Egyptians?

A. To prove that colonization was first carried out by the military

B. To indicate that Egypt was a major military power in the third and second millennia B. C.

C. To illustrate how large the geographic area of colonization had become over several millennia

D. To show that the purpose of colonization during the third and second millennia B.C. differed from that of the last millennium B. C.

 

【Paragraph 3】The commercial revolution constructed the economic basis as well for a new kind of town or city, an urban center that above all serviced trade and was home to the crafts and occupational specializations that went along with commercial development. The urban locations of earlier times commonly drew trade simply because their populations had included a privileged elite of potential consumers. Such towns had arisen in the first place as political and religious centers of the society, they attracted population because power and influence reside there and access to position and wealth could be gained through service to the royal or priestly leadership.

 

 

4. According to paragraph 3, before the emergence of the commercial revolution, trade

A. enabled craftspeople and occupational specialists to gain power and influence in society 

B. centered on the ruling elite and those groups closely associated with them

C. was primarily conducted by people serving the royal and religious leadership

D. was a major reason why urban centers were established

 

【Paragraph 4】Wherever the effects of the commercial revolution penetrated over the last millennium B. C., kings and emperors increasingly lost their ability to treat trade as a royalty sponsored activity, who intended to preserve the commodities of trade as the privileges of immemorial power and position. Instead, their policies shifted toward controlling geographical accessibility to the products of commerce and to ensuring security and other conditions that attracted and enhanced the movement of goods. No longer could kings rely on agriculturally supported and religiously based claims to an ability to protect their lands and people; now they also had to overtly support the material prosperity of their people compared to other societies. And rather than exerting a monopoly over prestige commodities, as had Egyptian kings of the third and second millennia, and redistributing such commodities in ways designed to reinforce the allegiance of their subjects and enhance the awesomeness of their position, rulers turned to the taxation of trade and to the creation and control of currency, more and more relying on duties and other revenues to support the apparatus of the state. It was no historical accident that the first metal coinage in the world began to be made in eighth-century Anatolia (modern Turkey) and that the use of coins rapidly spread with the expanding commercial revolution. The material bases and the legitimizations of state authority as we know them today had begun to take shape.

 

5. According to paragraph 4, as the commercial revolution expanded, rulers focused on

A. taxation and the development and control of money

B. monopolizing prestige commodities

C. distributing prestige commodities to ensure the allegiance of their subjects

D. protecting their land to legitimize their authority

 

6. What can be inferred from paragraph 4 about Anatolia?

A. Its merchants specialized in the trading of prestige commodities.

B. It was the first place to use currency for the taxation of trade.

C. It contained enormous supplies of metal compared with other states in the region.

D. Trade remained a royally sponsored activity there long after the emergence of the commercial revolution.

 

【Paragraph 5】The commercial revolution tended also to spread a particular pattern of exchange. The early commercial centers of the Mediterranean most characteristically offered manufactured goods—purple dye, metal goods, wine, olive oil, and so forth—for the raw materials or the partially processed natural products of other regions. As the commercial revolution spread, this kind of exchange tended to spread with it, with the recently added areas of commerce providing new kinds of raw materials or new sources for familiar products of the natural world, and the longer established commercial centers—which might themselves have lain at the margins of this transformation—producing, or acting as the intermediaries in the transmission of  manufactured commodities. India, for instance, had developed by the turn of the era into a major exporter of its own cotton textiles, as well as naturally occurring materials, such as gems of various kinds, and at the same time its merchants were the intermediaries of the silk trade.

 

 

7. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. During the commercial revolution, newer centers of trade acted as intermediaries in the exchange of different types of manufactured goods.

B. Longer-established trading centers were familiar with the unprocessed products of the natural world, but depended on other areas as sources for manufactured commodities.

C. Eventually, the commercial revolution led to a trading system whereby newly established commercial centers provided the resources needed for the production of goods while older trading centers produced the goods or assisted in their distribution.

D. The commercial revolution depended on a system of trade where consumers valued novelty in the manufactured goods they acquired, but, at the same time, they wanted to be familiar with the natural products they received.

 

 

8. Paragraph 5 supports which of the following statements about Indian merchants at the time of the commercial revolution?

A. They imported cotton, silk, and other high-quality fabrics intended for the Indian market.

B. They obtained various kinds of gems from intermediaries in the silk trade.

C. They were simultaneously exporters of manufactured and natural products and intermediaries for goods produced

elsewhere.

D. They created a highly sophisticated textile industry at the same time that they were engaged in the processing of natural products.

 

【Paragraph 3】■The commercial revolution constructed the economic basis as well for a new kind of town or city, an urban center that above all serviced trade and was home to the crafts and occupational specializations that went along with commercial development. ■The urban locations of earlier times commonly drew trade simply because their populations had included a privileged elite of potential consumers. ■Such towns had arisen in the first place as political and religious centers of the society, they attracted population because power and influence reside there and access to position and wealth could be gained through service to the royal or priestly leadership. ■

 

9. Look at the four squares【■】that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage.

It was significantly different from the typical centers that existed before the commercial revolution.

Where would the sentence best fit?

 

10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some answer choices do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

 

The commercial revolution of the last millennium B. C. resulted in both political and economic changes.

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Answer Choices

A. New kinds of urban centers emerged that focused on commerce and encouraged craft and occupational specializations.

B. Rulers in the last millennium B. C. began to promote the material prosperity of their people through support and improvement of commerce.

C. More established commercial centers supplied final products to newer regions in exchange for raw materials.

D. During the first millennium B. C., new political and religious centers arose that based their power on their ability to protect their lands and people.

E. The focus on raw materials switched the balance of power from the manufacturing centers to the control of the exporters of the natural products.

F. Military occupation of neighboring lands became a major means of expanding trade into new territories.

 

 

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