INTRODUCTION

DISCOVERY

The age of European expansion was a revolutionary turning point in history as continents, islands and peoples that had existed for millennia in isolation were abruptly brought into contact with the peoples and goods of Eurasia and Africa. European claims of discovery, of course, ignored the glaring fact millions of indigenous people lived in the Americas, Africa and the Pacific at the time of European contact. Nevertheless, from the perspective of those in Europe, Africa and Asia, these new found regions were home to fascinating finds, including unknown American food items such as tomatoes, corn, cacao, tobacco and, most impactful of all, the potato.

Cultivation of the potato originated in the high reaches of the Andes between 3000-2000 BCE. Benefits of the potato were clear from the start. They grew in large amounts and could adapt to diverse climates, thriving best in the cool, moist mountain heights. Potatoes became a principal crop supporting Incan workers and soldiers, particularly in the form of chuño which, when freeze dried in cold altitudes, could be stored for up to 10 years.

Following European ‘discovery’ of this crop, the Spanish introduced potatoes to Europe but the Iberian climate was not conducive to crop success. It was in the colder, wetter climates of Northern Europe that potatoes flourished. Cultivation of potatoes spread to Ireland by the end of the 1500s, to the Lowlands region of Belgium and Netherlands by the 1600s, to France and Central Europe by the 1700s, and potatoes were being grown in Russia by the 1800s. Potatoes had many advantages over European staple crops such as wheat and barley. They withstood more varied and colder climates and did well in thinner soils. Potatoes are also highly nutritious, providing two to four times the calories per acre than grains, as well as supplying more nutrients and vitamins. In addition, planting potatoes significantly increased overall food yields. Traditional grain growing required a third of the field remain fallow each season as a means of weed control. When potatoes were cultivated in fallow fields, food production significantly increased.

Adoption of potatoes reduced the threat of famine, long a dreaded event in grain-dependent European societies. Historian Ferdinand Braudel estimated grain based communities in France experienced 40 country-wide famines between 1500–1800, about 1 every 10 years, a startling figure that did not even include more localized famine episodes. England experienced 17 regional or national famines between 1523–1623. Potato crops became a crucial supplement during these grain failures and in some regions, became the staple crop sustaining populations. In communities from Belgium to Russia, potatoes came to replace bread as a primary food supply; potatoes were cheaper, more nutritious, and less work to prepare. By the end of the 18th century, almost 40% of Irish diets relied on potatoes as the only solid food, not surprising given the fact potatoes grown in just one acre, combined with the milk from just one cow, could sustain a family of 6-8 people. In Lowlands countries and parts of central Europe, an estimated 10 to 30% of the population were sustained almost entirely by potatoes. As one author commented, “Routine famine almost disappeared in potato country, a 2,000-mile band that stretched from Ireland in the west to Russia’s Ural Mountains in the east. At long last, the continent could produce its own dinner” (Mann, 2011).

Another advantage was potatoes grew underground. In Europe, a region plagued by frequent wars, both friendly and enemy troops would often raid easily accessible grain stores for supplies, leaving in their wake communities that suffered starvation or malnutrition. But rarely would marauders stop to dig potatoes. Growing potatoes better ensured a food supply that could escape the notice of plundering troops. Frederick the Great of Prussia in 1744 explicitly ordered growing potatoes to withstand both enemy invasions and famine, distributing seed potatoes and growing instructions. French, Austrian and Russian monarchs also explicitly encouraged a shift to potato production as a safeguard against famine and to ensure food supplies during war. In fact, “….the value of potatoes in time of war was so enormous that every military campaign on European soil after about 1560 resulted in an increase in potato acreage, down to and including World War II” (McNeil 1999, 72).

By the end of the 18th century, potato cultivation had moved from back gardens to adoption as a field crop in Northern Germany, Eastern Europe, Russia and Ireland, resulting in substantive population growth. One historical study asserted “….the introduction of the potato accounts for approximately one-quarter of the growth in Old World population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900” (Nunn and Qian 2011, 593). Population growth and fewer famines expanded possibilities for European societies at home and abroad. European industrial growth in the 19th century, which generated massive wealth and profound global influence, was not possible without the food source of the potato, especially in Northern European regions. Population growth supported by the potato meant “…a suitable number of migrants from the countryside showed up to man the new machines and perform all the other nasty tasks of urban society. Rapidly growing European populations also filled the ranks of imperial armies and navies, and their victors in far parts of the globe allowed additional millions of Europeans to migrate overseas and eastward into Siberia as well” (McNeil 1999, 81).

Of course, expanding populations entirely reliant on a single food source faced disaster when this usually reliable food source failed, as the Irish experienced in the 19th century. A devastating blight hit Ireland’s potato fields in 1845–1848, wiping out an estimated 40–90% of crops during these years. This ecological catastrophe, exacerbated by callous neglect from the British government, resulted in mass starvation, debilitating malnutrition, and social upheaval. Ireland lost an estimated 20% of its population, almost 2.5 million, during these four years due to starvation, diseases (especially typhus), massive immigration, and lower birth rates.

Nevertheless, the myriad advantages of this ‘discovered’ crop were clearly evident in Europe, as well as other regions. Use of the potato spread to Asia through trade and later European imperialism. Recognition of the benefits of the potato led to its adoption in the cuisines of India, China, Japan and other regions in Asia. One Japanese observer in the 19th century observed that the “… extensive cultivation of potatoes would cure many social ills of the empire by alleviating food demands from a growing population” (Nunn and Qian 2011, 595). Since the 1960s, there have been significant increases in potato cultivation especially in developing countries. Today potatoes are the 4th most cultivated crop in the world, after wheat, corn and rice, with over 1 billion people consuming them. Potatoes are seen as critical to food security in parts of South America, Africa and Asia, including Central Asia. The ‘discovery’ of this remarkable crop has transformed the demographics, lifestyles and economies of many societies since Columbus’s voyages.

OVERVIEW

For the first 4000 years of human history, most societies across the globe were influenced only by neighboring cultures, and even then only to a limited degree. Many regions remained completely or semi-isolated. Trade links along Silk Road and Trans-Saharan caravan routes, and ancient trade links traversing the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean, facilitated trade for thousands of years yet only a limited number of societies participated in and were impacted by these trade networks. Even for those participating in trade networks, travel remained difficult, costly and unreliable.

In the 15th century, a dramatic change was initiated – the creation of extensive empires and trade links that spanned the entire globe. Between the 15th-17th centuries (1400s-1600s), sea based expansion ushered in a new era of global trade, competition, empire-building, and migrations. This new era was dominated by the handful of Western European countries that launched and exploited sea-based voyages of discovery and conquest. A new period in human history was born in the wake of these voyages, characterized by cultural fusion as well as the cultural diminishment or total eradication of some societies. The world became far smaller beginning in the 1400s-1500s, and it has continued to shrink at an ever-increasing pace. Today all inhabitants of the globe are directly tied together by economics, politics, communication technologies, war, diseases and environmental concerns. Global interconnections ushered in by the age of European expansion generated revolutionary changes impacting all societies, creating the ever-accelerating pace of change which defines the 21st century.

EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS

Many factors signaled the waning of the Middle Ages in Europe, including visible cultural, technological, and economic advances. Political developments were perhaps the most dramatic forces transforming this region from a stagnant backwater into a dynamic and influential presence in history. The shift from localized, feudal power to effective centralized states capable of projecting power was slow, hard-won and bloody.

In Northern Italy, even as the brilliant artistic achievements of the Italian Renaissance flourished, Italian city-states were locked in near-continual warfare. The Treaty of Lodi in 1454 secured a temporary peace in the Italian peninsula that lasted until 1494, when King Charles VIII of France (r. 1483–1498) directed the power of a newly consolidated French state to launch an invasion of Italy. In the wars that followed, French cannons battered down the medieval walls of Italian cities and castles. A new era of warfare was beginning, with the increased power wielded by ambitious centralizing political authorities.

In Western Europe, two of Europe’s most organized states, England and France, remained locked in the destructive Hundred Years War. During this conflict, England’s King Henry V (r. 1413–1422) came close to conquering all of France, aided by the fact France was riven by a civil war between two powerful noble houses, the Armagnacs and Burgundians. Eventually, France’s rival houses ended their differences, a process in which Jeanne D’Arc (Joan of Arc) played a critical role. A unified France expelled English troops, using trained and disciplined infantry funded by a centralized taxation system, ending the Hundred Years’ War in 1453. England’s loss in France was followed by a bloody civil war, the Wars of the Roses, which lasted from 1455 to 1485. While causing death and destruction, these extended periods of war strengthened England’s and France’s military might as well as consolidated central powers of monarchs, important prerequisites for later global ventures.

In southwest Europe, the Iberian peninsula also experienced changes that transformed power and influence in this region. Long the front line in the confrontation between Muslim and Christian worlds, Portugal, Castile, and Aragon were steeped in the traditions of the Reconquista – the goal of expanding the dominion of the Christian world by force of arms. The Reconquista underlay efforts by Iberian kingdoms to conquer Muslim lands, reducing Muslim and Jewish inhabitants to subordinate status, or in some cases outright slavery. In 1479, Isabella, the Queen of Castile, married King Ferdinand II of Aragon, creating a united Spanish kingdom. By 1492 these devoutly Catholic monarchs completed the Reconquista by conquering Granada, the last Muslim territory in Spain. All of Spain was now under Christian rule, and the king and queen were eager to continue spreading the Catholic religion.

Changes were also taking place in the Mediterranean. During the 14th century, the combined pressures of Venice and the Ottoman Empire forced the Italian city-state of Genoa out of the Eastern Mediterranean. Genoese sailors and merchants then turned their focus to the western half of the Mediterranean Sea, trading with the Islamic Maghreb and West Africa, a known source of gold. They had heard tales of Mansa Musa’s hajj to Mecca in the 1320s when so much gold was put into circulation, the price of gold in the Mediterranean market fell by 25%. Frustrated by the fact Morocco’s Muslim rulers controlled overland routes on which gold traveled from Mali to the Mediterranean, some considered bypassing overland routes by sailing around the Sahara via the Atlantic to directly access Africa’s gold. Putting this plan into action required significant transportation advances.

Changes in Seafaring Transportation and Goals

By the 14th century, the combination of the use of the compass, the portolan (a map accurately representing coastlines), and ships moved by sails rather than oars, allowed European navigators to venture into the open Atlantic waters that earlier Arabs and Ancient Romans had largely avoided. In later years, additional innovations and applications enabled more extended open sea travel, longer voyages and the creation of sea-based empires. Travel across the fierce Atlantic Ocean and even more intimidating Pacific Ocean required larger ship construction for greater durability and increased cargo capacity. Technological changes to increase maneuverability included significant improvements in sail materials, as well as advances in sail shapes and rigging. These innovations were essential counterparts to the construction of bigger, sturdier ships that could be mounted with cannons. The melding of military and maritime technology made possible ships capable of taking territories and securing strategic locations, as well as transporting large amounts of valuable cargo. Many innovations in shipbuilding and harnessing winds evident by the 15th century were based on advancements made by Islamic and Chinese maritime communities and first utilized in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and the Indian Ocean. European sea dominance resulted from synthesizing and applying available knowledge to produce vessels such as the agile Portuguese caravels and carracks.

Open sea travel remained treacherous in the 15th century despite key achievements in navigation, and ships making long sea voyages traveled only a limited distance away from land. For navigation, European sailors in the 1400s had the use of the marine compass developed by Chinese scientists, and knowledge of the astrolabe from Islamic maritime science. The astrolabe enabled a mariner to determine latitude (a ship’s position North and South.) Mastery of the astrolabe significantly enhanced navigational abilities, decreasing – though not eliminating – the risks of open sea sailing. Since the astrolabe enabled identifying only latitudinal position, many ships were still lost and voyages went astray until the ability to gauge longitude was discovered by Europeans in the 18th century.

Several powerful motivations drove Western European powers to invest in risky sea expeditions. The primary driving force was economic. By establishing direct ocean routes to Africa and Asia, European ships could bypass Silk Road and Mediterranean routes, avoiding taxes, keeping prices down, deriving direct profits, and ending the need to seek access through Islamic states. Another economic goal of sea-based expeditions was direct control of lucrative raw materials from Asia and Africa. Europeans moved in and seized control of coveted resources such as gold, salt and ivory. Long term control of fertile territories in temperate climates also enabled export crop agriculture; immense profits were generated by colonies from plantations producing crops such as sugar and tobacco.

Religious motivations also played a part. In addition to pursuing the Reconquista, fragmentation of the Christian world into several faiths resulting from the Protestant Reformation fueled a competitive urgency to transplant diverse Christian faiths across the globe. Finally, the drive to ‘seek and find out’ was a compelling motivation for many sailors and voyagers as Europeans slowly emerged from the isolation and stagnancy of the Middle Ages. The confluence of technical and political abilities ,and powerful expansionary motives, in the late 1400s led a handful of states in Western Europe to launch expeditionary voyages that would establish global connections for the first time in history.

EXPLORATION AND EXPANSION

Portugal

Genoese merchants sailing into the Atlantic were regularly visiting the Canary Islands by the early 1300s. These merchants, and others from Western Europe, increasingly served in the employ of Iberian kings. In 1404, King Henry III of Castile (r. 1390–1406) initiated Spanish efforts to conquer the Canaries and convert their indigenous peoples to Christianity. Over the next century, the Spanish conquered and settled the islands, driven by the Reconquista ideal of the military spread of the Christian faith. In the mid-15th century, the kingdom of Portugal began conquest and colonization of the Madeira Islands and the Azores, almost 700 miles southwest of Iberia in the Atlantic. Sugar plantations were established on the Canaries and Azores, with the fields worked by slave labor. Slaves were purchased from coastal West Africans, beginning a slave trade that would be as lucrative for its operators as it was brutal for its victims. The lure of African gold drew mariners and soldiers serving Iberian monarchs further south and west.

Portugal, a maritime culture bordering the Atlantic Ocean, was the first European state to deploy longer sea voyages, utilizing new seafaring capabilities. Having established trading bases in the Madeira and Azores islands, Portuguese expeditions now plotted sea routes to Western African coasts, bypassing traditional Trans-Saharan land and Mediterranean Sea routes. By 1482, the Portuguese had established the fort and trading post of São Jorge da Mina on the African coast of Guinea. Portuguese ships continued with further expeditions, seeking a sea route around Africa to reach the lucrative resource-rich ports of the Indian Ocean.

Throughout the late 1400s Portuguese expeditions traveled south, remaining relatively close to land until finally reaching the end of the continent, then hugged the land northeast up the African coast. The inaccurate state of existing geographic knowledge became glaringly clear as Africa was far larger than the Portuguese (and others) imagined. It took several expeditions to round the end of the continent, which Europeans named the Cape of Good Hope. This was finally achieved by Bartholomew Diaz in 1487. Utilizing long-established sea lanes of the Indian Ocean, the Portuguese secured direct trading links with several key ports. By 1510 Portugal had established a prominent trading presence in Goa, had seized control of the strategic port of Malacca by 1511, and reached Hormuz on the Persian Gulf by 1514. Portuguese ships established trading relations with China in Macau by 1535 and made contact with an isolated Japan by 1543. A Portuguese presence was established in several territorial footholds (trading bases) along the coasts of Africa and Asia. Portuguese ships asserted naval control of profitable sea lanes linking Europe to Asia through naval battles with Ottoman forces, and by raiding ships of trading companies and other countries. By the end of the 16th century, Portugal was a dominant sea power in the Indian Ocean, enjoying significant wealth generated by their control of trade and territories.

Spain

Neighboring Spain recognized the need to compete with Portugal’s growing naval and economic power. Under the newly unified and fervently Catholic monarchy of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, Spain funded expeditions to establish a global Spanish Catholic presence. This included a voyage captained by Genoese sailor Christopher Columbus. Columbus believed it possible to sail to Asia by traveling west across the Atlantic Ocean but his plans drastically underestimated the size of the world, nor did they include the vast landmass of the Americas. Lack of accurate geographic knowledge not only meant a longer voyage, but a dramatic misinterpretation of what was found when land was sighted.

Seventy days into the voyage, the exhausted crew finally sighted land and Columbus’ expedition of three ships made landfall in 1492, not in East Asia as they claimed, but in a land previously unknown to peoples of the Eastern Hemisphere. In the mistaken belief he was somewhere near India, Columbus declared the territory ‘the Indies’ and the land was claimed in the name of the Spanish crown – a claim of ‘discovery’ made despite the fact people were there to greet them on the shore. Though not realized at the time, the Spanish expedition had not reached Asia but an island in the Caribbean.

Often termed the “discovery of the Americas,” these continents had been populated for over 20,000 years by peoples later called Indians or Native Americans. Even in terms of Europeans first landing on these shores, Viking explorers landed on and established short-lived settlements in Newfoundland almost 400 years earlier. But knowledge of these Norse landings was not widespread, so Columbus’s expedition did represent a discovery of these lands from the perspective of the ‘Old World’ (Europe, Asia and Africa) whose inhabitants up to this point had no idea of the existence of the American continents. Columbus’ expeditions marked the abrupt end of thousands of years of isolation for American civilizations and peoples who after 1492 were forcibly and forever tied to the economies, peoples, diseases, politics and religions of Europe, Africa and Asia.

Columbus returned for a second voyage, landing on and laying Spanish claim to, the island of Hispaniola, today home to the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Columbus made four voyages in total to the Americas. In those territories he claimed for Spain, he instituted the practice of enslaving native labor, initiating a long tragic history for native peoples in the Americas.

Spain funded subsequent expeditions of explorers and conquerors (conquistadors) to establish the Spanish crown’s claim to new-found regions. Not until the turn of the century (1500) did explorers and leaders realize these new territorial possessions were not in Asia but were part of a whole new continent, a new land mass – a ‘New World’. Conquistadors sent to secure colonial rule extended Spanish power throughout the Caribbean and into mainland American regions. Centuries of conquest and brutal suppression of native peoples followed these initial voyages of exploration. Spanish control of these lands led to the migration of Spanish peoples and culture into this region.

In addition to securing control in the Americas, Spanish ships continued pursuing the discovery of a western sea route to Asian markets, a feat finally achieved by the Magellan expedition. Launched from Spain in 1519, Spanish ships headed West across the Atlantic, rounded the southern tip of South America (Cape Horn) and crossed the Pacific, landing in the Philippines in 1520. On the basis of this landing Spain later claimed the Philippines as a Spanish colony, which it controlled until 1898.

Magellan and some of the crew were killed in a conflict with Philippine natives but the expedition continued under the leadership of Juan Sebastián Elcano. The two remaining expedition ships continued westward across the Indian Ocean, contending with Portuguese ships as well as a dire shortage of supplies and the ravages of scurvy. In the end, only one ship – the Victoria – finally made it back with only 18 crewmen, rounding the Cape of Good Hope and reaching home port in Spain in 1522. This lengthy expedition accomplished something never before achieved, the world had been circumnavigated for the first time in history. The Magellan expedition also made clear the amount of wealth to be gained from such expeditions. Spice cargo from the Victoria, the one ship out of the five that made it back to Spain, carried enough cargo to pay for all expenses of the entire 2 ½ year expedition and reaped substantial profits.

Other Western European Powers

By the late 15th and early 16th centuries, Spain and Portugal controlled empires spanning the entire globe, deriving staggering wealth from trading bases, direct control of sea routes to Africa and Asia, and seizure of vast resources and riches in the Americas. By the mid-1500s, three other Western European countries were in a position to challenge Iberian prominence and send out their own expeditions and troops: the Dutch (The Netherlands), the English and the French. Like Spain and Portugal, the Dutch, Britain and French established territorial claims in the Americas, with a focus on securing colonial territories in agriculturally rich regions of the Caribbean. Later colonial claims were established in parts of North America.

Northern European powers also sought a trading presence in the Indian Ocean. The Netherlands established a colonial foothold in South Africa as well as control over substantial territory throughout the islands of Indonesia, ultimately controlling the lucrative spice trade centered in that region. The Dutch East India Company emerged as a powerful commercial force in the emerging world trade. The British and French states and private commercial interests – the British East India Company and French East India Company – also asserted a global trade presence, utilizing ports and routes in Africa and Asia. Denmark briefly had a minor presence as a trading power in India in the 17th century.

A new global age of dynamic interaction and interchange had begun, initiated and controlled by five Western European states. In later centuries, Western European powers built on these established empires, undertaking further exploration in the Pacific. By the end of the 18th century, sea-based exploration and control of sea lanes had established Western Europeans as empire builders exerting a global impact and influence. The consequences of this age of European expansion and conquest were dramatic, beginning with the immediate and tragic effects in the Americas and West Africa.

THE AMERICAS

The Mexican Valley

Prior to Columbus’ fateful visit, pre-Columbian American civilizations in Central and South America were reaching their cultural and political peaks. In the Mexican valley, the Aztec Empire, the last in a long line of civilizations in this region, created one of the greatest Native American states. The Aztec capital was the magnificent city of Tenochtitlán, founded around 1325 CE by a Nahuatl-speaking, previously nomadic group called the Mexica (the Aztecs). Aztec conquests ultimately included almost all of central Mexico. After conquering a society, the Aztecs usually left the local elite intact, imposing their rule indirectly. But they demanded heavy tribute in goods and labor. The tribute imposed on defeated tribes was the basis of wealth and influence, but in the long term undermined Aztec stability by generating hatred and dissent. Aztec culture expanded on the achievements of earlier civilizations in this region, achieving stunning achievements in areas such as ceramics, engineering, textiles, writing and poetry.

By 1431, the Mexica dominated the basin they made their home, led by their ruler Itzcoatl and his advisors. By making an alliance with neighboring Texcoco, the Aztec were able to build a causeway between the cities. Tenochtitlán was composed of a network of dozens of smaller city states which utilized the lake environment to plant wetland gardens, using raised causeways to separate the gardens and enable movement around the city. Some fields were raised and drained, helping grow crops to support a population of around 300,000 people (including Texcoco.) A network of canals drained fields, fed crops, and provided for navigation with canoes. Raised fields were a source of multiple crops, and the lake was home to harvested wildfowl, salamanders, and algae. The city included the Great Temple, a central market, and a large network of gardens or chinampas. The Great Temple became the orienting point for the entire city and the site of thousands of human sacrifices.

As the population grew to over a million, other means of support were needed, so the state looked to outside tribute and sacrifices. The Aztecs are perhaps best known, even infamous, for practicing human sacrifice, as did the Toltec and other Mexican valley civilizations before them. These sacrifices were not conducted in a wanton or random manner. The Aztecs were deeply religious, a characteristic shared with other American peoples. The Aztec worldview held that even though they had achieved greatness, decline was inevitable. In the Mexica worldview, the Earth receives rather than gives, and through fertility and death, humans satisfy that hunger. This view was present in their philosophy and their ceremonies, including sacrifices. Ritual victims believed upon their death they would be freed from the burdens of the uncertain human condition and become a carefree hummingbird or butterfly. In addition to appeasing the gods, sacrificing victims was used as a form of state terror and control. Rebellion or resistance, even criminal activity, meant one could become a sacrificial victim. Subjects throughout the empire were kept in line through fear of becoming a sacrificial victim of the state religion. The power of religion combined with the desire for control took on a murderous character that has made a deep impression on historical memory.

South America

Building on the achievements of earlier Andean civilizations (Chapter Eight), the Inca (Inka), a small tribal power from the northern mountains in Peru, conquered much of the western coastline of South America in the early 15th century, creating one of history’s most impressive empires. The Incan Empire began by building on the Ayllu kinship system, a system in which built-in labor obligations existed, as did rules about marriage and ancestor worship, all reinforced through ritual (Malpass 2009, 32). The Incan emperor built upon Ayllu rituals to increase his power, authority, and divine claim to the throne. Future Incan leaders were only eligible to rule if they descended from the royal ayllu.

At its height, this small regional group from Northern Peru conquered and ruled peoples from as far north as the current state of Columbia and as far south as Chile, with territorial control stretching over almost 3000 miles. Incan emperors ruled over almost 80 different cultures and regional communities, a population perhaps as high as 16 million people. An empire of this size would not have been possible without an effective army. Incan arms and tactics reflected the landscape. Their armor was light, they relied on projectiles, and fortresses were protected by boulders that could be rolled down hills. These defenses used the advantages the mountains offered and Incan strength was based on a combination of mobility and superior numbers.

The Inca used Cuzco as their imperial capital. They built the Sun Temple in honor of the god Inti who was all-powerful, benevolent and from whom Inca rulers claimed to descend. The Incan emperor wielded substantive, authoritarian power. The culture of the conquerors was imposed on subjects, including the Inca language, Quechua. Conquered peoples were forced to accept Inca gods and practices. An imposed state religion reinforced unity as well as obedience to an emperor viewed as a god. The Inca built pyramids to their gods and created exquisite artwork to honor their deities. Human sacrifice was carried out at sacred sites, mummifying sacrificial victims as well as dead god-emperors to maintain the connection with the heavens.

To destroy local affiliations and limit rebellion, people were forcibly moved from troublesome regions and dispersed; those from reliable areas were transplanted to trouble spots. Marriages were mandated by the state; people had to be married by a certain age to ensure desired population levels. Marriages between elite subjects required approval by the emperor to prevent dangerous alliances. In pre-Inca Andean society, both men and women were important contributors to Andean religious, economic, and political life. To garner support of women (some scholars say to undermine their influence), the Incas created a revered class of aclla women who represented their newly conquered Ayllu as elites of the Inca Empire. These “chosen women” solidified Inca imperial bonds through marriage, converting a political entity into a family. They also reinforced Inca religious legitimacy when a chosen few were periodically sacrificed to become “divine custodians” of their communities

The state controlled virtually all wealth in the empire. Most land was officially in the hands of the emperor, his family, or a few powerful elite families. When the emperor died, lands were considered possessions of the dead ruler. Those working the land were tenant farmers, producing for the royal estate and to supply sacrifices to the dead ruler. A new emperor had to build up his own land holdings, leading to a constant drive for expansion by new rulers. Though wealth and control primarily benefited the elite, there is evidence the authoritarian Incan state provided state assistance for the poor, the needy, and the old and infirm, including distributing grain during bad harvests.

Inca rulers used the state’s extensive wealth to build public works and infrastructure. The Inca were masters in working with the stones around them. The architecture and structures of this civilization were massive, exhibiting expert masonry techniques that still intrigue observers. Without use of mortar, Incan engineers built stone walls and buildings still standing today, foundations that have withstood centuries of the earthquakes that strike this region. The Incan state mobilized subjects as forced labor to build the roads and bridges tying the empire together. Some projects were truly remarkable, including extensive terrace farming, mountain bridges, and tunnels through mountains. The Inca road system eventually covered over 5,500 kilometers, stretching from modern day Ecuador to Chile. Counting sub-systems, Incan roads covered close to 32,000 aggregate kilometers. The roads varied in sophistication and width, depending on conditions and need, but could include staircases, causeways, and suspension bridges.

Nestled in the Peruvian Andes, Machu Picchu is undoubtedly the most well-known Incan site and reflects this engineering brilliance. The site is located 8,000 feet above sea level, and sits on a ridge between two peaks. The natural site must have been spectacular before construction began, but the complex itself is nothing short of extraordinary (Malpass 2009, 108-109). Only a few year-round residents inhabited it; even at its seasonal height, the population only reached about 750. There are one hundred and seventy-two structures at the site in total, including residences for the Inca’s elite retinue and smaller dwellings for servants. Buildings dedicated to ceremonial purposes included: the Temple of the Three Windows, the Intihuatana, an oblong rock at the head of a large staircase, and The Temple of the Condor. The construction is visually impressive, and structural engineers note its sophisticated drainage and foundation work that allowed it to stand mostly intact for more than 500 years (Malpass 2009, 112-114).

Given the extremely limited communication technologies of the Inca, the ability of powerful leaders to hold such a massive empire together reflected the effectiveness of an imposed culture as well as success in tying regions together via physical and cultural links. Ayllus networks became main administrative units as the empire expanded. Local Ayllu nobility reinforced their connection to the empire through the mummification and consecration of ancestors. Labor obligations were the primary form of taxation organized through the Ayllu. Through Ayllu labor, the Inca were able to collect taxes, store and distribute food, and build their road system

Remarkably, this degree of imperial control was built and sustained without a written language to keep track of and communicate across this vast empire. Orders and laws were disseminated through an elaborate system of messengers, with state runners traveling state-constructed routes, transmitting the dictates of the emperor throughout the far-flung empire. The Incan network of messengers operated twenty-four hours a day and a message could be carried throughout the vast empire in a matter of days. The Inca utilized a remarkable method of record keeping and oral records based on a system of knots. Chroniclers remembered important events based on the colors, types, weaves, and organization of knots known as quipu or khipu; economic records were maintained the same way. The Inca built an empire that equaled, even surpassed, ancient empires of Asia and the Mediterranean yet accomplished this without a written language, one of the most fundamental tools of power and control used by other great empires. As one Andean scholar stated, “They had none of the things that we think of as the prerequisites for a major civilization, no arch, no wheel, no codified mathematics. They couldn’t write. They couldn’t even scratch down an arithmetic problem. And yet, they could do this amazing engineering” (NOVA 2006).

FALL OF AMERICAN EMPIRES

The Incan and Aztec Empires both fell rapidly after the appearance of Spanish conquistadors. Hernando Cortez, leading a small force of Spanish soldiers, and working with local allies recruited from hostile neighboring tribes, toppled the powerful Aztec leader Montezuma, taking control of the once-mighty Aztec empire by 1521. A decade later Francisco Pizarro destroyed the powerful theocratic Incan empire with an army numbering under 200; the Incan empire had an estimated army of close to 50,000. Through manipulation and deception, the Incan emperor Atahualpa was captured and executed by the Spanish in 1533. Elimination of the divine ruler of the Incan state made clear the inherent weakness of such a highly centralized system. Without the emperor, military resistance fell apart rapidly. Some Incans retreated deeper into the Andes to avoid Spanish control, withdrawing to Machu Picchu. While pockets of Incan resistance continued for a few centuries, the Incan Empire was gone by the early 1500s.

The relative ease with which conquistadors militarily shattered the greatest pre-Columbian American powers made clear superior European military capabilities as well as internal weaknesses of these two once-great American empires. Historians propose many reasons why these impressive Native American empires were unable to halt European intrusion and conquest. First, these American empires were vulnerable due to thousands of years of isolation and the resulting lack of technological progress. Military weapons throughout pre-Columbian America were made of bone, wood or stone; Spanish forces were armed with steel and gunpowder and possessed an advanced naval capability. Some Spanish forces were on horseback which had a daunting effect on societies that had never seen horses.

In addition, Native American empires suffered from internal divisions, for example, resentment felt by those under the repressive Aztec state or theocratic Incan empire. Both empires were easily disrupted once the autocratic leader was captured or killed. Historians also point to the paralyzing effects of severe cultural and religious shock created by the sudden appearance of utterly foreign invaders possessing unimaginable things such as ships, guns, and horses, wielding a power the native gods could not stop. The traumatic confrontation seemed to immobilize American leaders and demoralize American people during the critical years of early contact and confrontation.

Diseases

Arguably the most powerful weapons the Spanish brought were the several diseases they introduced to the Americas, diseases that had catastrophic effects on communities so long isolated from the rest of the world. Thousands of years of isolation meant American natives had no exposure to, and thus had no built-up immunities to, the many deadly diseases European sailors, settlers and missionaries carried with them across the Atlantic. Beginning with the first Spanish landings on American soil and escalating throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, introduction of diseases into unprotected Native American populations produced devastating consequences.

Entire cultures and tribes in the Americas were wiped out or severely depopulated by epidemics of typhus, cholera, tropical malaria, yellow fever, whooping cough, chicken pox, measles, diphtheria, plague, influenza and the worst killer of all – smallpox. Recent studies have also revealed other deadly maladies including salmonella. In the interior regions of North and South America, deadly epidemics sometimes preceded the first appearance of Europeans, spreading along native trading and migration routes in advance of encroaching invaders. In some cases, entire villages and tribes were completely wiped out, whole communities disappeared, by the time European explorers first entered these deserted villages or camps.

Deadly diseases were the primary cause of the staggering number of Native American deaths that resulted from European expansion. In addition, Native Americans died due to brutal forced labor linked to the colonial plantation encomienda system. Adding to this deadly toll were appalling atrocities and slaughter inflicted by Spanish conquistadors and governing officials. These deadly forces combined to create one of the most dramatic episodes of mass dying ever recorded in human history. Calculation of how many died in the Americas in the years following European contact and conquest can only be rough estimates, but even conservative assessments put the number of Native Americans who died from European diseases and deadly policies in the tens of millions. Between 1500–1650, 50% to 90% of the pre-Columbian population was wiped out. One estimate puts the population of the Mexico valley (home of the Aztec empire) at an estimated 25 million in 1519; that was reduced to 1 million only a century later (Calloway 2017, 404).

This grim episode of death and devastation bears sobering labels: the Native American Holocaust or the Great Dying. All pre-Columbian American societies suffered a collapse of their populations, and thus their social and political structures. The bulk of this population collapse took place over the 100–200 years after contact, though deaths continued for centuries after due to harsh colonial policies. It is one of the most appalling instances of death and societal collapse in human history.

Deadly and debilitating consequences of disease, violence and cultural turmoil were felt throughout the Caribbean, South America, and North America. This staggering population collapse then made possible the transplantation of European cultures, peoples, plants and animals, political power, and economic interests into American territories. Europeans laid claim to the land and, due to the tragic dying off of native peoples, were able to migrate in and settle the land in significant numbers, transplanting European culture to this ‘new’ land.

An ongoing academic debate highlights the scale of this depopulation; some environmental scientists and historians have proposed that this massive collapse in population was so substantive, it impacted the world’s climate. The argument is the decline in native American populations meant significantly reduced agricultural and deforestation activities, which allowed American forests to recover in the decades that followed. As these additional trees captured more CO2, it is argued, this contributed to the global cooling trend seen in the 17th century known as the Little Ice Age.

EXCHANGE AND TRAFFICKING

The Slave Trade

The dying off of so many native Americans represented a critical loss of an enslaved labor force for the new colonial masters. Spanish, and later Portuguese, Dutch, French and British colonists needed a cheap and reliable labor force for fields and mining, workers who would not die in large numbers from heat or Eastern Hemisphere diseases. This labor need was especially critical for plantations, in particular sugar fields, to be profitable, as well as for lucrative mining efforts. In the end, this labor force was found in Africa.

For centuries a thriving slave trade existed throughout the Trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean networks. North African Berbers, the Ottoman Empire and several African tribes and kingdoms participated in and profited from the Mediterranean-focused slave trade. Traditionally slaves supplied to these markets were those taken captive in war or designated as slaves due to crime or poverty. Responding to an acute need for workers in American colonies, Western European powers circumvented existing slave trade networks along Trans-Saharan routes in West Africa and in the early 16th century shifted the direction, scope and nature of the African slave trade. Slaves were now shipped across the Atlantic to work plantations and mines in American colonies, creating a Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

This inhumane human trade was conducted by the Portuguese, then the Dutch and finally British shipping interests. The first officially registered Trans-Atlantic slave ship left West Africa for the Americas in 1518. Trans-Atlantic slave ships continued to forcibly transport slaves for three centuries, until the slave trade was ended in the mid-1800s. Millions of Africans were shipped to the Americas, meaning significantly more people were enslaved as part of this Trans-Atlantic market than in earlier Mediterranean or Indian Ocean based slave markets. Over the course of 3 1/2 centuries, an estimated 10 to 20 million Africans were forcibly taken as slaves, made to endure the horrific conditions of the Middle Passage voyage across the Atlantic, and, if they survived, sold to owners for a life of servitude in the Americas. As many as 10-20% of those who left the shores of Africa never made it to the Americas, dying in harrowing conditions on ships or committing suicide en route.

The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was a new form of an ancient oppression: more massive in scope than past slave systems, more destructive in its impact on entire societies, and with slave status now explicitly based on racially-based dehumanization. This exploitation resulted in the dreadful suffering of millions, transformed the historical trajectory of West African developments, deeply impacted evolving American cultures and communities, and left the tragic and lasting legacies of racism and deprivation in all American societies.

The Columbian Exchange

Tying the Americas to Africa and Eurasia via sea links led to a dramatic and impactful flow of goods across the Atlantic. Often referred to as the Columbian exchange, this was transfer of goods, animals, crops, peoples, ideas and diseases in both directions across the Atlantic, an interchange primarily benefiting those in the Eastern Hemisphere. For example, it is estimated over 30 million pounds of silver were extracted from the Americas over a 150-year period, much of it from a few rich mines in South America. This bullion was shipped to Europe, later appearing in markets in Asia and Africa. The vast amounts of silver shipped across the Atlantic supplied numerous currency systems in the Eastern Hemisphere, with an estimated 75- 80% of this silver ending up in China.

Natural resources such as fur, seafood and timber were also found in abundance in the ‘New World’ and shipped to Europe. Colonial settlers in the Americas carried out the kind of deforestation long practiced in Europe, with trees felled for export as well as harvested for local use. Europeans also found many new foods they adopted and took back to Europe for cultivation, used as food for livestock and human consumption. Food crops introduced to Europe, then to Africa and Asia, from the Americas included maize (corn) peanuts, chilies, peppers, tomatoes, and corn. These American crops rapidly became integral parts of tastes, diets and economies in Europe and other Old World cultures. Arguably the most dramatic impact was from the potato. It was not only Europeans who changed their diets and economies due to introduced New World crops, however. Maize, for example, became an important mainstay crop in South Africa, and peanuts became a staple product in West Africa.

Some new crops brought great profits; luxury items such as tobacco, cacao, and coffee became popular with elite classes and were the bases for new fortunes in the Americas and for European land owners. To derive profits from these new crops entailed growing them in the more productive climates of the Caribbean, South America and southern regions of North America. Widespread clearing of diverse ecosystems led to the creation of cash crop plantations producing sugar (the first global crop), coffee, cotton and tobacco.

The Columbian Exchange was a two-way exchange of goods, peoples and beliefs that crossed the Atlantic. In addition to adopting and transplanting American crops to Eurasia, Europeans moving into American territories brought their animals, plants, and cultures which became dominant influences in subsequently blended American societies. Languages were imposed, and proselytizing efforts meant different forms of Christianity spread throughout the Americas. As Europeans colonized American territories, they sought to cultivate the same crops and animals they were familiar with in their home countries. By introducing several foreign species of plants and animals into long-isolated American regions, Europeans permanently transformed American ecosystems. European settlers introduced grains such as wheat, oats and rye, as well as cultivated grapes and olives. New grasses for domestic animals, new trees, and new flowers were transplanted, significantly impacting American environments. A plethora of new weeds and pests accompanied seeds being shipped across the Atlantic. In many cases, lacking natural checks in new environments, invasive species flourished, displacing native species. Mono-cropping over time replaced biodiversity, leading in the long term to degraded soil and environmental health.

Domestic animals, in particular hooved grazing animals, were also introduced and as some escaped and went feral, this expanded their destructive impact. Horses, cattle, pigs, sheep and goats became part of American environments, often with destructive effects on native grasses and forests. Introducing these animals into ecosystems where plant and other animal species had evolved with no related defenses resulted in pronounced damage from trampling, rooting and eating seeds, predation, and grazing to the point of erosion. Displacement and habitat destruction proved detrimental to many native species. Besides the destruction of many native species, indigenous lifestyles were impacted by transplanted agricultural practices, for example, Inca water management systems and the diverse agricultural production of climate-appropriate crops in the Mexican valley were replaced by introduced European techniques, crops and species, undermining what remained of traditional practices.

European conquest and settlement of the Americas meant colonization not just by humans, but also by plants, animals and diseases. There were some beneficial effects, especially for Europeans, from the Columbian exchange but many native peoples and ecosystems were permanently and negatively transformed by European settlement and introduced species. These same phenomena were seen again in later years as Europeans expanded into islands in the Pacific.

EUROPEAN EXPANSION IN THE PACIFIC

The Americas and West African societies were the first to be dramatically impacted by early European voyages. But the age of European expansion extended past the 15th and 16th centuries, and ventured into new regions. Since the time of Magellan, European ships had traversed the Pacific, in particular the Western Pacific. These were primarily whalers or merchant ships, intent on reaching lucrative continental ports; crews did not demonstrate an interest in long-term stays or settlement. Occasional landings on what were uncharted islands fed the mythology of a great, resource-rich “Terra Australis Incognita” (an unknown southern land). Early sightings of the long coasts of Australia fed these dreams of treasure seekers. One Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman in the 1640s, was sent to chart a passage to South America and find this Terra Australis. On his voyage he made landings on what would later be called Tasmania, New Zealand, Tonga and the Fiji Islands. But these sightings and brief landings did not translate into a long-term Dutch commitment to settle.

It was not until the mid to late 1700s that European exploratory voyages set out in earnest to discover and claim Pacific territories. Some expeditions were seeking routes to the great spice capital of Malacca, others sought as yet unclaimed territories that might contain lucrative resources such as gold or spices. As seafaring abilities increased in the 1700s, more seafarers were willing to brave the daunting distances of the Pacific. European exploration of the Pacific was dominated by the French and British, though the Dutch continued to assert a presence from their base in the Indonesian islands. Europeans landed on and claimed ‘discovery’ of several islands during this era including Easter Island (The Netherlands in 1722), Tahiti (Britain in 1767), Samoa (The Netherlands, 1788) New Caledonia (Britain, 1774), Vanuatu (Britain, 1774), New Hebrides (France, 1768) and Hawai‘i (Britain, 1778). In many cases, exploration was followed by conquest and colonization.

The most famous European Pacific explorer was Captain James Cook, who undertook three different expeditions throughout the Pacific in 1768–71, 1772–75, and 1776–80. Navigational advances meant Cook’s expeditions could identify and chart longitude as well as latitude and in one historian’s words “Cook made the difference because he always knew where he was” (McNeill 1994, 314). Thus in the 18th century many Pacific regions experienced the kind of impact felt in the Americas centuries earlier, including radical and often destructive transformation of ecological systems, and the introduction of devastating diseases. Significant cultural effects of European expansion were also felt in the Pacific as European migrants, languages, and religious beliefs became prominent influences throughout the Pacific.

Environment in History – Colonization and the Environment

Questions to answer:

• What were some of the intended and unintended consequences of introducing new plants and animals to Australia and New Zealand?
• Why are more isolated regions more vulnerable to ecological disruption from introduced species?

From the ancient Romans to Polynesian voyagers, to European conquistadors, colonial expansion has significantly impacted new environments encountered. As colonists spread across land or seas, they brought their agricultural practices, domestic animals, seeds and plants, technologies, and land use practices. They introduced new blights, diseases and pests to vulnerable ecosystems and populations. Importation of outside flora, fauna and agricultural practices into new environments impacted existing ecosystems. Colonizers also increased consumption of finite sources of timber, animal products, and minerals.

The most dramatic stories of colonial impacts on the natural environment occurred when colonists moved into regions that were previously isolated or semi-isolated. The abrupt introduction of invasive species – alien animals, plants, pathogens – as well as new uses of the land severely disrupted and often devastated native plants, trees and animals. Introduction of new flora and fauna into colonized areas was purposeful, such as when Europeans brought their seeds and animals to the Americas or Pacific Islands, as well as accidental, as with the transport of rats by Polynesian voyagers into new Pacific ecosystems.

The effects of invasive species were most acute in isolated regions such as the Americas and Pacific islands. In the Americas, European settlers cleared forests to cultivate imported crops and create pasture lands for introduced cows, goats, donkeys, horses and pigs. New crops and grasses often meant the displacement of native grasses and trees. Introduced domestic animals displaced and in some cases eliminated native species through predation or by dominating habitats. Such niche displacement was far more pronounced when an introduced species flourished in the new environment, resulting in a population explosion. This phenomenon is known as ecological release; examples were rats in Pacific islands and rabbits in Australia. Colonial settlers contributed to eradicating native species by favoring their imported livestock by targeting predators or competitors through hunting, trapping, and creating fences, contributing to the decline and even extinction of native species.

Throughout the Pacific, European colonization and settlement meant intensification of human activities and pressures on vulnerable island ecosystems. Large domestic animals were introduced into island ecosystems where plants had no defenses against hoofed and heavily grazing animals, causing significant damage to native trees, grasses, and soils. Even on unsettled islands, European reliance on domestic animals impacted vulnerable ecosystems. Sailors would ‘seed’ islands they passed with goats and pigs, hoping these species would prosper and multiply on their own to serve as a food source for future voyages. In doing so, they introduced invasive species into heretofore isolated and vulnerable ecosystems.

Australia is a classic example of damage done by attempts to replicate Old World agricultural practices in a completely different and in many ways unsuitable climate. Australia’s indigenous inhabitants and ecosystems developed in isolation for tens of thousands of years. Aboriginals remained dependent on hunting and gathering until European contact, with only initial steps taken in localized cultivation and aquaculture. Animals that had floated or flown, or crossed during ice ages, made up the natural flora and fauna. Occasional landings from ancient fishermen and traders likely introduced other species that then adapted to this environment, such as the dingo (wild dog).

European contact began with stray landings by sailors not aware it was a ‘new’ continent. Establishment of a formal colony followed the landings of Captain James Cook, who laid claim on behalf of Britain in 1770. Settlers followed, including forcibly transported convicts and those enticed by the promise of free land if it was worked. Settlers, free and forced, attempted to create an economy based on familiar food crops, cash crop production, and domestic animals such as cattle and sheep. These introduced crops and animals from the temperate European environment were not well suited to Australia, the driest continent on the planet except for Antarctica.

The results were damaging, and predictable. Deforestation in a dry climate where forest regrowth was slow resulted in immediate and ongoing problems with soil erosion. Overgrazing and compacting of the soil by herd animals ill-suited to the growing limits of the Australian terrain contributed to the degradation of the land and waterways. Native species began to disappear due to loss of habitat, or were hunted to near or total extinction to protect livestock, for example the Tasmanian tiger. The introduction of new species led to losses of endemic species, a process that continues in the modern era. Continued degradation of land not naturally suited to sustained agriculture also continues in Australia, as do the problems of deforestation, soil erosion, and drought.

New Zealand is another example of a region where European colonization and settlement had significant environmental effects. The land was sighted by sailors for years but not claimed and settled by Europeans until Captain Cook’s expedition in 1769. Native Māori agriculture was based on tubers; there were no grains and the only domestic animal was the dog. There were large stands of timber and animals such as seals to be hunted, resources Europeans were quick to exploit. Drawn by promises of free land, European settlers moved in to harvest timber, leading to significant deforestation. They hunted seals mercilessly. European seeds and grains were introduced, as were opportunistic weeds such as canary grass and wild cabbage. The potato grew well and was relished as an important staple crop. Substantive deforestation through logging, burning and draining wetlands led to silting of waterways, and a decline in wetlands and mangroves. Native trees were harvested for timber, allowing invasive species of grasses and trees to move in and transform the ecosystem. A recent estimate puts the number of introduced plant species today in New Zealand at over 30,000.

Fur seals and New Zealand sea lions were hunted almost to extinction on these islands. Introduced animals that established feral populations, such as pigs, dogs, cats, weasels and ferrets, had a devastating impact on bird life. Domestic hoofed animals, in particular sheep, added significantly to soil erosion and the inability of forests to recover. Almost half of the bird species that survived Polynesian settlement became extinct after Europeans came with their animals and agricultural practices, and the forests disappeared.

Legacies of colonization are deep and complex. While social scientists, historians and cultural leaders rightly emphasize the myriad impacts on native and indigenous peoples, cultures and identities, there were also many related and dramatic environmental costs that are part of the story of colonization.

THE ‘OLD WORLD’

While the Americas, parts of Africa and later Pacific islands were the most dramatically impacted by early centuries of European expansion, control of sea-based trade also meant an increased Western presence in parts of Africa, Asia and the Indian Ocean. In a few parts of the ‘Old World’ e.g. the Philippines, some islands of Indonesia, and coastal regions of India and South Africa, European powers took control of territories and transplanted their cultures. But these regions were the exceptions. From the 1500s to the early 1800s, the political and cultural presence of European traders was minimal in East Africa, Islamic societies in the Near East and Central Asia, India, China, Korea and Japan, and much of Southeast Asia. Europeans carved out an increased economic presence and influence via control of sea trade but European states were not strong enough to invade inland nor pose a serious political or cultural threat to most of Africa, Ottoman or Mughal territories, or most of Southeast and East Asia. Europeans were certainly not in a position to challenge or threaten China.

An important reason for this regional difference was the relatively equal balance of power between Western Europeans and most states in the Eastern Hemisphere. Only at sea did Western Europeans have a clear advantage, and they did use this dominance to establish firm control of sea-based global trade. But Europeans were not strong enough to move deeper into most territories in the Old World. They possessed no significant military advantage compared to established Asian and African powers with access to the same military technologies as Europeans. Disease was not a weapon, as these societies had the same immunities. It was not until the 19th century that Europeans possessed a significant advantage which made them significantly stronger than China, India and the Islamic world – the development of industrialized economies and military powers. This significant change in the balance of power gave rise to a second wave of European expansion in the 1800s, a later chapter in the story of a global world ushered in by European expansion and conquest.

Modern Issues – Global Connections

Questions to answer:

• What are some examples of how we live today in a truly global world today?
• What are some of the benefits, and some of the negative, consequences of that interconnectedness?

The world was forever changed by the voyages of Columbus and those who came after. For the first time, and forever after, peoples across the globe were linked by sea networks that ushered in a new age, a truly global period of human history. In ensuing centuries, transportation advances and intensified commercial motivations accelerated the movement of goods and people, tying the world ever more closely together. Today, we live in a truly and intensely globalized world, one defined by the “…continuous transnational process of interconnectedness….” (Pooch 2016, 16). From the start, the creation of more global trade and markets intensified pressure on resources and ecosystems, as well as impacting demographics and cultures.

Environments, some already taxed to support local populations, now had resources extracted to meet market demands across the seas. Consumption and pressures on the land became seemingly limitless, intensifying the exhaustion of the land and ecosystems. Examples early on included the decimation of native stands of sandalwood and koa trees in Hawai‘i and other Pacific islands as they were felled to meet consumer demands in Asia and Europe. Supplying China’s insatiable demand for silver led to an intensification of mining in the Americas, accelerating deforestation. Global demands for fur led to the devastation of fur seal populations in the Pacific, and beavers in North America. The industrial age initiated in the 19th century and the ‘great acceleration’ in global population, and consumption patterns in the latter half of the 20th century, significantly intensified global resource use.

Industries extracting resources not for local consumption but for global markets is today a major economic focus in 81 countries, and these extraction activities contribute to global emissions, decline in biodiversity and destruction of functioning ecosystems. Pollution, depletion of finite resources, and the causes and effects of climate change, are all influenced by global markets and demands. Addressing these threats requires not just local but global responses and solutions.

The increased and more widespread movement of peoples across the globe is another consequence of increasing global connections. Migrations have occurred throughout history, going back to the earliest civilizations but migrations now became global, beginning with the mass movement of Europeans and forcible diaspora of Africans to the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries, and continuing to the present century. The increase in scope and diversity of migration patterns has been facilitated by transportation advances. Driven by war, poverty, repression and natural disasters, as in ancient times, the number of modern day migrants has increased dramatically in recent years. In 2020, an estimated 281 million people were living outside the country where they were born, many fleeing the effects of climate change. While migrations can create conflict and turbulence, they also represent a force of dynamism and creativity. In our modern global era, “(p)eople now migrate to every corner of the globe, and this migration has thus led and contributed to a transfer of knowhow and global technological and economic progress” (Pooch  2016, 20).

Diseases since 1492 have also become more global in their impact as they now cross oceans in a matter of hours. Epidemics can become pandemics in a matter of days or weeks. Influenza and cholera pandemics over the past century alone killed millions, while COVID led to the death of over 3 million. 21st century concerns about the implications and challenges of a truly global world are often linked to experienced, or predicted, disease outbreaks.

Global movement of goods and people was initiated by sailing ships and caravans, requiring expensive and dangerous journeys of months. But today products and people traverse continents in a matter of hours, while information moves in seconds due to remarkable leaps in transportation and communications technologies. Internet and broadcast technologies make possible diverse, multi-continental, cross-cultural sharing of information, ideas, and creativity, producing dynamic cultural fusions that enrich our lives today. Peoples across the globe share enjoyment of diverse cuisines from cultures thousands of miles away. Music genres such as K-pop and hip hop have passionate fans across the globe. Social media connections ensure viral posts on Twitter or TikTok are viewed, and shared, by millions across languages and borders. Education can take place with students sharing and learning together across continents. We live in a world of cultural fusion and diffusion where one can observe “…Thai boxing by Moroccan girls in Amsterdam, Asian rap in London, Irish Bagels, Chinese tacos…” (Pooch 2016, 26).

Many other examples of global connections could be discussed in depth: the interconnectedness of modern conflicts including 20th century World Wars, the international arms trade, global financial organizations and influences, the rise of mega commerce providers such as Amazon or Alibaba, and the possibilities and pitfalls of remote employment, to name a few. This era of worldwide interconnectivity that today defines our lives was ushered in by the voyages of exploration and the creation of those first global empires in the 15th-17th centuries.

SUMMARY

The first sweep of European expansion and colonization dramatically impacted vulnerable territories of the Americas as well as West African regions supplying slaves. Violence and the introduction of new diseases led to the collapse of Native American empires while West African states were weakened, and millions of Africans were forcibly enslaved, by the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Western European navies and merchants created global trade routes and more intensive and wide-ranging political and cultural interchanges. The Columbian Exchange transformed environments, societies and economies on both sides of the Atlantic. European empires initiated a long and impactful process of shifting world wealth and power to the West. These empires also resulted in the transplantation of Western culture, language, ideals and environmental influences into regions throughout the globe, to a degree unimaginable to Roman, Mongol or Islamic empires of the past. To trace fascinating developments in later centuries, and remain informed about current events, an essential foundation is the respectful awareness of, and appreciation for, the distinctive histories and cultures of the disparate peoples drawn together in this new global era. The cultivation of just such an inclusive and respectful understanding has been the goal of this textbook.

WORKS CITED AND FURTHER READING

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