Continuity And Changes In The Western World Essay

Charles C Mann, the author of 1493 provides an extensive analysis of the age of exploration through a series of best-selling books. He illustrated both pre-columbian and post Columbian era and established the significance of globalization across the world through the books 1491 and 1493.The book was first published on 2011 as a continuation of 1491 that recorded America before the arrival of Columbus.Charles C Mann provided an astonishing interpretation of columbian exchange through examining several aspects of global trade.He integrated social economical and cultural components of globalization to inform readers on how it shaped the modern world.The author’s main purpose was to engage readers in critical thinking and evaluate both advantages and disadvantages of globalization that united the world.Globalization blended many cultures and tradition and increased the survival of humankind.Moreover, the Columbian exchange ranked Europe among the greatest powers of the world; thus, Charles C Mann also discussed significant European pressures that lead to the everlasting transformation of the world.

“The discovery of America, and that of the passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, are the two greatest events recorded in the history of mankind” (Smith). According to Adam Smith, philosopher and pioneer of political economy, Columbus’ discovery of the Americas and Vasco da Gama’s feat of sailing around southern Africa to find the sea route to Asia were the most important game-changing moments in history. Likewise, historians have traditionally agreed with Smith that these were two of the most important turning points in world history. Not only did these lead to the global domination of Western Europe, but they also led to the emergence of a global market.

Knowledge of circular current wind patterns made sailing long distances substantially easier and less labor intensive. The Old World began to travel farther and farther by the ocean. In this sense, it was inevitable that the Old World and the New World should collide. Columbus took advantage of this sea-ward gaze and the Spanish desire to exercise their power, acquire resources, and extend the reach of Christianity. In hindsight, Columbus' original intention to sail to India an obvious and major miscalculation but the mere action of crossing the Atlantic turned “a barrier into a bridge” (Horan). Upon Columbus' arrival, the European advantage became evident: gunpowder weaponry, use of horses for military and transportation, and iron weapons, tools, and armor.

Throughout early history, beginning with 1492, exploration was well on its way. European nations began heading west towards the New World in search of new trade routes to the East Indies. With support from kings through financial aid and moral guidance, a new peak was reached upon the arrival of Columbus in the Caribbean islands off the mainland of the Americas. Such an extraordinary event, future voyages were sent off to explore the rest of the New World by Spanish, French, and English ships and explorers. During these times of exploration, traveling nations encountered the Natives among the lands where they would then determine their future through alliances and conflicts. The settlement patterns, along with the attitudes of the American Indians that were encountered with by the Spanish, French and English exploration, can be compared and contrasted through the goals of these nations culturally and socially, and even through the opportunity for economic growth .

The Age of Exploration contains both benefits and harms to the groups of people, animals, and land that is associated. The damaging effects of the Age of Exploration were directed, for the most part, upon the people and land of the New World. With the treasure and innovation brought by Europeans in their ships were the

When Columbus first landed in the Americas during the pre modern era, he changed the course of world history for years to come. This was finally an age connected like no other time before. With a new connected world, economies blossomed and social changes occurred for the better or the worse. Although western Europe and in particular Spain came to control economically ,through silver and sugar, and socially,through cultural diffusion of natives, Africa and the Americas after contact, there was not a rapid social change of these land but a slow process of transformation.

A British merchant, Ralph Fitch describes trade conducted by the Portuguese a great advantage in China since it reveals the mercantilist rivalries among European countries competing for East Asian trade dominance (Document 4). The purpose of this document is to show that a British merchant is concerned that Britain is missing out on opportunities to profit from global trade. Britain could make a great deal of money to be made in this trade if they could participate. This explains that the British want to have the world trade dominance. Eventually the Europeans became reluctant to continue shipping so much silver to East Asia. This is largely because they preferred to hoard the silver so that they could use it to pay mercenaries in their ongoing wars. An English scholar, Charles D’Avenant shows the English position on trade in 1697 that the global flow of silver’s influence on the mercantilist tendencies of European nations and the amount of silver leaving (Document 8). The purpose of this document is to show that D’Avenant concedes that there are problems with the Asian textile trade that the imported items have little use for people in Britain. Also that D’Avenant points out that Asia do not buy anything from the Europeans. This shows that silver might be leaving the country to be “buried” in China since the large demand for luxury goods. From 1500 to 1800, Mexico and Peru produced about

After getting the support and financing, Christopher Columbus 's expedition led to the opening of the New World. Spain was the first global power which dominated Europe and much of the world for more than a century. What stood out about his long drawn out journey was how he accomplished this by commanding three small ships, which landed on the coast of a Caribbean island and as a result this began the Spanish conquest of America.

Iberian Ascendancy in the Age of Discovery At the dawn of the 1400s, a series of fortunate events conveniently coalesced to perfectly set the stage for a new era of European exploration. Innovative technology allowing sailing on the open ocean was invented in an age where trade access to luxury goods from the Far East was becoming ever more limited. A highly motivated, powerful man was born as religious fervor was being redirected. Successes close to home incited a widespread fervor to explore further.

In the year 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in search of raw materials and mistakenly ended up in the "new world". Over the course of years the discovery of America led the Europeans to overpower Indigenous people by spreading their religion, taking control of land and increasing the economy.

Generally reading about history would be torture for some who may not like the idea of sitting and reading information for 200 pages straight. However, the authors didn’t exactly have that in mind when writing this book. From the cover to the last entry in the index, The World that Trade Created is an exquisite source of information about the history of where trade originated and flourished into what we refer to as trade today. The authors, Kenneth Pomeranz and Steven Topik, have organized the sections of this book to be easily read and understood for gathering information and knowledge. An alarming quantity of information clumped together in one section can be exhausting so in the way that it’s spread out in this book makes the information

Envisioning today’s world without the events of the seventeenth century is a genuine awakening. From the conquests of the Americas by the Europeans to traditional isolationist views in Asia, one could sufficiently argue this period in history as being the catalyst that ushered in the interdependent society enjoyed by those who presently inhabit the earth. Furthermore, the integration of people and cultures led to numerous indispensable discoveries of goods in foreign lands. The global market exploded as trade became prominent, and people’s definition of amenity changed to that which meant “they needed it because they wanted it.” Slaves, blue and white china, silver, and spices are only a few examples of what was available on the global market

The author divides the text into main sections to provide a clear distinction between events in Africa and the cultural transformations in the New World. In the first section, Thornton examines the interactions between Africans and the Portuguese, Spanish and British on the African mainland. According the author, the development of commerce, the origins of navigation, and economic goals differed between the two groups, which affected social and cultural relations. For instance, Thornton comments that an older “romantic school of historians maintained that Europeans undertook this exploration for the pure joy of

In 1492, the monarchs subsided Christopher Columbus’s voyage to discover the Americas. Columbus’s discoveries lead to the beginning of the Spanish Empire overseas. The influx of new wealth enabled them to finance a huge army

One of the reason Europeans explored outside their lands was the end of Feudalism in Europe with the four-main reason being, economic, religious, biological and political (Shultz, 2009, p.16) this would mainly lead to the rise of other nations in the world. As these nations began to grow and expand they were had a chance to sample things from other places in the world and they wanted more of these items. It also showed the importance of free trades and this forced them to look outside of Europe for their needs and wants. This began the era of discovering the New World; better known as the Americas.