Vermeer's Hat Analysis

When Europeans encountered the Native Americans, the encounter was fraught with difficulties for both sides, for the Native Americans more so than the Europeans. Europeans conquered the Native Americans, forced them into labor, and spread diseases which the Native Americans had no resistance to. In addition to this the Europeans considered themselves superior to the Native Americans. Despite this, the Europeans and Native Americans, both had things the other wanted and so they often engaged in trade with each other. However, the Native Americans thought that, despite not having the luxuries the Europeans had, they were better off than the Europeans. This sentiment is exemplified in “Your People Live Only Upon Cod” by French priest Chrestian LeClerq who was traveling with the Micmac Indians. It is a documented response by an unknown Micmac leader to European, particularly French, claims of superiority. In analyzing this document, we will find that the cultures of the French and the Micmac were vastly different. We will also discover what the Micmac and the French thought of each other.

There are many reasons that the Europeans and the Native Americans didn’t get along. In the works that I have examined and read throughout this module, the relationship amongst these two groups had not been a good one from the beginning. The main reason for conflict between the Europeans and the Native Americans, it seems, was the Europeans greed and desire for land and power.

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.

21. In their attempt to control the spice trade in the Indian Ocean, the Europeans during the period between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries

Following the travels of Christopher Columbus and the Conquistadores, the Spanish soon realized that they were as a matter of fact, not off the coast of China. But rather than completely abandon the area due to its lack of gold, silk, and spices, they decided to stay for the abundance of silver. In this, they enslaved and killed entire populations in their quest for this mineral. However, in doing so they practically started a new economic era for the Europeans. The heightened flow of silver from the mid-16th to the early- 18th century resulted in social and economic effects in trade centers around the world by further integrating the Europeans into the global trade market and consequently increasing social divisions in China due to improved

What many people only know about Christopher Columbus’s expedition is that he found the Americas. While this is true, he did find a completely new frontier that was unknown to the Old World, his findings re-shaped global consumption patterns from the seventeenth century. He found a New World filled with resources that the old world hasn’t seen before. When he found the new world he brought with him European plants and animal species that were foreign to the citizens of the New World. The Columbian Exchange introduced many foods that are still essential to consumption in today’s world along with the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. The potato is a prime example of how the Columbian Exchange changed global consumption patterns because it was nutritious and had an abundant amount of calories in it and caused a mass population increase in areas where the potato was available. The use of slaves also increased exponentially when sugar cane was introduced. This was a very cheap, productive way to produce a large amount of sugar and it was used by many Old World countries. The findings of these new world products created a rise in global consumption and production because products were introduced to the both the New World and the Old World and there instantly became a large spike in the availability of products. Along with this, the old world decided to go out and get themselves involved in the New World because they saw an opportunity

To better understand the conflict between the Europeans and the Native Americans, one must closely examine the state of Europe’s economy at the time. Europe struggled with difficult conditions. This included poverty, violence and diseases like typhus, smallpox, influenza and measles. There were widespread famines which caused the prices of products to vary and made life very difficult in Europe. Street crimes and violence were prevalent in cities: “Other eruption of bizarre torture, murder, and ritual cannibalism were not uncommon”.2 Europeans

During this time, the British adopted a new economic policy known as mercantilism which held that a country’s power depended mainly on its wealth. The desire for new sources of wealth inspired British exploration of the East. Having established North America as their colony, the British traveled East. In 1793, the British sought to trade with China which was largely self-sufficient due to mining and manufacturing resources as well as its healthy agricultural economy which started in the 11th century. Around this time, the Chinese dynasty cycle was in decline and its official trade policy reflected isolation. The British imposed economic imperialism and forced China to open to foreign trade and influence. The British East India Company which grew opium in India, a British colony, shipped it to China. While the Chinese developed addictions to the drug, the British economy grew as they shipped fine silk, high quality cotton and exquisite porcelain from China to be sold for a huge profit in North America. Subjected to economic imperialism, China had to sign treaties that favoured the west. In 1844, China signed a treaty that gave North America extraterritorial rights where they could trade freely at many

Before the Europeans ventured into what is now America, it was inhabited by many different tribes of Native Americans. These indigenous peoples' needs were minuscule compared to that of the Europeans as they only needed nature to provide them with sufficient food and materials for weapons, shelter, etc. Once the Europeans arrived, they introduced “firearms, iron, and brandy” and in turn for these items, the Native Americans would offer rich furs from their hunts (Tocqueville). However, as the needs of the Native Americans grew, their assets would substantially decrease. Because of the establishment of the European settlers within the Native American territory, the animals that inhabited the lands would “take fright” as they were put off by the loud noises of labor within the European settlements (Tocqueville). This caused entire Native American tribes to suffer as they could not hunt for sufficient food, pelts, furs, or materials, making them virtually unable to engage in trade with others. As a result, the Native Americans followed the tracks of the various animals in hopes to escape their fate of famine. The Native Americans were then presented with two choices, assimilate themselves with the European Society or preserve their way of life by engaging in war with the Europeans. However, the American Indians refused to conform to European customs, and did not possess the power to win a war against their enemy. The Native Americans were simply incompatible with the ever-changing civilization and were treated harshly by the Union and the States. The only people that seem to share in their misery are those from Africa.

Another argument that Brook makes is that China was the main deriving force of the migration and movement of people and goods from Europe to Asia. Porcelain from China became popular in Europe and played an important role in the development of regular trade between Europe and Asia. The Europeans soon started to replicate the porcelain bowls. This is also an example of transculturation. Apart form the chartered companies, explorers such as Samuel Champlain’s conquest to find another route to China by using profit earned from fur trade, also played a role in globalization. Brook also emphasized on the role tobacco played in globalization, capitalism and transculturation. Tobacco, originally from the Americas, held a spiritual value to the Native Americans. After the arrival of the Europeans, it became popular but for different reasons. As a result, tobacco plantations were formed and from there, tobacco travelled to different parts of the world, including China, where it started having a different cultural value. This shows how porcelain and tobacco played an important role in connecting people together. Brook also talks about the movement of people that was took place in the 17th century, leading to the movement of culture and ideas.

In Vermeer’s Hat: The seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World, Timothy Brook uses Vermeer’s paintings to show the effects of trade on the world and the overall globalization occurring. Brook argues that this globalization had begun in the seventeenth century. He takes a look at Vermeer’s paintings, and uses them as windows into seventeenth century history to discuss further topics of interest. Through every painting, it leads to a door that

Prior to 1500, there was very little contact between peoples who lived in different areas of the world. Some lands were distant and isolated from each other that they were not even aware of each other’s existence. During the Middle Ages, Europe had operated under the feudal system: peasants worked the land for nobles in exchange for protection. As the Middle Ages drew to a close, one of the most drastic changes that the world experienced was the growing interactions between people of different cultures and the spread of people and goods around the globe. Timothy Brook’s book Vermeer’s Hat, analyzes the objects found in the paintings of a seventeenth century painter from a small Dutch town to explore the extent to which things moved across geographical and cultural borders. Of the people who were making their way across the globe at this time, many did so freely as explorers, traders, and settlers. There was significant portion, however, who were forced to migrate and serve as laborers to ensure cash crops grown in the New World reached European markets. Marcus Rediker’s Slave Ship describes in graphic detail how the Trans-Atlantic slave trade operated. Whereas Brook examines the bigger picture of how capitalism spread goods across the globe and brought different peoples together materially, Rediker analyzes the details: how the inherent hierarchy of the system affected the individuals. Thus, Rediker’s argument that capitalism is a dividing force is much more compelling than

Globalization deals with the break down of traditional boundaries in the face of increasingly global financial and cultural trends. It is a process that results in the growing interconnectedness of the world. Globalization is understood as the force that promotes the global interdependence of economies, political systems, and societies. It creates a complex system of exchanges of goods, services, people, wealth, knowledge, and beliefs. Both Timothy Brook’s Vermeer’s Hat and Sidney Mintz’s Sweetness and Power deal with the role of commodities in world history. Mintz analyzes the history of sugar production and consumption in Europe. Mintz discusses how the fall of sugar as a luxurious and exotic product to a necessity for the most common of the working class was able to command a revolution in diet and lifestyle, during industrialization and the rise of capitalism. Brook tells the story of tobacco’s route from the Americas to Europe. As tobacco became a commercial crop, it allowed for a new system of trade, further connecting Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Both works highlight the importance of each respective commodity in the linking of the global community. The integration of both sugar and tobacco in global trade had a profound impact on the power structures of society in the seventeenth century.

Spice Trade had a significant economic and cultural impact on the world. At around 3000BC, the Arabs traded spices and herbs among early civilizations. Then as trade began to develop, Europeans started to gain control of the global commerce. Venice was one of the most successful, efficient Italian cities that prospered through trade and became a formidable trading point because of its location. It became a monopoly of spice trade for a period of time.

For example, the discovery of corn in places such as Southern Ontario proved the complexity of trade routes as corn had originated in Mexico. Also, the Iroquois Constitution written somewhere around 1400, included rhetoric about land-ownership, freedom of religion and the rights of women. To quote Dr Poutanen, "Aboriginal peoples before European contact were dynamic, complex, and culturally rich as well as diverse." . The first Europeans had contact with Aboriginals around 1000 AD with the landing of the Vikings in Newfoundland. However, long-term settlement and engagement first appeared when Jacques Cartier claimed areas of the St. Lawrence for France in 1534 under Francis I. There were many different types of encounters including contact, collision and relationship. Initially, settlers and indigenous tribes were peaceful, sharing gifts and culture. As time progressed however, natives began to lose face with Europeans. Disease burdened the Natives as their bodies were not immune to European disease. Many thousands of people died and those who didn't were forced to abide by European rule. Even after fighting hard on the side of the British, the emergence of new settlers after the War of 1812 pushed Aboriginals to the brink of society. New settlers needed the land to colonize and farm. Some natives such as Louis Riel tried to resist; however it was futile. Europeans took control of the land and granted natives only a small portion of their rightful