Assignment 1.2: A Changing World Final Paper

A Changing World: Discovery of America and Passage to the Indies
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A Changing World: Discovery of America and Passage to the Indies
Introduction
Numerous scholars believed that the discovery of America was one of the greatest and most important events in human history. The passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope was another remarkable event by humans. The “New World” presented new economic opportunities to the Europeans, which included the initiation of the Atlantic Slave Trade (Acemoglu, Johnson, & Robinson, 2002). However, the New World became a zone of forced labor, indentured servitude, and slavery in the plantations, which were unprecedented. As the Europeans occupied and established in the Western Hemisphere, it marked the foundation of new and long histories of slavery and freedom. The Native Americans, the Europeans, and Africans were differently affected by the changes that were taking place in the New World. The Natives lost their indigenous cultures, the Africans were subjected to slavery, while the Europeans exploited their newfound opportunities. The discovery of America was based on new economic opportunities, and it ultimately led to Atlantic slave trade where Africans were treated as less humans.
Three major aspects – old and new world exchanges
The three major aspects that demonstrated old and new world exchanges include the Atlantic slave trade, the Columbian exchange, and the New World.
Columbian Exchange
As Europeans moved across the Atlantic, there was a massive transfer of animals, plants, people, technologies, cultures, and diseases. This continent-wide exchange between the Old World (Europe), New World (Americas), and Africa came to be collectively referred to as the Columbian Exchange (Nunn & Qian, 2010). In his book explaining the creation of the new world, journalist Charles Mann says that no other individual managed to profoundly transform the face of the earth as Christopher Columbus did (Grolle, 2013). When Columbus managed to cross the Atlantic, his adventure marked the establishment of a new age for the Europeans, Americas, Africa, and Asia. This marked the dawn of globalization and global trade leading to widespread movement of human populations and goods. Prior to 1492, the Americas was largely unknown and it is only after the three ships, Pinta, Nina, and Santa Maria set sail that the new world was discovered. Moreover, Europe and China did not know much about each other. However, after one century, Spanish ships would export silver mined South America to China. Spaniards merchants sold clothes in exchange for Chinese silk, and this trade was facilitated by Mexican middlemen. According to Nunn and Qian (2010), the Columbian exchange marked the beginning of slave trade.
The Atlantic Slave Trade
The Atlantic slave trade was a harrowing experience for Africans since they were captured from their native origin in Africa, mostly West Africa, and taken to slavery in the Americas. Colonial farmers in the Americas bought African slaves from European traders but this had sweeping consequences. The colonists depended solely on the African slaves to work in their cotton, tobacco, and rice plantations (Acemoglu, Joh...