Margaret C. Jacobs – Strangers Nowhere in the World
The Rise of Cosmopolitanism in Early Modern History
Introduction
Being cosmopolitan in Europe in Europe during the early modern age meant the ability to
experience people of different nations, creeds and colors with pleasure, curiosity and interest, and
not with suspicion, disdain or simply a disinterest that could turn into loathing. By the second
half of the eighteenth century the word, and the ideal, had become commonplace. The German
philosopher Immanuel Kant created a political agenda for the Western nations by proclaiming the
cosmopolitan acceptance of all peoples to be a necessity.
An interrogation of places and people from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries helps us
better understand how a cosmopolitan idealism became thinkable. A few places to launch this
inquiry are fairly obvious: both science and merchant life have long been associated with
inculcating a cosmopolitan affect.
For centuries nationalism dominated the consciousness of most Europeans, and it often obscured
the cosmopolitan practices that lay beneath the surface in urban settings throughout the Euro-
American world.
Dennis O. Flynn & Arturo Giráldez – Born with a Silver Spoon
The Origin of World Trade in 1571
Global trade emerged when all important populated continents began to exchange products
continuously and in values sufficient to generate crucial impacts on all the trading partners. More
than the market for any other commodity, the silver market explains the emergence of world
trade. China was the dominant buyer of silver, and Spanish America was the main supplier.
Europeans, mostly Dutch and English traders, filled the role of middlemen in the vast silver trade.
Manila, founded in 1571, fulfilled the role of Spain’s only avenue for entry into the lucrative
Asian marketplace.
Around this time, Ming rulers abandoned their resistance to silver gradually and implemented the
Single-Whip tax system. The Single-Whip system specified two things:
• Myriad existing national levies were consolidated into a single tax.
• All tax payments were to be made in the form of silver.
No entity reaped greater rewards from the silver industry than the Spanish crown, which wisely
allowed favored private sector entrepreneurs to operate New World mines, rather than attempting
to do so itself. The crown took a substantial fraction of mining profits through taxes.
The inflationary trend caused by the influx of silver in China affected the value of all
The Rise of Cosmopolitanism in Early Modern History
Introduction
Being cosmopolitan in Europe in Europe during the early modern age meant the ability to
experience people of different nations, creeds and colors with pleasure, curiosity and interest, and
not with suspicion, disdain or simply a disinterest that could turn into loathing. By the second
half of the eighteenth century the word, and the ideal, had become commonplace. The German
philosopher Immanuel Kant created a political agenda for the Western nations by proclaiming the
cosmopolitan acceptance of all peoples to be a necessity.
An interrogation of places and people from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries helps us
better understand how a cosmopolitan idealism became thinkable. A few places to launch this
inquiry are fairly obvious: both science and merchant life have long been associated with
inculcating a cosmopolitan affect.
For centuries nationalism dominated the consciousness of most Europeans, and it often obscured
the cosmopolitan practices that lay beneath the surface in urban settings throughout the Euro-
American world.
Dennis O. Flynn & Arturo Giráldez – Born with a Silver Spoon
The Origin of World Trade in 1571
Global trade emerged when all important populated continents began to exchange products
continuously and in values sufficient to generate crucial impacts on all the trading partners. More
than the market for any other commodity, the silver market explains the emergence of world
trade. China was the dominant buyer of silver, and Spanish America was the main supplier.
Europeans, mostly Dutch and English traders, filled the role of middlemen in the vast silver trade.
Manila, founded in 1571, fulfilled the role of Spain’s only avenue for entry into the lucrative
Asian marketplace.
Around this time, Ming rulers abandoned their resistance to silver gradually and implemented the
Single-Whip tax system. The Single-Whip system specified two things:
• Myriad existing national levies were consolidated into a single tax.
• All tax payments were to be made in the form of silver.
No entity reaped greater rewards from the silver industry than the Spanish crown, which wisely
allowed favored private sector entrepreneurs to operate New World mines, rather than attempting
to do so itself. The crown took a substantial fraction of mining profits through taxes.
The inflationary trend caused by the influx of silver in China affected the value of all
