Ch 14: Asian commerce

What drove European involvement in the world of Asian commerce?
  
One of the main reasons was the desire and popularity of tropical spices.  These spices were sought after not just to use as condiments and preservatives but were also known to be aphrodisiacs.  The other products of the Chinese innovative technology such as paper, the compass, gunpowder, and silk were becoming world renown.  There were also treasure seekers looking for emeralds, rubies, and sapphires which were in high demand in exchange for other popular goods like fur, silver, and gold.  It seems as if Asia had so much "exotic" things that many people needed to have or wanted to own these commodities.  But it also gave Europeans to expand territory, exploration of new or unknown lands, trade, and even conquer or control people especially to put their beliefs into the natives of the lands they visited.

  A topic that resonated with me was when Spain established themselves in the Philippine Islands, which was named after the Spanish king Philip II.  It's very intriguing to consider that it was known as Filipinas before Spaniards came about the Filipino natives, but I wonder if that's what it really was or just a translation due to Spain's influence.  All Spain wanted was to catch up to Portugal to gain access to the riches for profit and obtain the precious spices that was in demand.  The Spaniards saw no king or military force that would stop them, so they simply took over the chiefdoms of the culturally diverse people of the islands.  The islands became outposts for trade and Christian missionaries to colonize the people of the Philippines.  So many others from China, Japan, and Spain came to the Philippines which is why many of the ancestors, heritage, or lineage has connected to those sources creating mixed backgrounds that have made Filipino blood a combination of different people.  Spain continued to take over only until the U.S. took over during the Spanish American War of 1898, which is also known as Philippine Independence Day.



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