European American Influence

The Influence of European Endeavors
It is well known that Europeans had a significant role in the exploration of the world, as it is seen in the documentation of the new world discoveries. Yet for many centuries, Europeans had minimal contact with the rest of the world. However, that all changed in the dawn of the 1400’s, when Europeans hoped to gain new sources of wealth. By exploring the seas, traders longed to not only find new and faster routes to Asia, which was the source of spices and other goods, but also to spread Christianity to new lands beyond Europe. Using historical evidence compiled from different encounters and explorations of European travels, this essay will illustrate my support for Professor Daly’s assertion that – Europeans
In many cases, voyages that ensued from the years of 1490’s onwards had impacts that surpassed the financial and political criticalness. The entry of the Spaniards into the new world detrimentally changed the lives of both the Europeans and the Americans on material, social, and scholarly levels that ultimately drew the Europeans and the Americans into an irrefutably transcultural and transoceanic relationship. This established a crucial factor in western and world economics known as the "Columbian exchange". The Columbian Exchange is defined as: the widespread exchange of crops, animals, diseases, cultures, and ideas between the Eastern (Europe, Africa, and Asia) and Western (the Americas) hemispheres [5]. The exchange was essential to jump-starting both the progressive migration of millions of people and, contrarily, the spread of diseases that depopulated many native cultures. However, commerce between the two hemispheres distributed an eclectic variety of new crops and livestock that, in the long term, amplified the world population incredibly. The exchange ultimately transformed ways of life for all people (i.e. new foods quickly became staples of human diets) while simultaneously revolutionizing the course of exploration, trade, and cultural
With the overwhelming evidence pertaining to the discoveries and encounters made by the Europeans, it is prudent to assert that Medieval and early modern Europeans were more impressively interested in the wider world than most peoples of other major cultures. They had extensively utilized the 15th and 16th century voyages for trading, diversifying, expanding, and developing with other cultures. Major advancements in various sectors such as the economy and religion have been witnessed globally. The early modern Europeans were willing to try new things from encountered regions and develop them further in order to optimally utilize them. The expansion of human knowledge among the Europeans was more systematic, intense, and expansive than it had ever been seen in history. It was a society that questioned all things, systematized everything, investigated the unfamiliar, and hence, advanced the understanding and knowledge of humans continuously. Scientific developments and advancements were certainly present in other civilizations, however it is the Europeans whom embraced them cumulatively and applied the knowledge extensively to their civilization and to the development of the new