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When The Worlds Collide

Decent Essays

"All ancient civilisations have contributed in some way to the development of modern society." - with these words of Dr Joyce Tyldesley I believe the main thought of documentary "When the Worlds Collide" written by Carl Byker and Ruben Martinez can be worded.
The film presents the moment of the discovery of America by Spaniards and the following years, focusing mainly on the cultural aspects that underwent changes in that time. It shows the way various elements from both civilizations merged and intertwined to work as one new entity. The documentary also illustrates the clash of the New World and the Old World with the effects on both sides, the most prominent one being the creation of a new culture - the Mestizo culture, which is the mix …show more content…

When the Spaniards came to America, the indigenous people of that land were, in some aspects, more developed than Europeans. They domesticated and cultivated crops like potatoes, tomatoes and corn that were later introduced to the Old World. They also knew a way to dye fabric a vibrant red colour that was extremely expensive and desirable in Europe. The contact of the two worlds had very different consequences for both of them. While Europe acquired a lot of useful goods in the merge, America received European religion. By the order of the royal couple of Spain, missionaries flooded America in order to bring Christianity to the conquered lands. The image of the Lady of Guadalupe from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in México City bears an uncanny resemblance to the goddess of fertility Tonantzin that the Indians used to worship before. Christianity is still largely present in Latin America and makes up a substantial part of its people's cultural identity. Other than Christianity, along with the Europeans in America arrived livestock and various diseases like smallpox, measles and malaria. Because the Indians had no immunity against those diseases, they died in large numbers in effect. The Latin America of our time has retained some elements of its culture from before the Spanish conquest, although it has certainly changed because of the Spanish influence. It is now a mix of the two …show more content…

When the Romans took over Greece, they also took over the Greek culture and, to a small degree, language in the process of Hellenisation . The Roman religion was created by copying the religion of the Greeks, with the exception of the names of the gods and goddesses and some other details. Other than that, the Romans also adopted the Greek architectural and literary style. As of other countries that were conquered by Rome, the Romans also took the way of building ships and the alphabet in an altered form from Phoenicia. In all of the countries that the Romans conquered they would build roads for their armies to move quickly. Roman roads were so tough and well-built that many of them have lasted in good condition even until now; the famous oldest road Via Appia that leads from Rome to Naples is still in use . Moreover, the Romans built numerous cities, among which are Vienna , London and Paris . Had Rome not conquered so many countries, the modern world would have looked entirely different. Rome had an enormous input in shaping of the European culture. Because Rome invaded other lands and created an enormous empire, it was able to spread the knowledge and new inventions on an extensive

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