HIST 258 Final, Spring 1997

History 258B Final Examination Time: 2 1/2 hrs. June 22, 1997 Answer the following 3 questions: “The period between the late thirteenth century and the early sixteenth was the golden age of the spice trade by way of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.” Discuss this statement and explain what wide variety of commodities were covered by this trade, and what different parties were involved in the trading? “Starting from the sixteenth century, and more so from the seventeenth, the European colonial expansion in the world led to the discovery of new resources, among them formerly unknown plant products which came to be cultivated in plantations because of the increasing demand on them as commo- dities.” Name some of the principal commodities of this kind that came to be produced by plantations in the lands of the Indian Ocean basin, choosing only one of them to discuss in detail. Explain the importance of petroleum as a key commodity in the world today, and outline the stages by which the petroleum of the Middle East came to be successfully exploited.