The Old and the New World - Assignment Example

The Old and the New World Introduction It is a well known fact that Christopher Columbus discovered America at the close of fifteenth century. However, this is rather a distorted fact since technically he was not the first person to place his foot on American soil which lies west of Europe and Asia. Centuries ago in the period between 40,000 BCE and 12,000 BCE people arrived in this new found land from northeast Asia. Within a short period population grew rapidly in the two continents considered as the New World. This population is popularly known as Indians although they prefer to call themselves Native Americans. Much later in around 1,000 BCE other groups like Scandinavians, Norsemen from northern Europe settled in the Atlantic coast of North America. Now the questions remains that if all these early settlements are considered then what is the significance of 1492, the year in which Columbus “discovered” America. While some might say that Columbus’s landing in America is less significant in the history of the New World than the pre-Christ early invasions, there are others who argue that today people are simple biased with anything concerned with Europeans (Unger, 2002, pp.1-2). The Indians living in America are considerably late settlers from the Old World where it is considered human species have evolved. According to archaeologists, people from different parts of the Old World have settled in America as long back as 40,000 years ago. The Indian people found in America today may have been the descendants of these early settlers although in later periods another group who were Athapasken-speakers settled in and around western Canada and Alaska. Both these Indians and the Athapasken-speakers have physical resemblance with modern day Chinese, Koreans and the Japanese. These migrant groups survived mainly on roots, berries, seeds and fish. It is assumed that due to several factors like paucity of rainfall and lack of food supply these migrants were forced to move towards North America. In those days, sea level was low and a land bridge connected Alaska with Siberia. Within the next few thousand years, these groups of people moved further south till the southern tip of South America. Simultaneously to these movements, the population of these migrants swelled and while they were few hundred in the beginning, by the time it was 1492 the number swelled to 50 million or more, a population size that can be compared to modern day Europe (Unger, 2002, p.2). With population rapidly increasing over the centuries, these people who were originally from the Old World became diversified based on different culture, social status, economic status and language. Their main occupation became agriculture with maize as the chief crop. With growth in agriculture, urban civilization developed with the Indian people indulging into various occupations like priests, warriors and artisans. In regions where crop production was abundant, the structure of civilization became socially, economically and politically complex similar to that of modern civilizations in Asia and Europe (Unger, 2002, p.2). The Indian civilizations The New World gradually became completely occupied by the Indian people. The Mayan people who were the original Indian population in America constructed large administrative cities in Central America. The cities were divided into different groups with each group ruled by priests. The Mayans were the most intellectual and progressive among all the other Indian groups. In fact, the concept of zero in Mathematics was originally formed by the Mayans. In Central Mexico, the group that settled was the Aztecs and the people belonging to this group were mainly warriors. Being extremely powerful, the Aztecs captured all the regions around Central Mexico to increase their tribe population to about 5 million. The Aztecs are known in history as capturers of thousands of prisoners and robbers of feathered headdresses, and gold and silver ornaments which became property of the Aztec rulers. In the name of God, they used to publicly behead the prisoners. The population that settled in the Andes Mountains in South America was the Incas whose population grew to a staggering figure of 7 million. The Incas emperors were equally powerful like the Aztec chiefs and they constructed fortresses near the mountains. The Incas were extremely skilled at making metallic elements ranging from weapons to ornaments. The Incas were also known for social welfare activities since although the rich lived comfortably their society also provided for the poor and the sick (Unger, 2002, p.3). The Indians who settled further north (modern day North America and Canada) were divided into small societies and cultures. By the time Columbus landed in America in 1492, these Indians numbered to about 7 million. The various Indian tribes were differentiated by language and economy, and they made their living from hunting games and agriculture. While many of the Indian tribes could make their own living, there were also other tribes who relied on traders to cross rivers on canoes to bring them necessary goods and food. The Indian tribes lived a very simple life like those who settled in California wore minimal clothing because of mild climate. The Indian women remained occupied with producing food while the Indian men were hunters. This food producing role of Indian women indicated that they were of higher status than their European counterparts (Unger, 2002, p.4). The Indian tribes in America had many religious ideas, and they believed in a power that has created mankind and bestowed them with all the good things in life. Unlike the Europeans who believed in a single God, the Indians believed that a supernatural power existed not only in every living being but also within every inanimate object. The Indians had a number of rituals and ceremonies that they celebrated at different times to express their happiness, war, death, love, and so on (Unger, 2002, p.4). The connection between the Old World and the New World The New World (North and South America) and the Old World (Europe, Asia and Africa) were separated millions of years ago when the landmass Pangaea shifted. This separation lasted for such a long phase that eventually two worlds with entirely separate characteristics and living beings were created. For example, while rattlesnakes originated in the New World, the vipers originated in the Old World. It is only when Columbus landed in America in 1492 that a connection was recreated between the two worlds. However, as already seen in the previous section that it was not Columbus who was the first man on American soil but the early Indian tribes had already had large scale settlements in North and South America, and Canada. Nevertheless, Columbus can definitely be credited with the task of initiating the exchange of plants and animals, and also diseases like common cold spread from the Old World to the New World. There were huge discrepancies between the Old and the New World, and this was evident in the exchange of a large variety of crops and animals. While the Old World received “maize (corn), turkeys, llamas, potatoes, peanuts, tomatoes, and pineapple”, the New World received “horses, pigs, chickens, rice, sugar cane, smallpox, malaria, and the common cold” (Overview of the Columbian Exchange, n.d.). The African diseases had a huge impact on the Old World taking over the New World. These diseases were extremely infectious and since the Indians in America did not have the knowledge of such diseases they failed to fight against them. As a result of this there was huge decline of population in the Caribbean Islands, Central America, and the Amazon Basin. While in the tropical regions, the Indian population was practically wiped off by the diseases along with conquests by the Spanish and the Portuguese, population remained almost unaffected in temperate regions like central Mexico and the Andes Highlands in South America (Maddox, 2006, p.86). Conclusion In modern history Columbus is no doubt credited for discovering the New World, but from a cultural perspective 1492 initiated a transformational phase. For the Indian tribes already living in America, this unification resulted in death, disease, misery and cultural disintegration. References Maddox, G. (2006) Sub-Saharan Africa: An Environmental History, ABC-CLIO Overview of the Columbian Exchange (n.d.) The Columbian Exchange, retrieved on April 28, 2015 from: http://thecolumbianexchange.weebly.com/ Unger, I. (2002) These United States: The Questions of Our Past to 1877, Prentice Hall Read More