Blog_WW Ch 13, 14 &
15
Early
Modern World 1450-1750
The
Early Modern World consisted of a time of explorations, conquering of new
territories, establishing of societies with political structures developed in
many nations giving way for Globalization. Although these 3 centuries “marked
less in entry into the modern era than the continuing development of older
agrarian societies” (613) they made an impact that changed many nations. New
empires like European, Middle Eastern and Asian set the stage for this
globalization thru long distance trade of spices, sugar, silver, fur and
slaves. And “the global silver trade
allowed Europeans to use New World precious metal to buy their way into ancient
Asian Trade routes” (611).
This
period in history “lay in the oceanic journeys of European explorers and the
European conquest and colonial settlement of the Americas” (611) The Europeans
colonies were made up of Spaniards who built an empire in the Caribbean then
went on the conquered and destroy the Aztec and Incan empires in the Americas. The
colonization of these empires meant the start of mixed races known as
“mestizos”. The Portuguese who
“established themselves along the coast of present day Brazil” (618) and colonized
there became known as “mulattoes”. The British, French and Dutch explorers
“launched colonial settlements along the eastern coast of North America” (618)
what is today Canada. We to this day still see evidence of these European
explorers colonization, in Central and South America where Spanish is the
native language, in Brazil where Portuguese is the native language and in North
America where French is still spoken.
This
Era marked a new way of connecting 4 continents, with goods from other nations
and made commerce a means of economic wealth for some people. Connecting
peoples meant the growth of population in certain parts of the world which nearly
doubled while in other parts there were many loss of lives. In the Americas the
Spaniards brought diseases the wiped out most of the native Aztecs and Incas. “The Atlantic slave trade linked Africa
permanently to the Western Hemisphere” (611), and many lives were loss crossing
the “Middle Passage” to the new world. While the Europeans were out exploring
and conquering other nations, Russia, China and the Ottoman Empire were at home
conquering and expanding their neighboring lands.
Religion
most certainly played on role during this time as well, the “Scientific Revolution”
was a way of explaining the “why” of the different beliefs. “If human reason
could discover the laws that governed the universe, surely it could uncover
ways in which humankind might govern itself more effectively.” (745) Thus
enlightenment is to use ones’ own understanding without the guidance of anyone
to belief or not belief in a higher power.