History Of Commerce. Chapter I. Ancient Commerce.

Origin Of
Commerce; Egyptians; Phoenicians; Greeks
The history of commerce is the history of civilization. In his barbarous state man's wants are few and
simple, limited to his physical existence, such as food, clothing and shelter, but as he advances in
the scale of intelligence his wants increase and he requires not only the comforts and conveniences
of life but even the luxuries. Civilized man is never satisfied, for no sooner is a want supplied than
another arises in its place, and under that stimulus he achieves mighty conquests over the forces of
nature and attains to a high degree of development in character. Commerce is one of the means by
which various peoples have at different times undertaken to supply their needs.

No civilized community produces all the things which it consumes. A portion of its needs must be
supplied by an interchange of products with other communities or nations and this is the beginning
of commerce, either domestic or foreign. Moreover, it may be impossible for a nation to produce all
that it needs to consume, owing to physical peculiarities of the country, its lack of coal, wood, or ore,
its climate, etc. Thus England cannot grow sufficient corn to feed its people, but it manufacturers
more cloth than is necessary to clothe them. A warm country cannot grow wheat successfully, but it
may produce cotton or rice in abundance.

Human Wants

Diversity of Pursuits

Commerce also depends in a measure upon the national skill of a people in the manufacture of
commodities. The Swiss have long been noted for the manufacture of clocks, watches, and fine lace;
the French for the production of wine and silk. Another nation may be deficient in both the
possession of natural products and skill as manufacturers, but have peculiar skill as navigators, and
become the carriers of goods. Such were the Italian cities which, in the middle ages, grew opulent
from the profits of the carrying trade. Then again a nation may combine all three of these functions,
and become producers, manufacturers and carriers in a greater or less degree, reaping a profit from
each, as the principal nations of Europe, and the United States are doing at the present time. The
ancient commerce of the world was carried on chiefly upon the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
When we read in Genesis that Joseph was sold by his brethren for twenty pieces of silver to "a
company of Ishmaelites come from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh,
going to carry it down to Egypt," we get a glimpse of the ancient commerce of that oldest of
empires, Egypt, drawing supplies from the thrifty nations to the east of the Mediterranean. Caravans
of camels laden with goods and silver crossed the desert and carried into Egypt wool, ivory, gold-
dust, spices and slaves from Arabia and the far east. In exchange Egypt furnished large quantities of
wheat, barley, rice, cotton and flax from the fertile valley of the Nile, besides quantities of linen, and
cotton cloth, as well as utensils and pottery. From the nature of the conditions, Egypt has always
been essentially an agricultural country. The broad, level valley of the Nile, enriched annually by the
overflow, yielded abundant crops, and the people were apparently content with their harvests,
devoting themselves but little to manufacture or commerce. The sea coast was low, with no good
harbors, thus uninviting to commerce, while a scarcity of wood made ship-building a practical
impossibility. The Egyptians cultivated the arts and sciences, and their kings busied themselves in
erecting those wonderful monuments in the form of tombs, which still remain to a considerable
extent. Although industrious at home, they did not seem inclined to go abroad or engage in foreign
trade, and this was carried on chiefly by Arabs and Greeks. After the conquests of Alexander the
Great, the port of Alexandria became the great commercial metropolis of the world, and Greek
merchants settled there in large numbers.

National Employments

Commerce of Egypt

The Phoenicians.

The first navigators and carriers of goods by water, of which we read, were the Phoenicians who
inhabited the narrow strip of coast land along the east of the Mediterranean Sea. Having a large sea
frontage with little interior distance, these people were naturally attracted to seafaring occupations.
Their coast abounded in good harbors, and their abundant forests supplied the materials for ship
building, while agriculture was difficult on account of the hilly and rocky nature of the land. Here we
see the natural conditions exactly reversed from those of Egypt, with the effect of developing a
nation of navigators and traders instead of farmers, as in Egypt. The enterprise and activity of the
Phoenicians were wonderful. They founded the cities of Tyre and Sidon and built up a large and
profitable system of commerce. Intellectual activity and diligence in business led these people to
many discoveries, among which were the making of glass, the art of dyeing purple and writing by
means of letters. They were also distinguished by their skill in casting metals, weaving, architecture
and in various other directions. Sidonian garments, Tyrian purple, Phoenician glass and articles of
ivory, gold and other metals were precious and coveted wares in all antiquity. The forests of
Lebanon, along the eastern border, supplied them with material for ship-building, and with their
oared barks they navigated the coast and islands of the sea, trading in their own productions and
those of the far east, spices, frankincense, oil, wine, wheat and slaves. They made their way along
the coast, and out as far as Cyprus, where they founded a colony, then to the islands of the Aegean
Sea and Greece to the north, and to Egypt and Africa in the south. They ventured west as far as
Spain, which they found rich in minerals, especially silver. The discovery of Spain with its rich mines
brought immense wealth to the Phoenicians, and they proceeded to develop the resources of the
country with vigor. It is said that the Phoenicians drew such vast wealth from the mines of Spain that
their ships carried silver anchors. Besides silver they received from Spain considerable quantities of
tin, lead, iron and even gold, as well as a large yield of wheat, wine, oil, wax, fruit and fine wool.

The Phoenicians used their possessions in Spain as a basis for trading voyages farther west. They
passed the straits of Gibraltar and went northward among the British isles, where they obtained
large quantities of tin. Proceeding still farther, they entered the Baltic Sea, and visited the rude
people in northwestern Europe, purchasing wool, hides, furs, copper and other metals, and giving in
exchange their own manufactures, such as purple dyed robes, carpets, and fine cloths, works in
gold, silver, ivory, amber and glass. The Phoenicians imported largely raw materials, which they
made up in Tyre and Sidon, and then exported the finished product either by their own ships seaward
or by caravans to the east. Thus they were a manufacturing as well as a maritime nation. They are
said to have rounded the Cape of Good Hope on voyages to India about the year B. C. 600.

B. C. 1050

Phoenician Voyages An Instrument of Civilization

HISTORY OF COMMERCE
The City of Commerce began as the community of Harmony Grove which was founded in 1818. The
Community incorporated in December 1884 and officially changed its name from Harmony Grove to
Commerce in 1909.
Early on, the city flourished as a cotton market and eventually became synonymous with textiles when local
businessmen launched Harmony Grove Mills in 1893. In addition to having roots in business, Commerce also
has a rich cultural history. Most notably, the Harmony Grove Female Academy was the first school for girls in
the state and was established in 1824. Later, the city would serve as the setting for the novel Cold Sassy
Tree written by Olive Ann Burns but before that Commerce contributed to state politics when local
Larmartine G. Hardman served two terms as governor from 1927-1931. Mr. Hardman was a well respected
physician who built a mansion in downtown Commerce known today as "The Hardman House."
Many things have changed throughout Commerces history but one thing remains the same. Commerce is a
great place to live and do business!

History of Debits and Credits

Debits and credits is a financial transaction classification system that was first used by the
Venetian merchants in Italy in the 15th century. While it was widely used by the Venetian
merchants, its took a mathematician by the name of Luca Pacioli to document and publish this
system in a book.

The book Luca wrote to codify the Venetian method of bookkeeping in 1494 was one of the first
published by Gutenberg on his innovative printing press. Today Luca is revered widely as The
father of accounting . Lucas book explained the whole bookkeeping system of which Debits and
Credits were a key part. The overall system that he documented has come to be known as the
Double- entry bookkeeping system. Now while this system was developed over 500 years ago,
its principles and processes are still followed by todays accountants and bookkeepers the world
over.

Latin terms Credre and Debere

It is interesting to note that the concept of negative numbers was not generally accepted in
mathematics in the 1500s when Luca first codified the double-entry bookkeeping system. This
may further explain why he used Debits and Credits rather than + and which is the system
that the accounting software of today uses to process financial transactions. Still, lets not get
any more confused other than point out that a lot has changed in the world in past 500 years,
but the double-entry bookkeeping system is not one of them.

Lucas book was written in the vernacular of the age Latin. So the terms he used for Debit and
Credit in his book were Credre and Debere . In Latin the word Credre means to entrust
and Debere means to owe. These Latin meanings give us our first glimpse into the
underlying principles that the Debit and Credit classification system seeks to maintain. These
principles will be explained in greater detail later in the series of articles on this topic. It is also
clear that we got the Debit abbreviation of Dr. from the Latin, because unlike the Latin term,
there is no r in the English term Debit.

The evolving English language

Other confusions that cloud the understanding of Debits and Credits for most accounting
students, is the fact that English as an evolving language has developed many different
meanings for the terms Debits and Credits other than the ones originally coined by Luca in
1494. In fact, look at most dictionaries and you will discover over 10 different meanings for the
term credit apart from the one we use in accounting. Some students even try and assimilate the
terms Debit with debt, yet the two terms have no similarity in meaning even though they may
have similar sounding tones.

Definition of Debits and Credits in accounting

The very important point for accounting students to understand is that the Debits and Credits in
accounting has its own special meaning and that meaning is not to be assimilated with any other
English meanings of the terms.

The definition of Debits and Credits that this series of presentations will adhere to is:

Debits and Credits is a classification method that is used for coding the financial transactions
of a business and recording them in the bookkeeping system.

In essence, this series will show that the Debits and Credits method captures and records the
flow of economic resources that take place in a financial transaction as economic resources
transfer from a source (credit) to a destination (debit). The Debit and Credits classification
method also ensures that the accounting equation, which is the foundation stone on which the
entire double-entry bookkeeping system is build, remains in balance after each transaction is
recorded.

Summary Debits and Credits

In summary then we can say that:

Debits and Credits are a key component of a 500 year old double-entry bookkeeping
system.
Debits and Credits are English terms that were translated from the Latin Credre and
Debere
English has evolved to create many different meanings for the terms Debit and Credit
in the 500 years since they were first coined.
 The meaning of Debits and Credits in accounting is unique to accounting and is not to
be assimilated with other meanings of these terms.
Debits and credits is a classification method that is used for coding the financial
transactions of a business and recording them in the bookkeeping system.
Debits and Credits reflects the flow of economic resources that takes place in a financial
transaction as the economic resources transfer from a source (Credit) to a destination
(Debit).
The Debits and credits system ensures that the accounting equation remains in balance
after each new transaction entry.

Why do accountants use debits and credits instead of simple pluses and
minuses? Why is the notation for a debit "DR"?
By Investopedia StaffAAA |

A:

Debits and credits, and the technique of double-entry accounting, are

credited (no pun intended) to a Franciscan monk by the name of Luca Pacioli.
Known as the "Father of Accounting", he warned that you should not go to
sleep until your debits equaled your credits.

Let's review the basics of Pacioli's method of bookkeeping. On a balance

sheetor in a ledger, assets = liabilities + owner's equity. An increase in the
value of assets is a debit to the account, and a decrease is a credit. On the
flip side, an increase in liabilities or owner's equity is a credit to the account,
and a decrease is a debit.

Having Latin roots, the term "debit" comes from the word "debitum",
meaning "what is due", and "credit" comes from "creditum", defined as
"something entrusted to another or a loan". So when you increase assets, the
change in the account is a debit because something must be due for that
increase (the price of the asset). Conversely, an increase in liabilities is a
credit because it signifies an amount that someone else has entrusted
(loaned) to you and which you used to purchase something (the cause of the
corresponding debit in the assets account). You can see why simply using
"increase" and "decrease" to signify changes to accounts wouldn't work: the
terms "debit" and "credit" signify actual accounting functions, both of which
cause increases and decreases in accounts, depending on the type of
account.

What about the terms' abbreviations? There are a few different theories as to
why debits are abbreviated "DR" and credits abbreviated "CR".

One theory asserts that the DR and CR come from the Latin past participles
of debitum and creditum which are "debere" and "credere", respectively.
Another theory is that DR stands for "debit record" and CR stands for "credit
record". Finally, some believe the DR notation is short for "debtor" and CR is
short for "creditor".

The approach Pacioli devised has become the basis of modern day
accounting, and the use of debits and credits allows companies and
individuals to keep track of their transactions and manage their money. While
the origin of the abbreviations of debit and credit (DR and CR) remain
somewhat of a mystery, each theory has "credibility".