The Age of Discovery - Essay Example

 The Age of Discovery The moon landings mark the extent of man’s exploration in miles traveled but the time dubbed the Age of Discovery was the last occasion in which mankind discovered a previously unseen ‘New World.’ This was a period of world-wide economic, social and cultural change leading to an acceleration of technological and scientific advancement. The mid 1400’s to mid 1500’s also saw the expansion of slavery, a by-product of imperialistic European nations conquering, dominating and exploiting the peoples of the Americas in addition to stealing their wealth. This discussion will examine this period in history and how it abruptly altered the course of human events. Specifically, whether the phrase Age of Discovery appropriately describes this era as the most significant age of human discovery; the rampant rush to imperialistic tactics by the invading nations and the consequences including the subsequent escalating slave trade. Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery refers to the time in history when Europeans discovered the Americas. Explorers following the ships of Christopher Columbus found, on their own planet, a new land mass inhabited by humans. Of all mankind’s explorations, this period of discovery had the most impact on the future of the world’s collective societies. It caused the questioning of Christian religious dogma which encouraged the further use of critical thought on a widespread scale thus allowing society to advance both in knowledge and in the concept of human thought (Kreis, 2002). Until it was proved differently, church officials deemed it heresy to suggest the Earth was round because the Bible refers to the ‘four corners of the world.’ In addition, if God flooded the world and only Noah’s family survived, where did these people come from? The scientific boom that began in the 1600’s and continues to this day owes much to the Age of Discovery that preceded it. The church was no longer able to stifle scientific knowledge following the events of this era. Additionally, the economy of Portugal, then Spain, Europe and Asia among others experienced a revival due to the increasing slave trade and the lifestyle and cultural traditions of the native people of the ‘new world’ were forever altered. The term ‘discovery’ would indeed accurately describe this ‘age’ more so than any other era in human history. Simply finding the new land mass populated by humans would itself qualify the definition (Kreis, 2002). Portugal and then soon afterward Spain embarked on the greatest adventure in human history during the late 15th century. This period of exploration is properly referred to as the Age of Discovery. Portugal was interested in the new avenues and forms of trade that the discovery of the Americas offered while Spain’s intent in the New World was occupation and subjugation of the native people (Kreis, 2002). The treasures the land provided and the labor of slaves captured in the Americas greatly built-up the Spanish economy and allowed its entire empire to flourish. The benefits of discovering the New World was enormous. Europe, particularly Spain, was inundated with silver, gold and free labor which greatly improved a sagging economy and fragmented political situations. “If the Age of Discovery did anything, it restored the self-confidence of Europe, and in turn, Europe rediscovered itself” (Kreis, 2002). Exploring the New World was a good investment. The cost was relatively low compared to the potential reward. The risk for sailors was high, however. When Europeans first met the natives, they were a long way from home and outnumbered so the strategy was to befriend them (Kreis, 2002). The friendly pretense soon faded when vast quantities of gold and silver were discovered soon after the first meetings and the mass exploitation started. The Europeans’ initial first motive in the new lands was probably an eagerness to observe and understand the newfound cultures. The conquest mentality in the Age of Discovery could have had religious origins, a deep-seated connection with the Crusades of a few centuries earlier (Kreis, 2002). A third motivation for exploring the New World was purely economic in nature while others encompassed cultural enlightenment and expansion, political ambitions and religious recruitment concerns. During the 1500’s, “Western Christendom felt itself to be shrinking and decaying at a time when Islam seemed to be enlarging its domain” (Kreis, 2002). Empire Building (Imperialism) When historians refer to imperialism, they are generally describing one nation conquering and dominating another group of peoples. The actions of 15th century Europeans in the Americas certainly fit this definition. The New World was discovered at about the same time the navies and merchant shipping of European nations were at their apex. Therefore, this was an opportunistic time to colonize other lands, especially those whose inhabitants were less technologically advanced. This is what the Romans did and the Greeks before them, it was the Europeans turn for imperialistic conquest. The New World conquest yielded new lands, riches and slave labor which set-off an imperialistic hunger that spread to Africa. It was closer, larger and the natives from that continent were preferred as slaves over the natives of the Americas. The Europeans quickly claimed jurisdiction over most regions of Africa and Turkey as well. The British conquered India and did modernize its economy but it was to their own benefit. European nations also claimed mass regions of Southeast Asia (McDougal-Littell, 1999). By the early 19th century, the New World wealth had been well plundered and it was widely feared that the slaves emanating from there could spread new diseases in Europe or contract European diseases and die themselves. Africa was an attractive target to quench the Europeans’ new thirst to create far-away empires and control territories that held the raw materials needed to maintain and grow their prosperous economies which were built upon imperialistic tactics. New territories also meant the opportunity to trade with new markets. By the mid 19th century, the conquest for Africa was well underway. Gaining and controlling new territories outside the original country was justified by many explanations. A certain amount of national pride fueled the desire for an expansionist agenda. Obtaining new colonies was widely viewed as a gauge of a nation’s global prominence. Another justification was based on the prevalent racist attitude. “Europeans thought that they were better than Africans” (McDougal-Littell, 1999). Church officials and missionaries encouraged imperialism because the natives of conquered territories could be more easily coerced to convert to Christianity. The British East India Company owned vast tracts of land and was the most powerful economic power in 1700’s India (McDougal-Littell, 1999). British laws required industries in India to furnish dyes, coffee, cotton and most importantly, tea to British companies. Other trade laws that favored British interests ultimately caused the closure of many Indian businesses. Because British regulation dictated which crops were to be grown, many villages and individual farmers were not able to supply themselves with enough food. India did enjoy some benefit as a result of British rule. The country’s infrastructure was greatly modernized with new telegraph lines, bridges, dams and the third largest railway system in the world (McDougal-Littell, 1999). Schools were built raising the literacy rate and enhanced sanitation systems improved the general health of the population (McDougal-Littell, 1999). European countries also annexed large portions of Southeast Asia because of its close proximity to China and to obtain new sources for raw materials and resources such as coffee, sugar, fruits, rubber and cocoa (McDougal-Littell, 1999). As the amount of trade increased in this region of the world, European nations increased their conquered territories. Indonesia was controlled by the Dutch; Malaysia, Burma and Singapore were British owned. France took what is now Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Though local Asian farmers were growing much more rice under European rule, much of it was being exported which caused a shortage of food in these areas (McDougal-Littell, 1999). Colonialism did bring some favorable features of modern technology such as higher quality schools and methods of sanitation but the economic changes were to the Europeans’ benefit. In addition, large-scale plantation-style farming techniques merged together different people from all areas of Asia and this mixture of various religions and cultures caused conflicts. Some of the current conflicts between peoples of this region had its origins during this period of mass imperialism (McDougal-Littell, 1999). Atlantic Slave Trade Initially, when the Spanish controlled the Caribbean islands, their interests were only in the mining of silver and gold. When the riches of the mines had been exhausted, the search for additional wealth moved inland and the Spaniards adopted a plantation based economy (Meyer, 2003). Products from the Americas such as tobacco, cotton, cocoa and sugar were becoming increasingly popular in Europe which caused the Caribbean plantations growing these commodities to grow accordingly. The shortage of man-power to operate these ever-growing plantations required many numbers of slaves from Africa to be imported. As the Spaniards were reaping the rewards from its colonization of the Americas, their need for additional labor in the mines and plantations continued to grow. However, the local population was dwindling with the influx of disease and abuse and this, combined with Spain abolishing the enslavement of natives in the Americas in the mid 1500’s, necessitated a need to acquire Africans to fill their labor requirements (Meyer, 2003). In the initial phase of slavery in the New World (1519-1580), colonies were being formed and the trade of slaves was somewhat limited. From 1580 to 1650, slave trade from Africa soared because of the massive Native American deaths due to disease, the growth of the economy on the colonies and the unification of the Portuguese and Spanish governments (Palmer, 1976). The early era of colonization in the New World was a time of enormous changes as “the native Indian populations were decimated by disease and increasingly dominated by the Spanish social and economic structure” (Meyer, 2003). Slavery declined steadily during the years 1650 to 1827. Estimates put the total number of African slaves brought to new colonies from 1519 to 1650 at 120,000 (Meyer, 2003). The bulk of these slaves worked in the important mining and agricultural industries but they also were used for other menial type activities such as servants and cooks. History seems to repeat itself over and over again. To the Greeks, non-Greeks were thought of as barbarians, Romans believed they were the only truly civilized race and Christians continue to segregate the people in terms of believer and non-believer. The conquest of lands and societies by a country provides its people with feelings of patriotism and unity. As has been witnessed with most all of the world’s societies throughout history, strong feelings of nationalism breeds contempt and disdain for those outside the geographical, racial or ideological boundaries of that particular group. These perceptions of superiority grew so intense that Europeans justified the total subjugation of two races of people. The Age of Discovery was the era of massive slavery as well. Because of the widespread, long lasting era of enslaving people that were of a different color than the Europeans, the lingering stench of bigotry continues to this day. It took the U.S. almost exactly a century from the time the slaves were freed (1865) until Civil Rights legislation (1964) was passed which guaranteed persons of color the same rights as all other citizens (Kreis, 2002). Apartheid existed in the country of South Africa until relatively recently. The perception of superiority delayed equal rights to all persons for many years after slavery ceased, a point of view that traces its roots to the widespread imperialist, inhumane act of slave trading. Since perception is reality, many persons of color suffered in many ways long after slavery was abolished. During the Age of Discovery, the societies of the world as a whole took a quantum leap forward, from the dark age of intellectual suppression to an era of enlightenment and free thought that continues today. Prior to this time in history, questioning authority and established manners of thought was considered wrong. Afterwards, it was considered an attribute and has been the foundation of countless scientific, philosophical and social advancements. Explorations of the unknown during the Age of Discovery illuminated more than simply a new part of the same world for the adventurous Europeans. It launched mankind ahead in terms of freeing the constraints on thought. However, this new-found cognitive advantage of questioning conventional wisdom apparently did not extend to applying the critical thinking process to the inhumane practice of keeping and trading slaves or indiscriminately conquering and dominating another land and its people. Work Cited Kreis, Steven. “The Age of Discovery.” The History Guide. (2002). February 24, 2007 < http://www.historyguide.org/earlymod/lecture2c.html> McDougal-Littell. “Telescoping the Times: The Age of Imperialism, 1850-1914.” (1999). February 24, 2007 Meyer, Michael C. The Course of Mexican History. (7th Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Palmer, Colin A. Slaves of the White God: Blacks in Mexico, 1570-1650. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1976. Read More