Effect of Conquest of America on Europe's relationship with Africa and Essay

Effect of Conquest of America on Europe's relationship with Africa and Asia - Essay Example Each ship that ventured out to the unknown world has gold, territory and glory as objectives for the country it served. When America was discovered, it was found that its natural resources were in abundance and in the flurry of new explorations fueled by the American colonial success, they found Asia and Africa and the new resources that they had to offer, resources that can be easily exploited and easily compliment their interests in the New World. It is in this respect that the African slavery became significant. The mines of Peru and Mexico, the plantations in Brazil and the Caribbean - they required new laborers after the number of indigenous peoples were effectively decimated upon the arrival of the colonizers. According to Crosby (2003), the Andean Inca civilization alone lost more than 8 million of its 9 million indigenous natives (22). During most of the period of colonization of Africa, its main utility for its colonizers were its slaves. Millions of Africans were shipped to the plantations in America and this trade in itself has been a major source of revenue for Portugal. Besides the slaves, however, Africa also supplied ivory, gold, diamonds, cocoa, nut oils and timber. The case of Asian relationship with Europe, the situation is a little more different than the African experience. Unlike the latter, Asia fell to European colonization rather later. It was only after the 1850s wherein the West made some significant headway in colonizing the Far East. This variable contributed to the manner by which the Asian colonies were exploited and administered. For instance, Spain ruled the Philippines through Mexico. Then, Asian slaves were not common while their raw materials produce and other products were either sent to Europe or to Latin America for processing. Britain was also able to milk India dry with its precious stones, spices, tea, and other resources. Asia, somehow, was treated like Latin America, a source of wealth for its masters that wield their power from Europe but not in the degree or manner the Europeans exploited Africa. What the colonization of the Americas, Asia and Africa demonstrated was the fact that these continents became embroiled with some form of globalization especially producing a type of division of labor that we could actually identify as roughly similar to what we have today. One analogy that could probably describe the situation was how other races were exploited in order to enrich and provide for the requirements of the European imperialists. A less emotional description would argue that during the age of colonization, nations became engaged with specialization in goods production and in occupation by their respective peoples, according to the resources of their home countries and their status in the empire that they belong. An important variable that must be underscored in this investigation is the fact that the European hegemony during the Age of Discovery is not mainly driven by the absolute superio rity of the European technologies and weaponry. Spain, for example has risen to its imperial status and consolidated its global

What isnt new about social networking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

What isnt new about social networking - Essay Example The tide of advancement hits forcefully so as to blur people’s sight of what is in fact taking place. The argument that the current period is not at the heart of immense and more recurrent development in media technologies opposes the entire fundamental principle of progress that it should be questioned by rational individuals. The notion of ‘social media revolution’ is utterly historical or cultural, because how can one be certain that a condition has transformed, or has evolved, without recognizing its earlier situation or status? It is relevant to provide an analysis of these arguments which are themselves rooted in history; in the cultural and historical conditions enveloping the usage of what could be generally referred to as ‘science’, particularly the science of human communication. This historical knowledge unravels the ‘Information Age’ to be mostly a misapprehension, a rhetorical ploy and a demonstration of technological unaware ness. The mainstream literature on the media and these issues reverberate with images of catastrophe, the same group of occurrences being the foundation of both modes of being dogmatic. This is the context against which this paper discusses more purposely that there is nothing in the historical development of electronic communication technologies to suggest that important large-scale revolutions have not been supported by established social formations. Certainly, it is probable to discern in the historical document not only a more gradual tempo of change than is often proposed but also these continuities in the behavior of transmission and innovation as to propose a paradigm for all these transformations. Replications can be found across this varied continuum of media technologies and across periods of their creation and transmission. For instance, take into account the ways in which blueprints for tools arise, the relevance of science and technology, the connection of ‘trial products’ to ‘innovations’ and the harmony of forces inducing and hampering the technologies (Gripsrud et al. 2010). A paradigm to demonstrate these trends completely expresses the dominance of the social arena as the meeting point of these interactions, activities, orientation, and creation of technological advances. Relevant Literature For many people nowadays, social media refers to Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook. However, social media transcends these social networking sites to take account of blogs, wikis, and other specialized applications (Research Technology Management 2011). Social media users do not interact with or consume content. Rather, they produce content, mutually structuring, sharing, editing, tagging, and generating information, reconstructing the inputs of others and taking part in open forums (Clark & Slyke 2006). These are developing media technologies, implying that content and system and even usage arise with application, from the activiti es and requirements of the users. Although open innovation involves an entire array of attempts to expand outside the business firewall, social media can control a formerly inaccessible reservoir of new knowledge and insights: the public. A crowd that is composed of self-reliant members with varied points of view can produce wise decisions and innovative answers, given correct means to amass and disseminate ideas and points of view (Morozov 2011). However social media is not merely an innovative technology mechanism, but a revolution in the function that media technologies