History Essay

Huy Krzyzostaniak
Part 3: Comprehensive essay We learned in the first chapter of the book about the huge revolutions that made a big impact on the world during early period of 1500-1800. There were many important events that occurred during the early modern period. In fact, one of the most significant transformations that changed the world was the world exploration during that time. Another important event in early modern period was the religious reformation in Europe. The last important transformation that has a big influence on the world history was the discovery of scientific revolution. All of these events have made impact on the world in the past time and until now. The period between 1400 and 1800 is known for European exploration into other parts of the world, this era refer as Age of exploration. Though many of countries impacted this era, two countries in particular came to lead the way, which is Spain and Portugal. The inspiration to explore by these two governments led to many great discoveries in the name of Spain and Portugal. Although both of these countries were great powers, one would eventually surpass the other. Spain proved to be more powerful than Portugal during the Age of Expansion. The most important European exploration voyage was Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Ferdinand Magellan. The reason why European countries who attempted traveling into unknown territory did so for a many reasons with some of them is being the able to establish trade routes with the East (Asia), which led to the discovery of the New World, desire for the products of the East such as spices, desire for new wealth in the form of gold and silver, and the desire to spread Christianity. In the result of Christopher Columbus travel voyage attempt to find another way traveling to Asia towards west side of the world is discovery of the new world. He was thinking the world was square, and did not expect there is another continent on west side of the world. In the result, on the morning of 12 October 1492 he has arrived at the Caribbean Island, now we known as Cuba. However, Christopher didn’t know that and so he have met the natives there and called them Indians, thinking that they actually have made to India. Afterwards he sailed around the Caribbean islands looking for wealth such as gold, spices and seeking a route to Emperor of China. After that Christopher Columbus came back to Spain with a report that he has discovered the western voyage to Asia.
I think Discovering the new world has big transformation on the world. Ever since there was a new Continent adding to the map, all the Europeans countries have tried to explore more about the new continent. In the result, there were many exotic fruits and plants coming to the Europe form the new world such as tobacco, sugar, tomato etc. Therefore, we have the global exchanges. Some of that exchange involved foods, animals, plants, slaves and disease spread to the new regions that they didn’t have discovered before. These epidemic diseases end up killing the Aztec empire, According to the text book the disease killed 90 percent of Aztec population, which is about 17 million.
Another significant transformation happened in Europe, western Europeans countries went into religious conflicts. Throughout the middle Ages the Catholic Church was subject to much criticism and disappointment, more people of Europe were beginning to lose their faith in the church's leadership. One man by the name of Martin Luther ignited a group of people who believed that the Church had fallen away from the teachings of Jesus and their meanings. They also believed that the Church was overly obsessed with money. These believed faults compelled Luther to take action. In 1517, on the eve of All Saint's Day, Luther posted up on the doors of Wittenberg Cathedral, ninety-five problems with the Church. They are more popularly known as the Ninety-five Theses. This action made for other people to catch in the protest against the Church, and that’s hot it began the Protestant Reformation.

Luther gained his way to his own unique way of worship. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to see his dream come true as he died in the year of 1546. This was due to poor health. Luther died just before the fighting between the Protestants and the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire broke out to full force. Powers such as Charles and Phillip became involved, but their efforts were useless for they were defeated, and Protestantism was able pass on. The reformation proved to be successful. Years after Luther's death did his death was inspiration for people such as John Calvin who was responsible for the up keeping and spread of Protestantism to places such as France. Although it underwent further criticism and attack Protestantism still lives on today.
In the years following the age of the wars of religion, a revolution of different sorts was hold across Europe. Around the sixteenth to eighteenth century, changes in the fields of Biology, physiology and astronomy, which was mainly concerned with the issue of the solar system, began to occur. To begin with, these different factors became more and more established independently but then in the early eighteenth century they began to combine as one to create the Scientific Revolution, as these findings were spread to society. The Scientific Revolution can be mainly described as the changing of man’s view of what the Universe is and how it works. The Scientific Revolution occurred largely due to ‘imaginative’ philosophers such as Copernicus, Galileo and Newton. According to the textbook source in the early 16th century Copernicus began to look deeper into these theories and soon discovered more and more problems. He studied the theories of an astronomer called “Aristarchus” who had put forward the idea that the Sun was in fact the center of the Universe and that the Earth and other ‘fixed stars’ revolved around the Sun. He also thought that the Earth itself revolved on its own axis at a daily rate. Copernicus was the first to back up these theories and state that the Universe was in fact a “heliocentric cosmology”. He then published two books; ‘The Revolution of the Heavenly Bodies’ and ‘Vesalius’. This may be taken as the beginning of the Scientific Revolution. Previously such philosophers, the society generally accepted astronomical system was that the Earth was at the center of the Universe. This theory was made by Ptolemaic. The society during that time was influenced by church, they highly value religion, and so as in the bible said God created the Earth in seven days. They would like to believe that earth is a special planet, and it’s in the center of Universe. Therefore, in the result no one was really accepting the fact about Copernicus theory about the sun in the center of universe, and other planets rotate around it.

In the early seventeenth century Galileo saw some logic in Copernicus’ theory. This was because he was drawn to its use of geometric reasoning as he thought that with mathematics there could be no mistakes and so began to look into the theories more thoroughly. He began to answer the objections to the Copernicus system and also illustrated problems that showed that the Ptolemaic system was near impossible and therefore that its continued acceptance was absurd. Afterwards Galileo presented his theories in his book ‘Two New Sciences’. His main discoveries were that, contrary to popular belief, a heavy and light object will not fall from a high place at different speeds which are proportional to their weights but in fact fall with almost identical speeds. He discovered many other things which he illustrated in his book about the theories of motion using the invention telescope, he was able to observe the motion of sun, and other stars. Which made him believed that the Universe was a lot larger than had been thought and maybe even an infinite and massive place.
The last and one of the influence people that applied new approach to science work was the English mathematician Isaac Newton. He explained the flow of the tides, eccentric orbits of planets and comets. The most important theory of Isaac was precise mathematical explanation of the laws that manage movements of bodies on the earth. Which he came up while sleeping under the tree, while an apple fallen on this head. That’s how he came up with the law of gravity.
In the conclusion the early modern era was one of the most significant periods through the world history. There was discovery of new continents, religious conflicts and scientific revolution that changed people minds. At this time the world was growing in the rapidly rate, the European society was becoming one of the most powerful in the world. The early modern period was definitely most successful for Europeans countries in many ways.