HILA 2001 Lecture 8: Lecture 8
27 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Columbus = failed model of conquest: as a colonizer, settler, etc, columbus is a failure. Cortes = incredible success in the spanish reconquest tradition: defeats one of the greatest empires in the world. Destroys tenochtitlan: successful accumulates economic power, political power, etc. Owner of slaves, huge estates, collects tribute. Conquest in america = abrupt point in history: however, expansion of europe into the western hemisphere into the americas = very incremental, gradual process. Very gradual process throughout 1500s to 1600s borrowing and building on previous processes: slave institutions already in place in the atlantic islands and off the coast of africa, sugar economy . Columbus: genoese consummate outsider since he spanish. Comes from relatively humble beginning: represents mediterranean tradition. Commercial networks tie iberia to middle east, north africa, asia: spice trade. Complete mania for spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, etc) why: essential tool kits of any pharmacies, key for preserving food, enliven dry foods in the european diet, gold.
