Age Of Discovery Vs New Imperialism Essay

On October 12, 1492 three months into his journey to find India, Christopher Columbus traveled upon an already discovered land in the caribbean. Three Spanish ships with 87 men aboard landed in a place they referred to as "The New World." This was just the beginning of how America became the country it is today. Along with this new land came new discoveries, such as exotic plants and animals that were shipped back to Spain. Unlike Europe, this "New World" domesticated corn, chili, pumpkins, tomatoes, and potatoes. In the 17th century a new wave of people headed to the Americas in search of opportunity, and in some cases, religious freedom. Among the nations that wanted to lay claim upon the New World, England settled and claimed what is today

By the year 1885, European imperialism in Africa was in full flight. Imperialism is the belief that a person or a group of people is superior to another person or group. Europeans strongly believed they were more important than the Africans. Because of this, they took Africa for themselves. Strong driving forces during this imperialism was resources, power, and technology.

In Basil Davidson’s video, “Different but Equal”, Davidson examines ancient Africa, and how Africans were perceived in ancient and modern times. Davidson discusses pre-colonized Africa and its history, and how racism prevailed in the past and in modern day. By discussing early civilizations, as well as modern day perspectives, Davidson allows the viewer to have expansive information on how individuals view Africans and their culture.

During the 19th century many European explorers began exploring the interior of Africa. As a result many European countries wanted to colonize Africa.There were many reasons for Europeans wanting to imperialize Africa. Some of the driving forces behind European imperialism were economic, nationalism and White Man’s burden.

Colonization was rebirth if you will in the later 19th century through the wake of industrialization which gave Europeans a new desire to conquer and established the need to go and claim natural resources to be used in the factories. Many of the larger nations joined in this rebirth with the most notable actions being the Scramble For Africa which showcased the most rapid expansion of European influence ever seen before. "The effects were profound. In 1875, 11 percent of the continent was in European hands. By 1902, the figure was 90 percent."(Cole, 534) Europeans also had significant influence in Asia in which they conquered large pieces of land in India and Indochina in order to establish a strong trade connection. European powers in these regions constantly tough each other for supremacy while completely disregarding the people who live there which lead to many different catastrophes.

In the race of European imperialism, European countries dominated innocent African colonies. The driving force behind this? Africa’s bountiful resources.

Both France and Spain explored and colonized North America in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to increase their wealth and convert native Indians to Catholicism, but comparing the reasons for expanding into certain areas, the relationships with native Indians, and the methods to increase population will highlight the similarities and differences of the methods used by each to achieve colonization in North America. To begin with, Spain gains a new level of wealth and power through the acquisition of large amounts of silver in Zacatecas and Potosi, but this new wealth creates the desire for more and the need to protect the silver. The Spanish expand northward into North America in search of more gold and silver, and follow

The only thing Europeans loved more than political power was increasing their trade. In the 1800’s European nations had a desire to get a lead to widespread imperialism in Africa. With the end of slavery in 1833, European interest in Africa shifted to seizing colonies. King Leopold of Belgium acquired a private country in Africa that was 95 times bigger than Belgium and his purpose was to make money by taking out ivory and rubber. European leaders then became aware of two things: Africa was contained with natural resources, and a scramble of the riches could begin a war between European nations. At the Berlin Conference in 1885, European Nations claimed parts of the African continent through rule of occupation. Though they did not consider the land claims of Africans, they did agree to specific principles concerning colonization, which included free trade, and improving the moral and material well being of Africans. Before European nations stayed away from the African continent, and now powers such as England, France, and Germany want large amounts of land of Africa. Several reasons European nations began to colonize Africa included political competition and ideological superiority; however, economic profit was the primary driving force to imperialize Africa.

In the 19th century imperialism was an important part of building European empires. The four major motives for imperialism are economic, strategic, religious and political. These motives helped great empires expand their territory and brought new cultures and languages to both the colonised countries and the countries colonising them.

In the mid-eighteenth century, many European powers wanted to expand their influence to other parts of Europe and to the rest of the world and also to gain new territories. To accomplish this, they had to overcome many issues. They had to make alliances with the natives of the new land, cooperate in trade with other powers, overcome diplomatic negotiation, and lastly make peace agreements.

Towards the close of the nineteenth century and the start of the twentieth century, European imperialist governments in their quest to expand their territories for various reasons aggressively scrambled and invaded the African continent. Initially, the gullible African societies, most of which were decentralized, welcomed the foreigners but after realizing the stakes some mounted resistance (Johnston,43). As expected, the more sophisticated imperialist governments prevailed in most of the colonies and subdued the natives. The effects of the foreign presence were monumental, and it would take more than half a century for these colonies to free themselves from the oppressive rule and become independent governments.

Different causes resulted in the European Age of Exploration such as a foe, solitude, and a more open minded mentality. The Age of Exploration also took great impact on the European Golden Age (Renaissance). The Renaissance was a time of advancement. One cause of the European Age of Exploration was because of the Ottomans, they were menacing fighters who showed no fear. The Ottomans destroyed Constantinople and controlled big trade routes. Because of this, Europe was in need of new ways to obtain items. My evidence comes from Document 1. Next, is isolation, Europe’s dark age. They weren’t updated in technology and life was difficult. In the Background it states “Until about 1450, Europe was mostly cut off and isolated from the Silk Roads.

The finding of the new land and taking its resources for gains of Europe can be seen as

The Age of Exploration was more harmful to the world because harmful goods were exchanged and a new class structure was formed based on race. The Age of Exploration was as series of voyages and expeditions made by Europeans to link Europe to the global trade and wealth of the east. The Age of Exploration started in the 15th century and ended in the 17th century. The Europeans wanted to explore for money. They wanted gain wealth and fame. The Europeans had motives for exploration, one was that they wanted to spread Christianity. Second, was for wealth, they wanted to find new trade routes and also find gold. Third was glory. They wanted to have a better chance of domination or control in Europe. One reason why The Age of Exploration was harmful

The Europeans who have long since been referred to as “explorers” were conquerors. Although conquering may not have been what the Europeans had in mind when they set off, they did take over new lands and people. They took lands that they did not own, and had no real right to take, essentially stealing them. They went as merchants, but decided to stay because they could make profits off the new land. Europeans wanted the glory of discovering and claiming a place not already claimed or known to the other European countries, not just for themselves, but for their country. Claiming and owning meant the most glory for the Europeans. They also thought that the Native peoples would be easy to convert to Christianity and would do as they were told.