Assignment 1:2 A Changing World Final Paper

Assignment 1:2 A Changing World Final paper

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Assignment 1:2 A Changing World Final paper

The discovery of America was the discovery of the new world. It was the strange land for the inhabitants of the world that this piece of land existed near the Atlantic Ocean. No one knew about this area as no one ever tried to cross the Pacific Ocean and attempted to look beyond it. Thanks to some of the great travelers in the world that quenched their thirst of travelling and familiarize the world with a new continent and countries. In this vein, the name of Christopher Columbus is truly remarkable as he is the who discovered the American Continent in the world. He was a European and Italian specifically by descent. He took his first mission to find alternative routes to Asia in the lure of trading activities, however, this effort resulted in the discovery of the United States of America. Europeans became familiar with the new lands and like everywhere else, they tried to colonize this area of the world as well. A tussle among European powers started for colonies that brought European influence in natives' life. This new found land or the Golden land-as some scholars attributed it in the past – enriched the economies of their mother countries. It accelerated business activities globally and this also paved the way for the process of industrialization on a wider scale. There were many cultural exchanges which affected people massively, and this impacted the quality and ways of life in the world. In this way, the discovery and the exploration of the American continent is, undoubtedly, one of the greatest events in recorded history.

To begin with, the results of the Columbian exchange are much significant in this regard. There were many exchanges between the new world of American continent and the old world of Europeans. Both parts of the world readily exchanged different items such as fruits, vegetables, and coffee beans. There were many exchanges of agricultural products as well between the new world and the rest of the world such as potatoes, and corns. This Columbian exchange was not restricted to only plants as it exchanged the animals too. The Europeans transported the specie “old beasts” and livestock in the form of pigs to the new world of America. Moreover, this Columbian exchange between the two parts of the world was also led to the transportation of diseases since deadly viruses moved easily in different countries of the world. One of the deadly diseases that were exchanged was smallpox from the European continent to the American continent. This exchange of diseases was reciprocal as Syphilis also moved from the New World of America to the old world of Europeans ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"zZY49MsQ","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Weisman, 1966)","plainCitation":"(Weisman, 1966)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":822,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/ZD9MNZ2P/items/CGVNIJC9"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/ZD9MNZ2P/items/CGVNIJC9"],"itemData":{"id":822,"type":"article-journal","title":"Syphilis: was it endemic in pre-columbian america or was it brought here from europe?","container-title":"Bulletin of the New York academy of medicine","page":"284","volume":"42","issue":"4","source":"Google Scholar","title-short":"Syphilis","author":[{"family":"Weisman","given":"Abner I."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1966"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Weisman, 1966). Hence, the Columbian exchange between the two parts of the world holds much importance in world history.

Columbian exchange affected several groups of people. The class of farmers was affected by this mutual exchange of idea and products. The farmers began growing new agricultural products such as corn, potatoes, rice, in the old world. This was primarily of the reason that the southern part of the American continent had an abundant supply of water and the huge fertile land to support plantation ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"jQYlP3cZ","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Russell, 2000)","plainCitation":"(Russell, 2000)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":818,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/ZD9MNZ2P/items/MRPP6K8U"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/ZD9MNZ2P/items/MRPP6K8U"],"itemData":{"id":818,"type":"book","title":"The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies","publisher":"McFarland","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Russell","given":"David Lee"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2000"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Russell, 2000). So, Europeans took inspiration from this style of plantation and they also transferred their indigenous fruits such as banana and citrus fruits to American people. Furthermore, traders were also affected as there was a boom in import and exports of fruits, vegetables, and farm animals. They made huge profits from trading activities. Merchants also discovered new and easy trade routes to China and Russia as they provided shorter access to new markets in the world. Asian people were good traders at that time and everyone loved the cheap products from the Asian continent. When this state of affairs prolonged, the demand became consistent and then commodities from the new world were shipped to the rest of the world by utilizing the means of globalization. This step elevated the status and rank of American in the global market and cemented its credentials. Similarly, the introduction of the slave trade and slave labor influenced the labour class. Slavery became deeply entrenched in the American society ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"VOGWpkIi","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Kulikoff, 2012)","plainCitation":"(Kulikoff, 2012)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":816,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/ZD9MNZ2P/items/JM5HU3ZB"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/ZD9MNZ2P/items/JM5HU3ZB"],"itemData":{"id":816,"type":"book","title":"Tobacco and slaves: The development of southern cultures in the Chesapeake, 1680-1800","publisher":"UNC Press Books","source":"Google Scholar","title-short":"Tobacco and slaves","author":[{"family":"Kulikoff","given":"Allan"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2012"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Kulikoff, 2012) and it was only after the emancipation proclamation that slavery was uprooted from the American way of life. The free labor was also considered superior as they were not bonded for life. This cultural exchange also led to the inception of private property in different societies of the world. This new way of life also transformed the family system as it gave impetus to the concepts such as nuclear family units. In short, cultural exchanges affected many sections of people in the world.

The effects of new global trade routes on occupation and the quality of average life were dramatic and magnificent. The American continent was discovered to find alternative routes to Asia as the Ottoman Empire had blocked the existing land and sea routes to Asian Markets. So, after the discovery of the new world, this routing problem was solved. There were alternative shipping routes to Asia and China and it facilitated more trading among the continents. More trade brought more surplus for the people and the economies of different countries boomed in the process. Europeans or American made huge amounts of profits and developed their countries. This is the reason that European empires became even richer with such business activities across the Pacific Ocean. Europeans accumulated the wealth of other nations by different strategies, sometimes by trading, and sometimes by plundering. This focus on money and mercantilism also evolved the proletarian culture in different societies. The American way of life was impacted and this was same for everyone else in the world ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"4zsY9BuK","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Post, 2019)","plainCitation":"(Post, 2019)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":820,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/ZD9MNZ2P/items/M6ICG5YA"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/ZD9MNZ2P/items/M6ICG5YA"],"itemData":{"id":820,"type":"chapter","title":"The American Road to Capitalism","container-title":"Case Studies in the Origins of Capitalism","publisher":"Springer","page":"165–189","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Post","given":"Charles"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2019"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Post, 2019). This social life also witnessed the explosion of culture and knowledge in the world which dramatically changed the traditional family system in society. This free movement of ideas, good and people all over the world also paved the way for historic movements such as the European Renaissance which is associated with the rebirth process in the world. This free movement was not restricted to just ideas or the goods, it was about people as well. Several people migrated from old world to new world and established livelihoods there. This changed the American societal patterns in the new world and the overall life of an American in that golden world. Thus, the effects of new trade routes and occupations enormously changed the quality and ways of life for American people.

In a nutshell, it may be concluded from the above discussion that the discovery of America was one of the greatest events in recorded history. This discovery led to the widespread Columbian exchanges between the two parts of the world- the new world and the old world. This Columbian exchange radically transformed many social groups such as labor, farmers, merchants and their dynamics in society. Moreover, this discovery of new routes and occupations changed the quality and ways of life for most Americans and the world in general. So, it was Christopher Columbus who discovered America and it appeared on the map of the world. It marked the beginning of Europeans' influence in the world and this expanded even across the Atlantic Ocean in the Golden land of the American continent.

References:

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Kulikoff, A. (2012). Tobacco and slaves: The development of southern cultures in the Chesapeake, 1680-1800. UNC Press Books.

Post, C. (2019). The American Road to Capitalism. In Case Studies in the Origins of Capitalism (pp. 165–189). Springer.

Russell, D. L. (2000). The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies. McFarland.

Weisman, A. I. (1966). Syphilis: was it endemic in pre-columbian america or was it brought here from europe? Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 42(4), 284.