1492 was certainly quite the year. Remember: 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. If you're still lost, that was the year Spanish explorer, Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered and colonized the Americas. While the most obvious major idea presented here is the Columbian exchange, it's imperative to understand the events leading up to his voyage as well.
European Trade Routes:
During the 14th and 15th century, many European countries were going through a renaissance and "rebirth" of new technological advancements. Alongside a wave of political reforms unifying the monarchy, riches during this era were heavily desired. With Asia having the best goods at this time, in order for Spain to seek these wealths, they'd have to bypass Muslim-controlled land trading posts that blocked the route from Europe to Asia. So, instead they turned to maritime based routes for trade. However, Portugal was quicker and already settled maritime based trading posts for themselves. This is where Christopher Columbus came into the picture. With a sponsorship from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, he was approved to set sail on his voyage of finding a "shorter route to India". While many today believed he thought the Earth was flat and that's how he got his geography wrong, that's false. Most explorers during this time period understood the Earth was round, however had misconceptions about how large the Earth truly was. Columbus failed to take in account a whole 'nother continent when attempting to sail westward. Even though Columbus soon realized he was in fact not in Asia, he ended up discovering potential valuables from the independent Native groups present in the Caribbeans where he and his men arrived. Soon enough, word got around of this prosperous land and there developed the initial exchange between the New World (America) and the Old World (Afro-Eurasia).
The Columbian Exchange:
The Columbian Exchange, defined by Fiveable, was the "widespread transfer of plants, animals, foods, human populations, and diseases between the Americas and the rest of the world following Christopher Columbus's voyages in the late 15th century". While many reduce this process to simply food and cattle, this new wave of world trade greatly influenced things beyond materialistic items. One key example was the shift from a feudalistic society to a capitalist; as trade increased, commerce became increasingly important and political power shifted from large landowners to wealthy merchants.
New World → Old World Old World → New World
⋆ corn ⋆ coffee beans
⋆ tomatoes ⋆ livestock
⋆ potatoes ⋆ grains
⋆ pumpkins ⋆ grapes
⋆ tobacco ⋆ so, so many deadly diseases
One of the most critical results from the Columbian Exhange was the transfer of deadly diseases to Native Americans. While most people in the Old World were already used to diseases like smallpox, measles, and influenza, which therefore built up better immunity, Native American groups had never been exposed to such distinct diseases and could not adequately adapt in such a short time span. Quick, contagious exposure of these diseases resulted in a large death toll for Native populations. This is important to remember as that was a major contributor in the success of European colonization in the Americas. Major empires became easier to dissemble, which led to the enslavement of many Native American tribes. In order to foster agricultural and mining production, the Encomienda system was established. The Encomienda system, defined again by Fiveable, was a "labor system instituted by the Spanish crown during the colonization of the Americas, where Spanish settlers were granted the right to extract labor and tribute from Indigenous peoples in exchange for protection and religious instruction". While Spanish encomenderos forced Natives into labor, they also provided them with benefits such as militia protection and education. It's essential to understand while this was a form of enslavement, it differs heavily from modern American slavery. Native Americans still had some form of autonomy over themselves and weren't completely dehumanized. In fact, as religion was one of the major factors in expansion, many priests wanted to convert Natives to Catholicism in order for them to obtain these benefits. In their minds, they wanted to "save" them as they thought Natives needed saviour. Of course, not all Natives were compliant to labor and conversion and especially since everything stayed on America, Natives had the advantage of knowing more of the landscape and being able to escape. Alongside the decreasing overall Native American population, European colonizers had to find another way to supply cheap labor. This is where imported enslaved Africans arrived at America.
Additional Terms:
⋆ Treaty of Tordesillas: agreement between Spain and Portugal aimed at settling conflicts over lands newly discovered or explored by Christopher Columbus and other late 15th-century voyagers.
⋆ Feudalism: a political system which emerged during the Middle Ages which incentivized peasants to work on nobles' land for protection and wealth.
⋆ Encomenderos: Spanish settlers who were granted the right to enforce labor on native populations.
Author's Note: World history is not my strong suit, but I hope this recap was good enough! Don't worry Leif Erikson, I still remember you!
──── ୨୧ ──── thanks for reading!!!
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