The oldest known media of exchange were agricultural—such as grain or cattle (or debts related to gran or cattle)—likely as far back as 9000 to 6000 B.C. It wasn’t until around 1000 B.C. that metallic coins were minted in China and Mesopotamia and became the first known example of a good that functioned only as money.
What are colonial markets?
The Colonial Market. During the American Colonial Period the Market was a place for various Merchants and Craftspeople to display and sell their wares. This is why The Colonial Market was created.
What was America like before the market revolution?
Before the market revolution, economic transactions for farmers took place within the moral economy, which was characterized by local business dealings and based on face-to-face interactions with familiar people. With the market revolution, however, farmers and local exchanges were no longer the basis of the economy.
How did the colonial economy depend on trade?
The colonial economy depended on international trade. American ships carried products such as lumber, tobacco, rice, and dried fish to Britain. In turn, the mother country sent textiles, and manufactured goods back to America.
Why was money a problem in the colonies?
Tobacco being loaded onto ships in the James River, Virginia, circa 1661. Money, or the lack thereof, was a persistent problem in colonial America. The colonists were under the control of Great Britain, where the legal tender was both gold and silver, known as a bimetallic system. Yet British coins circulated only rarely in the colonies.
What did the British send back to America?
American ships carried products such as lumber, tobacco, rice, and dried fish to Britain. In turn, the mother country sent textiles, and manufactured goods back to America.
Why did the colonists not use British coins?
Yet British coins circulated only rarely in the colonies. The colonists had an unfavorable balance of trade with the mother country, meaning that the value of the goods they imported from England greatly exceeded the value of the goods exported back.
