HIS104
A CHANGING WORLD 6
A Changing World
Name
Institution
A Changing World
The much-hyped new world may just have existed quietly with its resources and indigenous cultures were it not for sailors possibly pushed out their territories by life challenges and curiosity. The discovery of the new world just marked the beginning of a great journey towards prosperity in the three main circles of life namely: social, economic and political circles. From the time of Columbus to America’s independence the exchanges between the new and the old world saw exchanges that shaped and destroyed the world in equal measures. None the less the world continues to enjoy the fruits of these exchange and the benefits so far surpass the disadvantages.
The paper seeks to affirm the fact that the discovery of the new world has brought about cultural technological and economic changes that have sustained the universe to date. It shall demonstrate the exchanges that occurred during this discovery as well as identify the main cultural groups that were affected by this discovery. Lastly, the discussion shall examine how the lives of average working Americans were affected by this discovery, especially in the colonial era.
New and old world exchanges
Christopher Columbus is hailed as the first sailor to have discovered America in search of gold, spice, and pearls. However, this assertion is far from the truth because there were other sailors who had allegedly visited America before the 1492 period (Desai, 2014). Nonetheless, the visitation by Christopher Columbus is highly marked in history because it opened the route for other sailors from Europe, one of the main exchanges that arose from this discovery was land for settlement.
The Britons who were fleeing from the harsh kings in their country found fresh land in which they could settle freely and start a new life. Since the land was fresh and fertile these settlers were able to grow crops such as corn. Leif Ericson who is believed to have visited the American land way before Columbus found a lot of grape-vines and even named the land “Vinland”. John Cabot just like Columbus thought that America was China and as such claimed land for his mother country England (Driver, 2011).
The second eminent exchange that followed this discovery was the religious aspect where immigrants from Europe brought about Christianity to the new world. The Native American also known as referred to Indians had their own traditional religious practices but the infiltration of these new sailors saw them lose their traditions and assimilate the new wave of Christianity either forcefully or voluntarily.
Economic prosperity was witnessed in the 1600s where there was plenty of food for and shopkeepers wanted to secure a monopoly for themselves. This prosperity encourages trade between the new world and Europe. With the emergence of government as the new entrants in the new world had established their authorities there arose such trade practices such as smuggling and hoarding of goods and services and hence the rise of mercantilism as observed by Adam smith (Hopkins, 2013). Apart from exchanging goods and services there arose such negative exchanges especially diseases such as smallpox, measles, and Malaria.
Affected parties and groups
The discovery of America did not just affect the natives alone. The results of the discovery saw ripple effects that were to be felt even in England and North America. The first people to feel the effect of these settlers were the Native Americans. Firstly, they lost their traditional cultural practices. Additionally, they lost their land to the Europeans especially the fertile regions. Secondly, they lost their sovereignty as the Britons were later to colonize them. Traders were also affected by this discovery in the sense that laws governing the use of waters were established and modes of trade were partly regulated by these pieces of legislations (Hopkins, 2013). For example, traders were restricted to only trade with nations that were located south of Cape Finisterre.
Effects of the discovery in the colonial period
The changing cultural, economic and political systems meant that the natives and the settlers would equally face the wrath of the greedy sailors and oppressive leadership from those that had actually acquired the resources early enough. The average working American had to grapple with increased prices of commodities as shopkeepers struggled to gain the monopoly over the food produced in the colonies. This meant that the average American had to work harder and on a lower pay to sustain himself in this period. As the colonialists acquired more land the world was to feel the effects of this discovery. The owners of land wanted free labor so that they could maximize on their earning (Andreas, 2013). These ideas triggered the most famous slave trade.
Conclusion
The discovery of the new world has however brought about the good and bad side to global front. Since the time of the settlers the new world experienced a lot of upsets in all its societal structures such that it had to adopt the new ways of doing things as far as religion, politics and even business was concerned. The Native American were literally absorbed into the new cultures and they even had to submit to the new government systems. However, the exchange saw the new world develop into a nation with people of diverse skill and capabilities and that is why today America is hailed as the greatest democracy and an economic giant.
References
Andreas, P. (2013). Smuggler nation: how illicit trade made America. Oxford University
Press.
Driver, H. E. (2011). Indians of North America. University of Chicago Press.
Desai, C. M. (2014). The Columbus myth: Power and ideology in picturebooks about
Christopher Columbus. Children's Literature in Education, 45(3), 179-196.
Hopkins, T. (2013). Adam Smith on American Economic Development and the Future of the
European Atlantic Empires. In The Political Economy of Empire in the Early Modern
World (pp. 53-75). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Warby, M. (2011). Discovery, Connection and Trade. Agora, 46(2), 31.
