Throughout the history of Europe, Africa and Asia there had been Empires. These included the Roman, Akkadian, Babylonian, Greek, Shang, Persian, Holy Roman, Bulgarian, Byzantine and Russian Empire along with many more. While Africa, Asia and Europe went through many Empires, South America only had three, the Aztec, Inca and Mayan before the arrival of the Europeans. This paper will look at the effect of Europe’s need to increase their empire on the New World.
The first European arrivals to the New World were the Spanish, who decided to expand their empire into the Caribbean after Columbus had discovered the region. This soon led to them focusing on South America itself and ultimately destroying the long established Mayan, Aztec and Inca Empires through both brutal attacks and the decimation of the population through disease. The Spanish were not the only ones to extend their influence into the New World. Portugal conquered Brazil and the British, Dutch and French established colonies along the Atlantic seacoast in North America.
The reason that the aforementioned European countries were able to extend their empires into the New World was because they were closer geographically then Asian countries. The winds were also favorable for traveling across the Atlantic.This allowed sailors from Europe to come up with sailing techniques and ship designs to better navigate the trip to the New World. On the other hand, the countries of Asia had to deal with the monsoon winds in the Indian Ocean before reaching the Atlantic Ocean which made it more difficult for them to reach the New World. Plus, the Asiatic world was not particularly interested in expanding to the New World as they had already established a good flow of wealth in their own region. However, China had not always been disinterested in expansion. Zheng He one of the country’s greatest fleet commanders leading seven expeditions between the years 1405-1433 and controlling the largest armada that would be seen in the next five centuries (Kristof). The advanced designs used on the ships were unlike anything used by the Europeans for the next 350 years (Kristof). The East was not only ahead of the West when it came to the size and power of their naval fleets, but also in population and in wealth. Zheng He upon reaching East Africa became aware of Europe but had no interest in it because there was almost no interest in what the commodities and resources that the Europeans had to offer. Instead they chose to focus on trade with Africa.
After the death of Zheng He, China was ruled by Scholars after a time of contention with the Eunuch class. The Scholars established a policy of isolationism which allowed for the rise of Europe as both a political and economic power. Nonetheless, isolationism was not the only reason that Asia and in particular China fell behind the European world. It had a lot to do with the fact the Asiatic countries did not put the same emphasis on wealth that the Europeans did (Kristof). Europeans on the other hand thrived on greed, it was this drive for personal and economic gain that lead the Europeans into Africa and later into the New World. This greed was why the expansion of various European empires into the New World and the subsequent rise of the American Empire can be seen as contemptuous. This is because Asian expansion under Zheng He benefitted both China and the countries they made contact with through mutual trade. The contact that they Europeans established in Africa and the New World did not have the same benefit for the people residing in the lands as the Europeans were quick to enslave the people and to destroy their way of life,
Works Cited
Kristof, Nicholas D. "1492 - The Prequel - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., 6 June 1999. Web. 28 Aug. 2016.
