Colonial, Revolutionary, and Constitutional Eras

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Colonial Era The year 1492 marks a turning point in modern world history. Columbus' voyage of discovery inaugurated a series of developments that would have vast consequences for both the Old World and the new. It transformed the diets of both the eastern and western hemispheres, helped initiate the Atlantic slave trade, spread diseases that had a devastating impact on Indian populations, and led to the establishment of European colonies across the Western Hemisphere. During the mid- and late-15th century, Europe began to expand. They had obtained mastery over the world's ocean currents and wind patterns and began to create a European-centered world economy. Europeans developed astronomical instruments and trigonometrically tables to plot the location of the sun and stars. They replaced oarsmen with sails and began to understand wind patterns and ocean currents more efficiently. The Europeans had advanced in technology, thus being able to easily expand and travel farther distances. The pioneer in European expansion was Portugal, which after 1385, was a united kingdom, and unlike other European countries, was free from internal conflicts. Portugal mainly focused it’s energies on Africa's western coast. It was Spain that would stumble upon the New World. Portugal had no interest on voyaging or settling westward. Columbus underestimated the circumference of the earth by one-fourth and he believed him and his men could reach Japan by sailing 2,400 miles west from the Canary Islands. Until his death in 1506, he insisted that he had reached Asia. But he quickly recognized that the new lands could be a source of wealth from precious minerals and sugar cane. The 15th and 16th century voyages of discovery brought Europe, Africa, and the Americas into direct contact producing an exchange of foods, animals, and diseases that scholars call “The Columbian Exchange.”

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