Ashford University History Trade Discussion

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Answer the 2 question below and reply to each student.


Question 1:

rior to completing your post, please review the following sources: The Anatomy of a Discussion Board (Links to an external site.) and the Critical Thinking: A Guide to Skillful Reasoning (Links to an external site.). Finally, remember that the HIS103 Research Guide: Library Resources and Primary Sources and may assist you in finding additional sources.

You are a trader on the Silk Road. You can be Chinese, Mongolian, Arabian, Byzantine, or Venetian. Your job is to gain access to spices, incense, glassware, and other commodities the elite demand. Remember that trade in this age has followed the old contours of gift exchange (i.e., items intended for elite consumption and redistribution in order to solidify political alliances). What if you made these goods available to a broader audience? What if you took the profit made transporting these goods and used it to leverage business growth against native and foreign competitors? For you to succeed in this scheme, you must eliminate of some of the middle men. Then, you must secure alternative safe passages to the main caravan hubs in central Asia. Will you need naval power to accomplish this bold and audacious plan? Consider your options wisely.

Present an update on the status of your plan to usurp the silk trade from a powerful and cutthroat competitor. Use words with precision and skill as you present your step-by-step plan to gain control over the silk trade. Present an overview that makes an explicit argument. This will serve as your thesis statement. Then, in a systematic and logical fashion, lay out your bold and cunning strategy in your initial post of at least 300 words. Consult the HIS103 Conquest, Consolidation, Crisis and Creativity in the Medieval Era Tour  (Links to an external site.)for additional sources.

Think about these issues as you draw up your proposal:

  • An adventure of this scale is costly. How do you propose to raise the money without incurring the wrath of your already heavily taxed subjects?
  • Do you plan to use military forces for this operation?
    • If so, are you asking for specialized elite forces to play the role of merchants in disguise?
  • How do you propose to usurp trade from a rival empire that marks up the price of luxury goods that arrive in your empire? They are the cause of your negative balance of trade, and the time has come to bypass the middleman. Unfortunately, diplomacy has failed to reach a negotiated settlement because the stakes are too high for each side to make concessions.
  • Do you seek out religious minorities within your rival’s domain and empower them in an effort to politically or economically undermine your adversary? Is there a potential for backlash?
  • Do you seek to take advantage of social or economic divisions within your rival’s domain in an effort to politically or economically undermine your adversary? How certain are you that encouraging dissent will weaken, rather than strengthen, your rival’s hand?
  • Do you dispatch envoys to China in an effort to monopolize the export of goods such as silks, spices, and exotic herbs? Who will you send?

Your initial post should be a minimum of 300 words

Student Reply 1: Joshua

For my discussion post this week, I choose to be a trader from the Mongol empire. To maximize my profits for my business, I will try my hardest to sell most of my within the confines of the Mongol capital, Karakorum. The reasoning is due to the rumor that Great Khan Ogedei will pay twice the asking price of other countries for certain exotic goods he likes (Gregory-Abbott, 2018, 7.2). The city is also set up in a way that brings me great comfort and luxury, which is nice after a long trip of going to receive more goods.

I do not plan on hiring my military force to help me; that would be an extra expense that would take away from my end goal. However, I heard the Khan often sends spies disguised as merchants into countries to gather tactical information of their infrastructure, so I may be able to do this for money (Gregory-Abbott, 2018, 7.2). To effectively remove the middleman, I would ask around and follow them to find out who supplies them with their items. After this, I would create a better deal for myself since I already have relationships set up within my nation, which would make it easier to sell.

My way would weaken them due to the fact they wouldn’t have enough income to do anything about the situation. I would definitely dispatch people to monopolize good coming in from China. By doing that, and selling to the Mongol government for double, the price would massively increase my profit margins. To set this upright, I would try and set up contracts with other merchants or movers that would go to china and assist me in receiving these wares. I would pay them a good consistent wage that would benefit them and myself.

References:

Gregory-Abbott, C., & Mahdavi, F. (2018). World history: The human experience to 1600 (2nd ed.). https://content.ashford.edu

Student Reply 2: Quinton Bailey

I hail from China in the midst of the Song Dynasty. My official position as County Chief allows me to possess the necessary funds to finance the trading operation without increasing the taxes of the local villages I govern. Furthermore, my plan promotes the opportunity to increase the economy within the area from creating employment opportunities.

Before commencing on the potentially profitable trading operation, my first order of business is to invest in horses. First, I will hire the local villagers to construct a facility for the purpose of breeding horses, then hire some to permanently run the grounds, raise, and breed horses. After that, I will acquire six stallions and four mares for breeding and trading the offspring. After two of the yearlings reach a certain age, I will sell them to invest in a mass quantity of silkworms and employees to harvest the silk for trading. Thereafter, within a year, I should obtain a vast amount of resources to obtain additional items through trading horses and silk with local public officials, including jade, tea, pottery, and paper (Cinar et al., 2015).

Initial trading endeavors must occur on land through horse-drawn caravans with one skilled merchant in charge of the operation, guarded by a team of soldiers. The caravans will travel through China and trade with local public officials, as well as migrate towards the Middle East for expansion. Cargo must consist of a plethora of silk spools of various colors and volumes, multiple horses, multiple jade artworks, decorated pottery, tea, and paper (Cinar et al., 2015). Since my investments allow me to spend less money to procure merchandise, I can trade my property for lower values than what my competitors charge; therefore, citizens become more inclined to conduct business with me than other traders. While some may trade one horse for one-hundred bottles of spices, I ask for eighty bottles, so they desire to do future business with me. Moreover, if my customers intend to buy in bulk, I provide a further discount or strike a mutually beneficial deal for future trading.

Once my caravans obtain success through trading on land, I branch out by commissioning large ships with a capable crew and armed soldiers to conduct trade with India, Persia, and Egypt. Along with my fleet of trading vessels, multiple smaller ships designed for combat will escort my merchandise to each destination and back to homeport (Gregory-Abbott & Mahdavi, 2018). Therefore, if pirates attempt to abscond with my property, they will meet a swift end. Through various accomplishments, my trading empire will grow into a lucrative and sustainable business to acquire vast amounts of spices, incense, glassware, silver and gold, artwork, camels, sheep, fur, furniture, lumber, dyes, salt, medicine, as well as a plethora of other materials (Cinar et., 2015).

While trading with other regions, I instruct my merchants, and other employees, to refrain from disrupting the local religious, political, or economic status because my competitors do not need an excuse to align with the local government for possible retaliation. The soldiers guarding my caravans and ships remain employed to protect my merchandise and merchants from harm, not incite civil unrest. Through the course of trading, I will adjust prices according to the current market value on goods and services, while considering the price point set by my competitors to maintain lower costs and procure repeat business.

References

Cinar, E. M., Geusz, K., & Johnson, J. (2015). Historical perspectives on trade and risk on the Silk Road, Middle East and China. Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies, 17(2), 156–191. https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/http://w...

Gregory-Abbott, C., & Mahdavi, F. (2018). World history: The human experience to 1600 (2nd ed.). https://content.ashford.edu

Question 2:

During this week, you are all working on your Final Project. You are building on the research you have begun and organizing your ideas to present them in the format you have selected. In this Skill Activity, you will explore the resources available through the Ashford Writing Center and the Ashford University Library to help you refine your work while you learn about the many ways you can be supported in your path to developing strong writing and presentation skills.

These resources have been selected for you to explore because they best align with your objectives for this assignment. Keep in mind that the Ashford Writing Center and Ashford University Library have many additional resources available to you, which you are also encouraged to explore.

To prepare for your post, follow these steps:

  • Select a section of your Final Project that you have composed in a draft form. It does not have to be finalized or edited.
  • After examining the resources above, select at least two resources that you will use to help you improve your Final Project.
  • Use the resources you have selected to edit the section of your Final Project you have drafted. Work on your draft using the insight gained from the resources at the Ashford Writing Center or the Ashford University Library.

In an initial post of at least 300 words, explain what elements of your draft you thought needed improvement prior to using the Ashford Writing Center or Ashford University Library supports. As part of your post, address these issues:

  • Identify which resources you chose to examine and explain why you decided to use them.
  • Explain how you used the resources you chose to improve your work.
  • Identify what elements of your work are now stronger after using these resources.
  • Would you use these resources again in future work? Why or why not? What would you tell someone else about your experience?

Guided Response: Review several of your peers’ posts, and respond in posts of at least 150 words to two colleagues who have examined at least one different resource than the ones you chose for your initial post. Based on your colleague’s experiences, would you try the resource they used? Why or why not? Based on your colleague’s experiences, can you recommend a resource that you think will assist them? 

Student Reply 3: Tyler

Social & Economic Structures

Both the ancient Mesopotamian and Roman empire used slave labor for many different reasons, such as slave labor and many sexual reasons as well. “Male or female slaves might be used by their owners (male or female) for sexual purposes.” (Candace Gregory-Abbot, 2018). “Enslavement of captives was widely practiced in antiquity. People were routinely bought and sold. Household slavery was common. Slaveholding, in practice nearly everywhere, including the sexual use of enslaved women and sometimes men.” (Ali, k, 2010, p.11). The Ancient Mesopotamian and Roman Empire differed in how they viewed women when it came to slavery. 

The ancient Mesopotamians viewed wives and slaves as the same. “The jurists showed no hesitation in marking analogies between wives and slaves or between marriage and commercial transactions.” (Ali, k, 2010, p.11). The Romans held women in much higher regard if they weren’t a slave.

Religious & Ethical Beliefs

The ancient Mesopotamian and the Roman empire are similar in the fact that they were both polytheistic societies. “Among the most important of the many Mesopotamian gods were Anu (Links to an external site.), the god of heaven; Enki, the god of water; and Enlil, the “Lord of the Air,” or the wind god.” (Mesopotamian religions. (2017). They differ in that a large portion of the Mesopotamian society broke off and started to practice monotheism, or the worship of a single god. “it was by faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8), (Swindoll, C. R. (2014).

Identify which resources you chose to examine and explain why you decided to use them.

Beyond Religious Borders : Interaction and Intellectual Exchange in the Medieval Islamic World, edited by David M. Freidenreich, and Miriam Goldstein, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy-library.as... (Links to an external site.).

Stearns, Peter N.. Cultures in Motion : Mapping Key Contacts and Their Imprints in World History, Yale University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/lib/ashford-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3419948.

I have chosen these resources because I believe they will give me more insight and knowledge into the religion and cultures of the societies I have chosen.

Explain how you used the resources you chose to improve your work.

I used these resources to gain more information about my chosen topics so I can present a better final project.

Identify what elements of your work are now stronger after using these resources.

I believe my categories examined will be much stronger.

Would you use these resources again in future work? Why or why not? What would you tell someone else about your experience?

Yes, these resources have already been a great help to me. I would recommend them in the future.

Student Reply 4:Bethany 

Most of the sources provided this week are ones that I am familiar with. I usually submit my papers to the writing center once I have gone through and used Grammarly on my final revisions. Grammarly gets used on all my assignments. When I have my work in the browser, it is a lot simpler to use it to check my work. When I’m using Word, I just transfer it over, revise, and then copy it back to Word. I have used this on the completed portion of my final project and corrected grammatical errors as well as changed some words around. I will do this again when I am finished with the project and after I have read over everything. I usually make changes at the end, so that’s why I always use Grammarly as a last step and then give it a quick read through once more.                                    

I had issues finding good sources in the library for last week's assignment. I spent hours just trying to find secondary scholarly sources. I ended up finding most of my required resources, but I could not find an appropriate primary source, so I still have plenty of source hunting for the final project. I have used the Ashford librarian chat in the past, and they had the perfect keywords to use for my search, and I will be taking advantage of that again for this project. I should have used it, to begin with, but I am stubborn. I reviewed the Ashford Library Tutorials, and I believe this will help me with finding sources a bit easier, for when I don't have a librarian's assistance. Somehow, I had never seen this specific guide of the library. It has a lot of useful information! I think the main issue I have run into with these projects and past ones is I don't use sufficient keywords. Like the “Research Essentials” video points out, this is where people usually get stuck on their research projects. That is very true for me. The words I come up with seem like that would provide decent results, but they usually bring up irrelevant sources to sort through. For example, when searching “Han” and “China,” it brings up sources relating to modern-day Han descended culture.

Explanation & Answer:
2 Questions 4 Peer Responses
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Explanation & Answer

Hi, here is the answer.

Running head: ESSAY IMPROVEMENT

1

Essay Improvement Discussion
Name
Institution

ESSAY IMPROVEMENT

2

Essay Improvement Discussion
Academic writing is an issue that requires keep observation on different skills to make
the work presentable and engaging to the readers. Initially, the writing process was a very
challenging thing as I joined the university. However, on realizing the resources provided by
Ashford writing center. In my final project, I choose to examine the Grammarly, style guide, and
thesis generator. The three resources are critical in defining the quality of a project before
forwarding it to the instructor for assessment. Grammarly is a crucial component in writing,
which helps to eliminate all the grammar mistakes such as spelling, punctuations, and to improve
the clarity of a project. I have been using Grammarly, and my academic grade has been enhanced
because I always have minimal mistakes.
The style guide is also another essential resource that helps in improving the accuracy of
the writing. In writing a project, there are various styles that the instructor will always require a
student to comply to. The style guide helps a student to understand all the styles through
illustrations, which makes it easy to comply. A style guide helps to understand citation and
referencing. The style guide is the reason for my strong writing skills. The third valuable
resource is the thesis generators. The quality of the thesis defines how the essay will be effective
in defining to the readers the purpose of a project. A thesis generator helps students to generate a
thesis statement that is objective and focused. The thesis generator has helped to do the work for
writing an int...


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