In ancient times, transporting commodities over any significant distance was an expensive and risky enterprise. Thus, commerce was restricted mainly to local markets, and the most commonly traded articles were foodstuffs and clothing. Most people spent the bulk of their resources on food, and what they neither grew nor gathered themselves they obtained through trade. The same was true of clothing: Garments were either produced and handed down within the family or acquired through trade. In addition to food, clothing, and shelter, the rich devoted their income to conspicuous attire, jewelry, and works of art. As a result, an important trade in luxury items developed. Medieval Europe After a decline following the breakup of the Roman Empire, European commerce expanded gradually during the Middle Ages, especially during the 12th and 13th centuries. Long-distance trade became safer once merchants began to form associations for the protection of travelers who journeyed abroad. The main long-distance trade routes were from the Baltic and the eastern Mediterranean to central and northern Europe. From the forests of the Baltic came raw materials: timber, tar, furs, and skins. From the East came luxury goods: spices, jewelry, and textiles. In exchange for these goods, western Europe exported raw materials and processed goods. The English sold woolen garments, the Dutch offered salted herring, Spain produced wool, and France exported salt; southern Europe was also rich in wine, fruit, and oil. The Italian and German cities straddling these routes promoted and financed the trade. Nonetheless, throughout the Middle Ages, commerce between Europe and Asia was limited, because overland transport was expensive and because Europe possessed little of value for export to the East. The Early Modern Period The development of oceangoing warships and efficient merchant carriers in the 15th and 16th centuries led to a rapid expansion of commerce. As the cost of transporting bulky cargoes over long distances fell, grain was imported on a large scale from the Baltic to the Netherlands and other parts of Europe. New ocean routes between Europe and the East allowed imports from Asia at lower prices and in greater volume than had been possible by overland caravan. The discovery of the Americas created trade in such new commodities as tobacco and logwood. Spanish exploitation of the rich gold and silver deposits in Mexico and Peru transformed the character of international commerce. Europe finally possessed a commodity-precious metal-for which ample demand existed in the Far East. In return for Asian imports, Europe exchanged silver coin minted in Mexico, Spain, Italy, and Holland. Using technology and skills developed in transoceanic navigation, the Europeans captured the Asian shipping trade. European vessels transported Japanese copper to China and India, Indian cotton textiles to southern Asia, and Persian carpets to India. Trade in certain staple commodities grew with incredible speed. Imports of tobacco into England from Virginia and Maryland, for example, increased more than a thousandfold in the 17th century. As long-distance trade continued to grow, new forms of commercial organizations appeared. At first, informal associations gave way to legal partnership. In Holland, for example, it was not uncommon after 1500 that shareholders, rather than captains, be the proprietors of ships. Shareholding broke down the social barriers among different classes of merchants and enabled individuals to divide their goods among ships destined for different ports. No longer was international trade limited to those who could afford to travel. After the 16th century, the chartered trading company replaced the temporary partnership as the customary way for merchants to organize their affairs. These great companies, created by the state but privately owned and managed, held national monopolies over trade with certain regions. The Effects of Industrialization By 1750 the spice trade had been far surpassed in importance by trade in primary products. In the years that followed, commerce was transformed again, this time by the Industrial Revolution. Because the first Industrial Revolution occurred in Europe, that continent was at the center of the global commercial network for much of the 19th century. European economies depended on foreign markets to supply raw materials and to demand manufactured goods. The growth of industrial production, therefore, was accompanied by a rapid expansion of commerce. Between 1750 and 1914, world trade increased in value fivefold. During the 19th century alone, world shipping tonnage grew from 4 million to roughly 30 million tons. European merchants carried the bulk of this trade. Industrial growth affected commerce in numerous ways. Initially, the increased production stimulated trade in raw materials. The mechanization of European textile production was responsible for a dramatic rise in U.S. exports of raw cotton. After 1850, trade in grain, meat, and wool also expanded. Europe became a steady importer of wheat from North America, Australia, Argentina, and India, paying for its imports with the products of industry. Another important aspect of industrial growth was the revolution in land transportation. The development of the steam engine and the construction of railroad lines promoted commerce between coast and interior on virtually every continent. The railroad was especially important in North America, East Asia, and Latin America. By the end of the 19th century, primary producing regions were no longer the most important outlets for the products of European and North American industry. Increasingly, industrial nations became each other's principal customers, and commerce between the Americas and the European countries took on a multilateral character. The opposite was true for the primary producing regions of Africa, Asia, and Latin America: Many became part of European colonial empires, and nearly all came to depend heavily on a few foreign markets.