Ap Whap Essay - 1155 Words

In the period of 1490-1700, as the Europe rose as a global power, the powerful European countries such as Spain and Portugal signaled the beginning of a new era of exploration in Latin America and Caribbean. The communication between the indigenous people and the European expanded the economies while forging social structures in the Americas. Around 1490 C.E., in the Caribbean and Latin America, the indigenous people such as Tainos had settled and lived forming a small village under the authority of chiefs who allocated the land and controlled the community while cultivating crops as subsistence agriculture. However, Spanish and Portuguese were on the verge of an economic explosion and looked for commerce that could promote the advanced economy. Eventually followed by Christopher Columbus, South America and Caribbean became a target for European to gain personal wealth with private properties. Since there was no intercontinental contact in Caribbean before European colonized them, the several tribes were formed in the region rather than being possessed by a king like European countries. Yet Aztec and Inca empires were existed with their own culture at the time when Spanish with advanced artillery such as steel swords, muskets and cannons imposed their own rule in those regions.

By 1492, Spain and Portugal were thirsty for the colonies to gain the resources and enlarge their power throughout the world and America was relatively quiet in the global economy. As soon after European conquered the lands of Latin America and Caribbean, Spanish started mining for valuable and rich resources such as gold and silver by using indigenous people in a very harsh condition. By sacrificing the indigenous people, the economy of Spanish powered up with mining industries dominated in the region, Potosi and eventually silver made its way across all over the world. Because of mining, the hacienda existed that produced for sale to local markets in nearby mining districts or town. While the Spanish America concentrated on the mining industries, the Portuguese in Brazil relied on the plantation of sugar. Like the Spanish conquerors, Portuguese tried to put indigenous people into the work but the people resisted to accommodate into the production as the laborers. Thus, Portuguese brought African slaves from Africa. The slave workers fueled the American economies soon thereafter. Slaves filtered into the Caribbean and Brazil serve on plantations. The sugar industry was growing in Europe and became the most crucial export, hence the slaves satisfied the Portuguese on the “engenhos” and in other lands. However, the social structures were changed and impacted by the slaves especially in Brazil, which had the biggest sugar plantation. In Brazil, Creole social groups were created that included mullatoes and zamboes among other racial mixes. This called for a change in the social hierarchy – European born at the top, European ancestry, Creole races, and slaves. European not only brought the slaves into Americas but also deadly diseases, smallpox and measles, that decimated local populations. Despite of the side effects, the contact with Europe and indigenous people established the new cities rapidly that developed the society of Americas with the structured government such as imperialism with bureaucracy and other administrators. Despite of massive change, some aspects of life stayed the same in South Americas. Many tribes were still able to maintain their traditional way of life. Although they adapted the Christianity by the influence of European, they kept their traditions and customs with the faith by missionaries. With the new and consistent international contact, the next period of history would have dramatic economic and social change and will change forever from now.

Economy in both great civilizations; Persia and Greece were crucial and essential to maintain their empires. Since the Greece had mountainous terrain and the rocky

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