HISTORY 5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Encomienda, White God, Mercury Poisoning
Document Summary
Cataclysmic collision of 2 groups of ppl isolated for 10k+ years from this event, can trace directly to afr slavery in am for those still in eur: also enormous conseqs. New fields of study, new wealth for some. Proliferation of new world commodities + culture (tobacco, corn, tomatoes, potatoes ) Dev for first time of interconnected global econ. B4 1492: eur trade w/ asia had 2 principle routes, silk rd + sea route. Both slow, inefficient, can"t carry heavy goods; depend on cooperation w/ mus communities, esp ottoman turks. Sea route incl going over vast stretch of land; sea trade cheaper. By later half of 15th century, trade w/ far east came to a halt trading routes blocked by ottoman conquest of turkey + constantinople. Portuguese set up ports along w. afr coast; 1488 diaz rounds cape of good hope. Still, very long way to get to asia + cape of storms, difficult passage.
