Power In Europe And Europeans example essay topic

In elementary schools across the country children learn of Christopher Columbus's magnificent odyssey across the Atlantic, concluding with the discovery of America. For many children the story ends here, never knowing how significant this discovery was for the eastern world at the time and for the western world of the future. After 1492 capitalism rose to power in Europe and Europeans became the world's super power. Europe was able to generate enough capital and power to dissolve feudalism in its own country and overtake competing protocapitalist communities else where. The rise of European hegemony in the early modern world was due greatly to the western colonial enterprises that were taking shape in the America's following the 15th century. This paper will attempt to argue how colonialism, religion, and economic wealth that came out of America, played and invaluable role in Europe's domination over the old world, which propelled us out of a feudalistic society and into a capitalistic one.

According to J.M. Blaut "Before 1492, cultural evolution in the Eastern Hemisphere was proceeding evenly across the landscape; in Africa, Asia, and Europe a multitude of centers were evolving out of feudalism and toward capitalism. Many of these regions in all three continents were at the same level of development and were progressing at the same rate (Blaut, p. 2)". So then the question might be asked why was Europe the country to rise into supremacy and not Africa or Asia. J.M. Blaut insists that Europeans were doing what everyone else was doing across the hemisphere wide network of protocapitalist and Europeans had no special advantages, no peculiar venturesomeness, or an advanced maritime technology that would propel them ahead of anyone else. The only advantage that Europe had was that America was more accessible geographically via Iberian ports than anywhere else in the Eastern Hemisphere. For the most part I agree with J.M. Blaut's theories, but I don't totally agree that Europe had no advantage besides location. West Africa was closer to America than the Iberian ports were, why didn't they make the journey across the Atlantic. J.M. Blaut proposes that the reason for this was that "mercantile, protocapitalist centers in West and Central Africa were not oriented to commerce by sea (Blaut, p. 3)".

So what that meant was West Africa's maritime technology was not as advanced as Europe's, giving European explorers an extra advantage. Besides In my opinion it was probably to Europe's advantage to go instead of Africa. The reason for this is that since Europe had a colder climate, the small number of populations that entered the America's had probably bore with them certain types of diseases which existed in the Eastern Hemisphere at that time. Since they came from an isolated part of the hemisphere they lacked diseases characteristic of a warmer climate. This meaning, the Americans had no immunity to these diseases, the majority died before the battles were even fought. Americans were dying in epidemics and to add on top of that, their military technology was not as advanced as Europe's.

If Africa would have went, they probably would not have had this advantage because of their warmer climate. Whether it was intentional or not, Europe introduced the American's to one of the world's first forms of biological warfare. J.M. Blaut considers Max Weber to be one of the most influential theorists on European development. Weber proposed that religion and culture was considered crucial to rational thinking which in turn was the groundwork of capitalism. This theory is grounded in Eurocentrism, in that Weber's conception of Europeans was that of having a uniquely rational intellect that non-Europeans did not possess. Christianity was the dominant practiced religion in Europe and was credited for the superior European rationality, which in turn explained the unique dynamism of a great range of European social situations. God was the one who gave Europeans the intellectual and rational superiority.

The environment was considered superior in Europe because God made it so. Some historians invoke that Northwestern Europe has a climate favoring human energy and agriculture, its soils are uniquely fertile and its indented coastline, capes and bays, favor commerce. J.M. Blaut discredits Weber's views of non-Europeans by saying that his theories are based on old myths, prejudices, and half truths, that do not prove Europe to have any superiority for pre-modern epochs. My opinion is that though Europeans may not have been superior in any way to non-Europeans, maybe they evolved and migrated to their perspective lands for a reason. Europeans because of their religion thought of themselves as superior to everyone else. This probably gave them the courage and faith to explore the unknown, knowing that God would be watching them. Their confidence is what propelled them to the top of the old world, being the children of God who watches over and protects them, nothing can stand in their way.

One advantage that J.M. Blaut did not take into account is the power of the human mind, and maybe Europe's faith in a higher power was all they needed to conquer the early modern world. America became significant in the rise of Europe, and the rise of capitalism, soon after the first contact in 1492. Immediately a process began, involving the destruction of American states and civilizations, the stealing of precious metals, the exploitation of labor, and the occupation of American lands by Europeans. The major goal for the Enterprises that were taking shape in America was the accumulation of capital; or shall I say to make money. The leading group that was involved in the exploitation was the European protocapitalist class; merchants, industrialists and profit oriented landlords, also Iberian, Italian, Dutch, English, French, German, and Australians got in on the investment.

"This class community took the profit from colonial enterprise and invested part of it in Europe, buying land and developing commercial agriculture, developing industries (like shipbuilding, sugar refining, etc.) associated with the growing colonial enterprise, developing profitable business in spheres of activity which served the growing European economy, building urban structures, and the like (Blaut, p. 37) " Part of the profit was then placed back into other colonial enterprises in America, Africa, and Asia. An example of this process was the increase in purchases of all sorts by merchants in all markets, this was due to the fact that these merchants now had incredible amounts of precious bullion or bullion based money and could offer better prices for their product. Probably half of the gold and silver that was brought back from the Americas in the 16th century was imported illegally; therefore it was available for this kind of enterprise. The other half however after passing through the customs-houses, entered circulation as the Iberians paid out gold and silver for goods and services. In the 16th century colonial enterprises produced capital in a variety of ways. "One was gold and silver mining.

A second was plantation agriculture, mainly in Brazil. A third was the trade with Asia in spices, cloth, and much more. A fourth element was the profit on production for local use in Mexico, Peru, etc., profit on sale of goods imported from Europe, profit on many secondary exports from Americas (leather, dyestuffs, etc. ), profit on land sales in the Americas, profit returned to Europe by families and corporations holding land-grants in Mexico and other areas. A fifth was slavery (Blaut, p. 39)". Each of these elements produced a large amount of capital. 85% of the entire world's production of gold and silver came from America in the period from 1561 to 1580.

The economy in the Eastern Hemisphere was greatly affected by the American bullion that was circulating by the 16th century. The gold stock increased by about 20% and the silver may have tripled in value around this time frame. The plantation system mainly situated in Brazil was an industry that significantly made way for the rise of capitalism before the 19th century. This capitalistic production displaced feudal production, by using the advantages of colonialism: which was cheap labor and empty land. "In 1600 Brazil exported about 30,000 tons of sugar with a gross sale value of 2,000,000. This is about double the total value of all exports from England to all of the world in that year.

Also in 1600, per capita earnings from sugar in Brazil, for all of the population other than Indians, was about equal to per capita income in Britain later in that century. The rate of accumulation in the Brazilian plantation was so high at the end of the 16th century that it was able to generate enough capital to finance a doubling of its capacity every two years (Blaut, p. 42)". In conclusion the reason for European hegemony was greatly due to the western colonial enterprises that were taking shape in the Americas after 1492. The gold and silver mining, plantation systems, the trades made with Asia and Africa, the capitalistic ventures, and slavery played and invaluable role in Europe's domination over the early modern world.

Before 1492 the three continents on the Eastern Hemisphere were evolving at the same rate out of a feudalistic society into a capitalistic one, but with the discovery of America, Europe spearheaded capitalism into the old world igniting the fire which burns brightly today.