changes and continuities essay ap world

The social and economic transformations varied between Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas in the Atlantic Ocean between 1492 and 1750. When Spain sent Columbus to get spices from India, he landed in the Americas and mistakenly called the people there Indians. New Worlds were being discovered between those three masses and the population was escalating due to the slave trade and booming economy, and the industrial production advanced from man-made to machine-made. Western Europe is the sum of an abundance of positive outcomes from their interaction with the Atlantic world. Although all these different changes took place, the Atlantic World’s agriculture continued to increase their capacity of material and Native Americans stayed in their tribes and followed their own cultures. Because of all the new contacts that were being identified, all the new things that were being traded, like new foods and materials being bartered for, led to improving the economy among the Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas. In the Americas, European Colonists were searching for valuables like gold and silver, as well as farming land for crops. These goods would then be used for their own use or for trading. Columbus attempted to sail towards India by going west, which in that time, was a very outrageous idea and the logic behind it was not accepted by many, especially the Portuguese. Columbus landed in America in 1492, and John Cabot soon followed after him. As Cabot founded Newfoundland, Cabral discovered what is now Brazil. At this time, the Columbian Exchange was introduced between the American and Afro-Eurasian hemispheres following the voyage by Columbus. It was a widespread exchange of animals, plants, culture, human populations, communicable disease, technology , and ideas. This exchange circulated a wide variety of new crops and livestock which supported increases in population in both hemispheres. Maize, potatoes, and tomatoes were introduced to Europe as manioc and peanuts were introduced to tropical Asia and West Africa. The invasion of the Americas impacted Europe positively as they started to mine useful/valuable metals as well as cash crops. The triangle trade connected imports and exports of different goods mainly between North America, Africa, and Europe transforming the Atlantic World’s economy into a enormous trading booth since the countries had so many new goods to trade and receive. An important part of the triangular trade that changed all three of the land masses’ economy was the Atlantic slave trade, which was a giant factor in the circulating movement of the trade. People started using crops more as they became available and as agriculture became a necessity in an everyday life, the need for people to work those menial jobs became a priority. Africa exported slaves to the West Indies and to North America, and thus maintained their place in the Atlantic trade. Socially, Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas were transforming due to the contact of foreigners. Their populations expanded from all the new items that were being traded; hence, the social triangle in Africa and the Americas drastically changed with the adoption of agriculture. Africans were imprisoned and sold off as slaves, resulting in the separation of family members and tribe leaders selling their own tribe members for money and weapons. Slaves became a cheap and useful tool to improve the economy, and trade started to widen their scope to places like China, who traded textiles and ceramics with Europe. Africa also received diseases from their contacted foreigners, causing the death of millions of people, as well as some new technology and culture. Prices for many products went down due to crops and labor in the Americas and textiles were built causing the price of clothes to go down as well as creating jobs. All of these positive outcomes resulted in the industrialization of Europe, as they benefited from sucking out gold and other wealth-creating packages from the European colonists in the Americas. Although the relocation of the Native Americans drove them out of their own land, they continued to follow their tribes’ cultures and were not affected truly until more colonists landed in the Americas. The Atlantic World was constantly transforming between 1492 and 1750 because of the slave trade, as well as the invasion of the Americas. Slaves took over the hassle of taking care of the crops that were being grown and the chores in the house as well. Because the slave trade assisted in the three lands’ economies, it allowed for a more efficient agricultural production as well. If the Americas had not been invaded by the European colonists however, there would have been no such thing as the “triangle trade.” The Atlantic World was kept alive because of the variety of crops in agriculture. Agriculture was assisted by the slave trade, which in turn helped the trade of crops to speed up and hence from the demand, helped out the slave trade even more. Although these things were positive chain reactions in the Atlantic World, the Bubonic Plague spread quickly and killed millions of people worldwide.