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Europe and the New World

1. The "discovery" of the "New World" profoundly transformed European life in a number of ways. In terms of natural resources, the new world provided Europe with riches which in turn led to development and expansion of European governments and civilization. The exploits, discoveries and/or conquests of Columbus, Cortes, Pizarro and others resulted in land acquisition for European governments which altered the way Europeans viewed the world---they saw it, essentially, as theirs to use however they wished. These uses focused on military expansion: "From the middle of the [sixteenth] century, the annual treasure fleets sailing to Spain [from the new world] became the financial bedrock of Philip II's war against the Muslim Turks and the Protestant Dutch and English" (Perry, Vol. I, 332-333). The new world also provided the Europeans with the opportunity to spread Christianity and to deepen their view that their religion and culture were meant to shape the entire world. The men who carried out such exploits in the new world were rewarded at home in ways which deepened the control of the land and people by the rich: "The conquerors . . . obtained . . . [land] grants from the Crown. . . . In return, they gained the power to extract labor and tribute from the peasant masses, who were worked beyond their capacity" (Perry, Vol I, 334).

Because of these changes which resulted primarily in an intensification of the social, political and economic divisions between the haves and have-nots. Both in the new world and in the nations of Europe reaping the wealth of the new world "Power and wealth gradually concentrated in fewer and fewer hands" (Perry, Vol. I, 334).

Europeans also became engaged in the slave trade. Also, "Linked to overseas expansion was another phenomenon---an unprecedented inflation during the sixteenth century, known as the price reduction" (Perry, Vol. I, 334). Such inflation had never been experienced before. Governments tri...

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Europe and the New World. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 22:02, March 18, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1708712.html