Gened Exam 1

Gened 111 Mid-Term The Early Modern Era, 1500 to 1800, was shaped by many various events. Specifically, the interim of this period headed the period of the American Exchange. The American exchange had a large input on the lifestyle and social ways during that time across the globe, the exchange began allowing places all over the world to trade their goods in a timely manner, affecting labor, the economy, and many other factors that contribute to a societies order. The beginning of the American exchange was marked by the discovery of the Americas in 1492, after a series of voyages made possible because of new marine technology such as ships and sails, advanced navigational tools, and knowledge of wind and ocean currents. Columbus, a European explorer, who originally proposed sailing to the Asian markets, but instead landed in the Bahama's and named the Guanahani, or locals, Indians. He continued to search for gold in the Caribbean for just under three months before returning to Spain and mistakenly reporting the Islands to be located of the coast of Asia. Although he was not the first European explorer to reach the Americas, he greatly inspired the idea of exploring the western hemisphere. Columbus's third voyage finally reached the coast of the Americas. Following the discovery and beginning of exploration came the Columbian exchange. Essentially the exchange was a global diffusion of plants, food crops, animals, human populations, and disease pathogens.[1] With people of different origins relocating to new areas, their native or virgin soil epidemics were bound to follow. After the European's land in the Americas, many of the native people began to get extremely sick, and the various diseases contributed up to a ninety percent population decrease in some areas. The native people had no hope in a resistance to the explorers because they were so far less advanced than the Europeans and the Spanish, and the majority rapidly grew sick and weak. Among the diseases that emerged was smallpox, which was highly contagious and spread rapidly, it even surpassed european exploration, making it to many locations across the Americas that were still undiscovered. In a sense this gave the Europeans and advantage in the process of inhabiting and colonizing the native's land, because much of the population was being eliminated with no effort. Europeans desired control over this “new world” and thats exactly what they would achieve. Quickly, they began to move people, goods, objects and slaves to create society in the Americas. The Columbian exchange was not however a detriment to the overall population, in fact over time the population actually increased. The reason can be associated partly with the relocation of crops and animals, new plantations supported the new inhabitants as they used the animal energy to help with the farming process. Even some American food caught on to the tastes of the europeans and made its way back to Europe. Migration was not only limited to crops and animals, but in fact people too. During the period from 1500 to 1800, the largest contingent of migrants consisted of enslaved Africans transported involuntarily to the Americas.[2] The Slaves were brought over to work on Portuguese plantations as well as other tasks. The slaves often were forced to live in poor conditions and suffered severely from malnutrition, but still were forced to work long hours on a daily basis. Owners of slaves had little respect for their lives and wellbeing, and they were often beaten, all of their interests laid in the potential profit that they could make from their plantation. When slaves became to old or weak to work, they were essentially left for dead, and new younger slaves were purchased as replacements. The global trade market began having an impact on the environment. Pelts and Furs became a valuable item in the trade market, so many animals were being killed for their furs in large quantities. Silver was also being mined because of its value in the market. Europeans had great interest in the silver that they could mine in the Americas, often having slaves working in the mines. The Conquest of mexico began in 1519 when Fernando Cortes led an army of 450 soldiers from Veracruz on the Gulf coast to the island city of Tenochtitlan, were they seized the emperor Motecuzoma II.[3] The envoys, or Aztec people, made sacrifices in front of the captain (Cortes), at this, he grew very angry.[4] Cortes and the Spanish did not like the “barbaric” ways, and took extreme offense to their actions. The spanish also had great interest in conquering Mexico and the Aztecs for the resources and land they controlled. Spanish Conquistadores had an advantage over the cities they attacked because the had more technologically advanced weapons and armory from the spanish, consequently leading to the victory over ever city they challenged. Settlers began moving into northern parts of America during the sixteenth century. Their route guided them up the Pacific coast were they continually built forts along the way, as far as the modern day Canadian city, Vancouver. This exploration allowed for permanent colonies to establish in the northern parts of America. Life in these settlements were difficult because settlers relied on finding valuable items like fur and silver to trade for food rather than creating their own sustainable plantations to independently grow food. It is said that some of the roughest times forced the remaining settlers to eat the corpses of the deceased to survive. Something as simple as a delay in a ships arrival could mean death for many of the colonies members. Colonial society began to take on a new look as the new European's began to establish relationships with the native people, creating a new race, which they called Mestizos. As the race grew they also established a spot in the social hierarchy that was in place. Colonies relied on the mining of silver because it was the most abundant American item and was in high demand by Spain. The Spanish received one fifth of all silver mined, witch they called the quinto. Eventually the Indigenous people began to resist against the work they were being payed so little for and the labor force shrunk tremendously. In desperate need of laborers the colonials turned to africa for slaves to resolve the issue. They began importing slaves in the 1530s in smaller amounts and did not begin using them on a large basis until the 1580s. Briefly, indentured labor was also put in place, in which people were paid for their labor, but at a minimal rate. They were acquired in Europe due to their lack of a future there, often because they were criminals, unemployed, or orphans, and were brought over free of charge to be put in contract to work for a period of time. The use of indentured labor eventually failed due to the availability of slave labor. Eventually a market style system was put in place in regards to the trade and exchange of slaves. The slave trade was started by Portuguese explorers. The spanish turned to this market once illness amongst other things depleted their indigenous labor force. They received their first shipment of slaves in 1518, these slaves were immediately put to work on sugar plantations. Eventually the spanish developed a system called the triangular trade, it was a all part of a voyage that made three stops, the first was from Europe to Africa, were they traded manufactured goods and guns in exchange for slaves, the second leg was from Africa to America, were the new slave cargo was sold to plantation owners, the last leg was from America Back to europe, were American goods were brought back were the process was repeated. These slaves were in kept in pens at port cities, and loaded into ships upon their arrival, to make the journey across the atlantic in horrible conditions. During the early slave trade mortality could exceed fifty percent.[5] Solely because of the horrible conditions they were kept in and the diseases they were exposed to. Even with a constant flow of Africans being exported as slaves, the population of Africa also saw an increase. This increase is believed to be a result of the the new resources they received while trading with Europe and the Americas. Bread amongst many other crops and items were traded for the slaves, allowing them to sustain a healthier population and raise healthier children. Africa was also exporting gold, which was desired by the Spanish and other European traders. Eventually the Slave Trade came to and end, it started when Denmark abolished trade in slaves in 1803. Other lands followed suit: Great Britain in 1807, the United States in 1808, France in 1814, the Netherlands in 1817 and Spain in 1845.[6] This only abolished the physical aspect of trading slaves, but slavery was still in full swing. Ships began smuggling slaves across the atlantic because the demand was still high from plantation owners in the Americas. British naval squadrons were assigned to locate and stop these vessels, and eventually the trade was eliminated. Tobacco was an essential crop in the Americas because of its believed medicinal purposes, but rapidly became of use to the Europeans as a recreational drug. Quickly tobacco began exportation to Europe and many other areas that trade ships landed across the globe. This global demand for tobacco allowed for even more expansion of Americas trade markets an even higher demand of labor forces for the increased production of goods in America. The market stayed successful because of tobacco's addictive properties. The exportation of goods from America helped many other countries, including China, to increase their populations. Goods were being exported all over the world allowing many civilizations to meet their required nutritional needs, even sometimes with a surplus, meaning their population had room to grow, which it did. The Chinese had not reached their technological prime when it came to agriculture, which was not as good as the Americans methods. Merchants that came to China in search of a market for their goods began teaching the Chinese methods that were in use at American plantations, also increasing their agricultural productivity and thus better supporting their growing population. Religion also tailed the new inhabitants, and began to spread across the land. Spanish missionaries worked to spread christianity, and had some success. Mexico saw great popularity in christianity because they incorporated the Virgin of Guadalupe into the religion as an miracle worker. Her tales were constantly told across Mexico, and contributed largely to the successes that missionaries saw in Mexico. Missionaries in other parts had some success but were succeeded by their counterparts The results of the discovery of the Americas was a global landmark in the expansion of world trade. The western hemisphere quickly became a vital part in the the economies and markets of countries across the globe. It also contributed to the Syncretism of societies resulting in an abundance of new racial groups. The modern world was based on the contact between countries in both hemispheres. Resulting from the exchange of slaves, inhabitants, religion, food crops, silver, diseases, animals, and technological advancements in many applications were the foundation of the modern world. This expansion helped the Americas as well as many other countries to achieve better and more modern functional societies.
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[1] Bentley, Jerry H., Herbert F. Ziegler, and Heather E. Streets. Traditions and Encounters. a Brief Global History. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2008. Print. (P.382)
[2] Bentley, Jerry H. Traditions and Encounters. (P.383)
[3] Bentley, Jerry H. Traditions and Encounters. (P.414)
[4] Leon, Portilla Miguel. The Broken Spears: the Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico. Boston: Beacon, 2006. Print. (P. 128)
[5] Bentley, Jerry H. Traditions and Encounters. (P. 441)
[6] Bentley, Jerry H. Traditions and Encounters. (P. 446)