Global Consequences of the Americas in the World System - Essay Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tutor :xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Title Global consequences of the Americas in the world system Institution : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date :xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx @ 2011 Introduction The coming of the Americas brought significant contributions to the events of world history. It contributed to the expansion of global trade and brought civilization to the world as a whole. Christopher Columbus is reputed as one of the people who led the discovery and subsequent colonization of the Americas. Since its discovery the Americas became a point of focus for people form the European continent (Frank 1983 pp. 27 – 42). This made it became a major contributor to the global events of the old times that contributed to shaping the history of the world. The recognized world system of today began in the 16th century at the same time when the Americas came forth. “A capitalist economy’ of the world would not have been possible without the Americas.” With time the new world has become the model of the rest of the world and a pattern to other nations. The Americas being the new world they brought a newness that was experienced through things like racism, ethnicity and colonialism. Racism and colonialist were greatly experienced in the Atlantic slave trade in which many Africans and Native Americans were enslaved and killed (Sunkel 1994 pp. 27 – 42). For along time ethnicity has been part of the world system after being advanced by the states in the present Americas. In ethnicity people confine themselves in community boundaries in order to preserve their identity. The categories of people known today as Europeans, Blacks or ‘negroes’ or native Americans were non existent before the discovery of the new world system. Ethnic groups have a claim on their past and history all the time ( David 2008 pp.234).The above categories are not founded on an ancient history of culture or on genetics. The categorization of ethnicity was not only coming from above since it also got reinforcement from down. Children in families were socialized into ethnic identities acceptable for their own cultural forms. In Native American and slave revolts political upheaval we carried out in ethnic consciousness. In the late 18th and 19th centuries the struggles for independence by former black slaves and Native Americans against whites took the shape of ethnic backgrounds. New structures however could not be sustained by ethnicity. Evolution of today’s world system brought about the end of colonialism in the Americas followed by the end of slave trade. Ethnicity then found its place in radical racism. Although racism was present in ethnicity and practiced in modernity and Americanity it became so pronounced in the 19th century. After slavery had been formally abolished the United States began formal segregation in a modern system. It also became the first to put Native Americans into segregated reserves. America’s strong critical place in the economy of the world may have made the U.S to find it necessary to make this legislation (Sunkel 1994 pp. 27 – 42). Since upward mobility by individuals was increasing and the populations upper section was expanding at a high rate formal racism could not be avoided and it became America’s contribution to the world system. After America ascended to hegemony after 1945 it was a challenge to continue maintaining racism. However because of the migrations of many non European people to America the idea of a ‘third world, within the U.S was conceived which became America’s other contribution to modern systems. Ethnicity had to be promoted through racism but racism needed to change to a more subtle face. Racism started hiding in universalism and meritocracy. Meritocratic systems may justify ethnic attitudes but never verbalize them. Ethnicity is constituted both internally and externally by elites who seek to make ideologies about their own people (Frank 1983 pp. 27 – 42). One very outstanding event in global history involving the Americas was the Atlantic slave trade. The Atlantic slave trade took place between the 16th and 19th centuries. It was part of a triangular trade route extending from Europe, Africa and back to the Americas. However prior to the discovery of America slave trade existed but not to the magnitude of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Those who traded in slaves included the Portuguese, British, French, Spanish Dutch and North Americans. Slave traders from Africa gave slaves to American and European owned ships and fortresses. Close to 12 million Africans were carried into the Americas although the number of those captured was higher than this (Solow, Barbara1991). The Americas were colonies of many European nations. Huge chunks of land were cultivated in South America for the production of raw materials for industries in Europe. Plantations were established for sugarcane, tobacco, cotton and other crops. They also worked in silver and gold mines, construction industries, shipping, rice fields, and timber and as servants in houses. Laborers were therefore captured from various states of Africa and forcefully transported to North and South America as slaves to work on these plantations Horne, Gerald (2007). The slave trade across the Atlantic existed in 2 Atlantic systems-the first and second. In the first system slaves were captured and transported from Africa to colonies in South America owed by the Portuguese and Spanish. The first system began in 1502 going all the way to 1580 because of the temporary united between Spain and Portugal. The Portuguese were directly involved in trading the slaves. The Spanish gave licenses to merchants to take slaves to their colonies. In the first Atlantic system majority of traders were Portuguese but the French, Spanish, English and the Dutch also took part in the trade. After suffering attacks from the British and Spain Portugal became weak Solow, Barbara (1991). The second ‘Atlantic system’ was trade carried out in slaves by the Dutch, French, British and the Portuguese. These slaves were carried to the colonies in the Caribbean, North America and Brazil. The system was highly proposed and supported by John Hawkins and Francis Drake. Between 1450 and 1600 only about 3% of exported slaves were sold. 16% were sold in the 17th century more than 50% in the 18th century and about 28.5 % traded during the 19th century. Colonists from Europe practiced Indian slavery and bonded labor. Native Americans were enslaved but with time the trend changed and they were replaced by slaves from Africa. The American Indians were eliminated by war and diseases Thomas, Hugh (1997). The Trans Atlantic trade had goods being exported from Europe to Africa. Some merchants and African kings traded in slaves between 1440 and 1883. Goods in different varieties were given in exchange for a single slave. Among the goods were factory made items, guns and ammunition. The second part of the triangular trade route took slaves from Africa across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Islands and the Americas. In the final section goods were taken from The Americas to Europe. Among the goods produced by slaves on plantations were sugar, cotton, tobacco, rum and molasses. Brazil took most of the slaves and manufactured the goods produced by them and traded directly in finished goods with African slave traders Solow, Barbara (1991). Some of the people sold to the Europeans to be transported to the new world were those captured during endemic wars happening between African kingdoms. The Africans with slaves captured from other African communities could sell them to European dealers. Others sold as slaves were criminals who were gotten rid of through being taken to America as slaves. European traders like Nicholas Owen waited for slaves at the forts. Many captured slaves were traded a number of times on slave markets. Abduction to acquire slaves was done on both the poor and the rich Horne, Gerald (2007). The African society was torn a sunder as children, women and men were sold off. This trade had a big impact on the economies of the territories that took part. The African economy came to rely on slave trade as while the Carribean, Europe, North and South America benefited heavily from its lucrative nature. After the kidnapping of the slaves they were compelled to move in caravans up to the coastal forts owned by the Europeans at times 1000 miles away Hugh (1997). They were underfed and bound with shackles until when they reached the coasts where they were kept in dungeons underground to await shipment. Some could stay in these dungeons for up to one year before they were shipped to the New World. Another horrifying experience was the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean otherwise called the middle passage which took about 6-12 months or even 4 months. Trade in slaves from Africa increased because there was a growing labor shortage in the Americas because the Native American population had declined due to deaths resulting from diseases and being overworked Horne, Gerald (2007). It was not possible for many crops to be grown in Europe Horne, Gerald, (2007). It became more cost effective to import goods and crops from the Americas. A big amount of people was needed to work in the plantations, harvest and process the crops. Both Western and Central Africa were the biggest producers of slaves to be shipped to the Americas. Land was cheap to the European settlers and this made so many of them acquire it thus increasing the need for labor Solow, Barbara (1991). In the ships the slaves were stuffed in stuffy spaces in which they could not even stand. Women were often raped. Men were shacked in pairs and crowded together. Some were laid down facing up with their heads between the legs of the others. Those with diseases were thrown into the water to prevent the spread of the disease. Slaves were controlled by use of whippings and iron muzzles. Within the four centuries that the slave was conducted between 1 and 2 million slaves died on the middle passage. The dead remained chained to the living until the corpses were thrown into the sea Horne, Gerald (2007). Upon coming close to the shore insurrections were often experienced from desperate captives who could not endure the inhuman conditions. Some of them opted to jump into the sea and drown instead of going through all the torture the lay a head of them. Slaves coming from Africa were taken not only to North America but also to the Caribbean and South America (Horne, Gerald 2007 pp.34).The abolishment of slave trade was brought about by certain factors like the revulsion of the public to the Trans Atlantic slave trade. Olaudah Equiano born in Nigeria and sold in the Americas as a slave was one person who helped people change their mind on slaver trade. He wrote his experiences in a book that was read all over Europe and the Americas in many languages. Added to that, a slave revolt had been successfully organized in Haiti from 1801 to 1803. The industrial revolution taking place in North America and Europe during the time of the Atlantic slave trade was another reason since it required free instead of slave labor (Solow, Barbara 1991 pp67).Many industrialists in North America and Europe changed their perspective on the trade since it was becoming uneconomical. Britain was the first to abolish slave trade in Europe followed by France, the U.S and Holland. However because Portugal and had not banned the trade slaves were still being transported to South America up to the close of the 19th century. In 1883 the British set free those slaves they had confined in their colonies in the Caribbean. However the Americas still remained in the practice especially the United States, Brazil and Cuba (Horne, Gerald 2007). The face of the earth was altered in many ways by the Atlantic slave trade besides presenting a huge challenge to the African continent at it tried to move a way from the effects of that barbaric period in history. The Atlantic slave trade was a big contributor to the development of the aftermath of the introduction of the Americas into the current world system. It contributed greatly to the economies of the Americas and the European countries involved and at the same time impoverished the African continent Solow, Barbara, (1991). Conclusion In conclusion the introduction of the Americas into the present world system had many effects on the economy and social cultural setting of the world. It brought about the need for huge established economies that flourished through slave trade and slavery involving Europe, Africa and the Americas for centuries The Atlantic slave trade was in particular at the center of this. The new world system and modernity advanced by the Americas also came with social ills like racial segregation and ethnicity that are characteristic of capitalistic societies (Rothkopf 2008). References Solow, B (1991) Slavery and the Rise of the Atlantic System, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Thomas, H (1997) The Slave Trade: The History of the Atlantic Slave Trade 1440–1870. London: Picador. Sunkel O. (1994), ‘Rebuilding capitalism: alternative roads after socialism and dirigisme’ Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press. Frank 1983 A (1983), 'World System in Crisis' in 'Contending Approaches to World System Analysis' (Thompson W.R. (Ed.), pp. 27 – 42, Beverly Hills: Sage. Horne, G (2007) The Deepest South: The United States, Brazil, and the African Slave Trade. New York, NY: New York Univ. Press. Rothkopf, D (2008). Super class: the global power elite and the world they are making. Farrar, Straus and Giroux Bibliography Solow, B (1991) Slavery and the Rise of the Atlantic System, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. This book was important in the study of the effects of the coming of the Americas in the world system since it expounds the occurrences during the economic expansion and industrial revolution that fuelled the Atlantic slave trade. It provides an understanding of the causes, effects, existence of slavery and its benefits to Europe and the new world. Thomas, H (997)The Slave Trade: The History of the Atlantic Slave Trade 1440–1870. London: Picador. A good exposition of the causes, the process and the circumstances surrounding the Atlantic slave trade are given in this book. The book is good since it relates the Atlantic slave trade to the emergence of the new world and its need for labor. Sunkel O. (1994), ‘Rebuilding capitalism: alternative roads after socialism and dirigisme’ Ann Arbor, Mich.: pp. 27 – 42.University of Michigan Press. The author goes into detail to explain capitalism as a consequence of the emergence of the Americas on the world system. The creation of a capitalistic society was a characteristic of the present world system. He discusses the causes of the emergence and establishment of capitalism in the present world. Frank A. (1983), 'World System in Crisis' in 'Contending Approaches to World System Analysis' (Thompson W.R. (Ed.), pp. 27 – 42, Beverly Hills: Sage. This book was critical to my research since it presents a discussion on the challenges experienced in the present world system which is a product of the activities caused by the rise of the Americas to hegemony. It gives a comprehensive analysis of the world system and its effects on world economies. Read More