Gallery Walk Padlet Reflection by Audrey Ke Zhao

Claire

2025-06-25 22:56:47 UTC

I didn't realize that textiles were obtained by the British EIC. It makes sense given that British market exchange at the beginning of the EIC's reign was most likely highly elite/cultural.

Sunny Jam

sunjam — 2025-06-25 22:58:01 UTC

I think it is interesting that as Portugal established bases along the spice trade route in attempts to create a monopoly on the spice trade. This is reflected in what was discussed about the differences in the places they colonized when compared to Spain - they did not care about inland areas and only focused on what would be advantageous to them in trade.

Claire

2025-06-25 22:58:12 UTC

It's really interesting how Spain's silver mining in South America led to the end of a famine period in Europe.

Raul

2025-06-25 22:58:18 UTC

I found the conquest of the Spanish Empire to be pretty fascinating. Thank you for providing fun and factual information. It resonated with me when you mentioned that the empire primarily imported luxury goods from the Philippines, including silk, porcelain, and ivory. In exchange, they exported silver from their American colonies. I did some research on the Portuguese Empire, it was nice to see that both research topics overlap.

Chas

chsmitch — 2025-06-25 22:58:20 UTC

I didn't realize how big the spice trade was across Europe and Asia. Almost all the stops the Dutch made were to trade for some kind of spice.

yzhao142 — 2025-06-25 22:59:21 UTC

I noticed that the Portuguese Empire and the Dutch VOC had very similar trade routes—both used Cape Town and India as key stopovers. It shows how strategic control of these locations shaped oceanic power.

Quinn

2025-06-25 22:59:54 UTC

I’m surprised that the Portuguese empire had a focus on cash crops in the Americas. I had expected a greater focus on ports, rather than plantations.

2025-06-25 23:00:34 UTC

I had no idea that there were Indian slaves working in Trinidad and Tobago. I also found it interesting how few were brought in: I would have expected there to be more.

Jonathan

jwstenge — 2025-06-25 23:01:31 UTC

I think it is really interesting that much of the EIC focused on the slave trade. I took a class on slave trade and examining these trade routes really emphasize how much the British profited from outsourced labor. Also it’s interesting to see how aggressive the British EIC was with trade in regards to forcing trade with nations like China via the Opium Wars.

Jonathan

jwstenge — 2025-06-25 23:06:19 UTC

Fascinating! I also think that it is important to note that the Spanish also justified much of their trade routes through religion as everywhere the Spanish went, Catholicism followed.

Finley

2025-06-25 23:06:30 UTC

It's interesting to compare the routes of the VOC and EIC, because while they had fairly similar posts, they traded very different things. Like in China, where the VOC seemed to primarily trade spices and luxury goods, while the EIC was more focused on opium.