History

History

Part I (i) Bering Strait

This is a strait that connects the Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean. The strait is 53miles running from Cape of Dezhnev, the extreme east of Asia and the Cape of Prince of Wales in Alaska, which is the extreme west of North America. This strait is an important part of the American history. This is because scientists believe that early human beings migrated through it from the Asian continent to North America. This is believed to have happened through the Beringia, a land bridge that could form during low water levels in the ocean. This was especially due to glaciers forming on the ocean. The strait portrays the possibility of earlier interactions between the Americans and the Asians.

However, today the Bering Strait remains closed. The current political heat between America and Russian has made the Russian side of the Strait to remain closed as a military operation area. Today, several people have been arrested and even deported after crossing the strait regardless of having visas.

ii Prince Henry the Navigator

Prince Henry the navigator was a born on November 13, 1460. He was the son of King John I from Portugal and his mother was Philippa from Lancaster. Henry was crucial in the early age of European exploration of other continents. He was also instrumental in the development of international trade and also in the development of sea vessels.

The Caravel

It was under the instruction and initiative of Henry that this Caravel ship that was lighter and faster was realized. This helped in far and faster navigation expeditions. Prince Henry is important in American history. This is because he is credited of having helped his father in conquering the Cueta, which was a port inhabited by the Muslims in North African coast. He is also credited of having great interest in Saharan trade and the source of the gold that made the trade lucrative. Henry became the captain of Portuguese expeditions to Africa, a factor that increased the connectivity and interaction of the Portuguese with Africans. From his efforts, the Portuguese became the greatest explorers to Africa. He intensified trade between America and Africa, a factor that the current international trade derived its foundation from.

iii Columbian Exchange

This term was developed by Alfred Crosby who was a historian in Texas. It refers to a grand exchange of plants, animals, human beings inform of slaves, animals, diseases and ideas that happened between the Eastern and the Western hemispheres. This was opened up by Christopher Columbus after he discovered the new world. There were explorers from Europe who ventured to America and returned to their home with commodities like potatoes, tomatoes and maize.

A map illustrating the Columbian exchange

This map illustrates on the items of exchange from the four continents that were involved in the grand exchange. The same Europeans spread the art of crop farming for example growing of peanuts and manioc in Africa and Asia. These crops are today part of the major food crops in these continents.

This trade is important to the history of America because it made people from Africa and Europe settle in America. It is also because of this trade that communicable diseases were spread from Eurasia and from western hemisphere for instance small pox, came to kill high populations of the Native Americans. This trade transformed several continents. The cultures in Africa, Asia, America and Europe were greatly influenced.

This trade also helped in the discovery of quinine, a malaria medicine that was effective. It is from this trade that we have some types of foods that never existed in some continents for example sweet potatoes from Spain to Asia, horses from Europe to America, and Coffee from Africa to Latin America. Most of the early emigrants to the new world settled in America and are the fore fathers of the current American citizens. The great exchange was also an important foundation for economic and cultural exchange between America and the rest of the world.

Part II question 3 The world in 1500

Various parts of the world interacted in the 1400s and 1500s. This was through trade, for example the Columbian exchange where Asia, America, Africa and Europe actively exchanged commodities. For example the Americans obtained horses for hunting from Europeans, the Africans obtained maize from the Portuguese, and the Italians obtained tomatoes from America. Various other societies came together in trade.

Artist’s concept of a market at Cahokia

The world also interacted in wars. For example, military expeditions and conquests were common. A good example is the conquest of port Ceuta in Morocco by Henry the navigator and his father. The world also interacted through cultural exchange for example exchange of art work and pyramid building skills.

Events that had great impact on global trade were the discovery of the new world by Christopher Columbus and the development of the marine technology. The discovery of the new world opened the world for international grand exchange of trade items while the marine technology enabled the traders to move across the world with ease and with diverse trade items.

The rise of the global trade affected Africans in that their population was decreased due to slave trade, Africans also acquired new items like guns and gunpowder from America. The Americans were also affected by this trade because they suffered from diseases like the small pox, which killed many of them. They also acquired new items like horses from Europe and gold from Africa. The Europeans were affected in that they acquired new items from this trade like tomato from America. All these societies also gained strong ties which were the foundation of colonization, world wars interactions and the current international trade.