History of Early Civilization - Essay Example

8 October History of Early Civilization The early world civilization can be d back in the 14th century; a period locally termed as the ‘age of exploration.’ An early European, Christopher Columbus had long been examining sailors’ movement into Africa and Atlantic direction and felt that, it was also possible to sail westwards to the Indians. Columbus plan was to note favorable breeze and winds that would later lead him in Japan before landing in a tiny island of the ‘Lucayos.’ Historically, this best explains the Indian American native. His journey resulted to the subsequent events. Innocent death and destruction of the indigenous native: Though Columbus voyage was received warmly by the natives on the shores of the Ocean; following was a mass destruction on the foreign land. Stories from history have in an attempt best described Columbus as a greedy man who would do anything to achieve what he wanted. Marquez opposing positive impacts on Columbus voyage states that,” those splendid ornaments, and not their human values, condemned the natives to their roles as protagonist…… Many of them died not knowing where the invaders had come from. Many of the invaders died not knowing where they were…” (233). The natives had ornaments of gold covering them on most parts of their bodies, and been a great treasure on the western side, he longed to have more. This was initially easy, due to the engagement in trading of goods they possessed, on the beach. Too much craving of gold later caused the natives harassment; they were forced to let go the little they had and search more of it where impossible. Slavery: Columbus voyage has been associated with the transatlantic slave trade. In the quest of discovery, he travelled through the Atlantic Ocean that separated the American land from Europe, but in the south, the Mediterranean Sea connected Europe at Spanish backyards to the great Africa. Marquez states one of the negative sides of Columbus contribution to world account, through Davidson book; holding that he is to blame for the inhuman act of slavery (238). This act is believed to have occurred after the 3rd Voyage. When Columbus sailed back, around 1498, he realized that the British had fleet in the North America and hence took the root to the South of America, then followed the coast to Hispaniola; a land believed to be of gold and riches. The Spanish colony had already settled and for their desire to acquire wealth, they forced the indigenous people and the captured Africans (mostly from the west) to work in the gold mines under hard and tough conditions. Even the Americans were captured from the north and brought in Spain to work on the Spaniards large plantations. This was one of the worst families’ separations in history. Marquez describe it as barbaric acts against the slaves will (234). Repossession of inhabited land: In that era, the first individual to discover an uninhabited land had right to declare its ownership. When Columbus arrived in the ancient native land of the Americans, he claimed the land possession under the reign of the Spanish throne, therefore, imposing the European bureaucratic regulations and logical structure on the foreign people that new nothing about them. Arguing, Marquez mentions that the Indians had no value for the gold and gems but to them it was just a notion of cosmological and artistic ability; a reason behind their invasion and colonization (234). In my own view, they were also bound by illiteracy in life since they had no idea, of the value of what they held till Columbus coming. Columbus travelled in a cavalries and was accompanied by his brothers among others. History tells that he declared possession of the land before them, his two voyage captains and others, who leaped on the shores with him, for his Lords (the king and the queen, who sponsored him). The native people did not share the same intellectual platform with the Spaniards; they had their own leadership structure and practiced their native culture. Land ownership was a collective agreement, where people lived in villages that were sparsely distributed in the region. Columbus possession of the land is then not as ‘a discovery of a new land’ per say, but a displacement of the Americans in their land. In an opposing view, if the land had no people, he had the right to do so, guided by the European principles in discoveries of new lands. However, he came in to seize a land already inhabited by the Indians. Introduction of diseases: Due to slavery working conditions, many of them died in the movement and later in the mines and plantations. “The cruelty of the conquistadors, and the unknown diseases they came with them, reduced the three or four million Indians encountered by the Spaniards to no more than a million” (Marquez 234). Slaves experienced difficult ill-health conditions, resulting from incompatible climatic conditions as well as the physical insults. Whips and chains left fresh injuries on their bodies and together with overcrowding during transportation, from one continent to another caused the spread of diseases on many main lands without excluding Spain. Diseases ranged from cools, sexually transmitted diseases and even cholera. Racial discrimination: As a result of slavery, population was comprised of different races; Asians, the ‘blacks’ mainly from Africa and the American Indians of different tribes among others. Following the varying classification of the population, segregation became evident. “White Spaniards even set their own children apart; calling them criollo whites…….Blacks lacked everything, even a soul” (Marquez 234). This shows that they had no say under their masters. Denial of secondary school education and seminars entry tells how biased the Spanish colony dictated the slave immigrants. The racial prejudice continued even after mid 1630 when the Spanish Armada was overpowered by the Europeans, hence shifting control and role of trade and colonization. For a long period, black people were denied rights to lead and were often associated with low paying jobs; always on the inferior end until the era of Martin Luther King junior who led to the abolishment of slave trade. For most immigrant slaves, the cultures they were raised in since birth in their motherlands were washed away on the foreign lands. Not many were able to retain them unless those fortunate enough to go back home. Their customs and lifestyle were altered to an extent of ‘damaging their faith’. Probably they gained salvation after disbelieving, if not inescapable conversion into a Christian. Today, thousands of people living in the present world can trace their ancestral lands through the linage of Columbus exploration and the following slavery. His impact implies negative energy that continues to haunt generations all around at the recursion of any inhuman and discriminatory act especially in Africa, America and Europe. Nothing that was, and is existing today, besides the highest supremacy nature, that can be compared to the respect and value of a human life. Columbus voyage display an inevitable controversy over this principle. Works Cited Marquez Gabriel, G. and Robert Royal. “For a Country Within Reach of the Children.” Did Christopher Columbus’s voyages have a Positive Effect on World History? 15: 222-239. Print Read More