DISASTER EFFECTS OF INCREASED GLOBAL INTERACTIONS (15-16 ce)

• Why is it difficult for historians to determine the scale of the Great Dying?

  • There was not that much historical information/records on the Indigenous population before the arrival of the Europeans
  • Additionally, factors such as disease outbreaks, warfare, and displacement make it challenging to accurately assess the exact number of indigenous peoples who died as a result of European colonization and the introduction of diseases like smallpox, measles, and influenza
• What groups of people migrated to the Americas involuntarily?

  • Enslaved Africans
• 1. What do the categories "mestizo" and "mulatto" mean? Who came up with these categories?

  • Mestizo and Mulatto are people with mixed heritages from a mix of Europeans, Africans, and Indigenous peoples. The Spanish colonial government came up with these names
• 1. How did the population of sub-Saharan Africa change as a result of the Columbian Exchange?

  • It reduced severely
• 1. What was the plantation complex? Whom did it benefit?

  • The plantation complex is when millions of enslaved Africans were brought to the Americas for forced laborers
  • This benefitted the Europeans, as agricultural grew. They could then export more cash crops, sugar being one of the most important, and increase their economy
• 1. Explain a change in systems of slavery in 1500-1600.

  • Legal Framework
  • The legal framework surrounding slavery evolved during the 16th century, with European colonial powers enacting laws to regulate the institution of slavery. These laws often codified the inferior legal status of enslaved individuals and reinforced the power dynamics between slaveholders and slaves
• Working and living conditions on plantations were so bad for the enslaved Africans that the death rates increased
• Avoidable illnesses that increased death rates

  • Blindness
  • Abdominal swelling
  • Bowed legs
  • Skin lesions
• The Atlantic slave trade caused demographic changes in sub-Saharan Africa, removing millions of productive individuals and resulting in wars and deaths
• Survivors often had to flee to inhospitable areas, affecting food production and possibly lowering birth rates, particularly among women
• Not all parts of Africa were equally affected by the slave trade, with some regions experiencing population growth
• Introduction of new crops from the Americas, like cassava and maize, possibly contributed to higher birth rates in West Africa, but the overall impact on population sizes is debated
• Some data suggests a decline in Africa's population from 1650 to 1850 due to the slave trade's effects, harming cultures and economies across the continent
• The plantation complex, originating from the Madeira Islands, was introduced to the Americas by Portuguese and Spanish settlers, transforming the environment, demography, and cultures
• Sugarcane, originating in Papua New Guinea, became a highly desired commodity in Europe by the fifteenth century, leading to its cultivation in the Americas
• Christopher Columbus established the first sugar plantation in the Caribbean, using enslaved indigenous people as workers, setting the precedent for European plantations in the Americas
• The success of American plantations relied on a steady supply of enslaved Africans, shifting the focus away from indigenous labor