La Conquista and Global Commerce

Before I give you my thought on the reading for this week, let me tell you that  I found a really cool video that I would like to share with you guys and make the whole reading a little more fun  =)

It was definitely quiet interesting to read again about the conquistadores and how Europe came and revolutionized the way of living of the Natives in the Americas.  Right now reading about seems very normal and we all simply just accept it, but what did the Natives think and felt of all the oppression and the changes they had to go through in order to not be killed and in order to keep their families tradition even if it was hidden. From the Native’s point of view, it makes me really angry to think of Europeans, especially how Spain came and claimed a land imposing their culture and their beliefs.  It is also sad to read about families loosing their loved ones due to illnesses brought from Europe and not being able to find a cure or fight against it since they “could not get up to search for food, and everyone else was too sick to care for them, so they starved to death in their beds” (p407).  It is also really sad to see how Europeans also treated Native as their slaves but it’s god to know that others got to be educated but only if they had the chance of looking “White”.    On the other hand, at least something good happened, being this the exchange of plants and animals which helped men in the Americas to work better in the agricultural field.

From the European point of view, this conquista had a great significance for Europe.  It made it possible for the Columbian Exchange, which gave rise to “an interactive Atlantic world connecting four continents” (p409). Without the colonization in America, “Europe would have remained inferior, as ever, in wealth and power, to the great civilization of Asia”.

Speaking of Asia, it is really important to mention that while Europe was busy making slaves and claiming land in America, Asia and Russia were not wasting time. Russia was really busy creating their empire, but even though Russia and Europe were in different continents, they were both oppressing others and gaining power colonizing new lands.

The whole conquest and the birth of Empires only gave rise to the global commerce of spices, textiles, silver, gold and slave trading. Although China had more experience in the trade market and therefore it continued to “remain [one of the] major engines of the world economy despite the emerging presence of Europeans around he world” (p458). 

So far I have talked about the colonization in America and about the global commerce that accompanied such colonization after the intercontinental trading and all the doors that were open for commerce.  A very important and really controversial topic is religion.  It is an extensive topic that I would not be covering on this post but I most definitely will talk about and dedicate a whole blog just to it.