Chapter 14, 15 & 16

Blog #4 – WW – Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16

         Being born in Peru, and reading about the European Empires in America, brought back memories from when I was in school. We learned that the Spanish came and settled in Peru. As the book WW mentioned, “ We (Spanish) came here to serve God and the King, and also to get rich” (pg 406). But they forgot to mention that they also came to destroy and kill. And I am not referring to just people. I am referring to our culture, beliefs and values. The Spanish brought sickness and diseases. It leads me to wonder why history books don’t call it what it should be called, which is, in my opinion, a genocide. When the Incas become in contact with the European and African diseases, they died in great numbers. Unfortunately, the Incas were dying also from hunger, and were not able to take care of each other. As far as the Columbian exchange, I am not so sure it was an even exchange. It seems that the Incas contributed more to this exchange than the Spanish.

         It seems that people were able to trade freely (pg 435), until the Portuguese decided to forcefully control the commerce. Why didn’t they join the trading peacefully? It was a good thing Spain challenged Portugal (pg 437), not by force, but with another expansion to the Philippines island. Ultimately, it was the Dutch and the English that overtook and displaced the Portuguese, often by force (pg 439). Everyone one had the necessity of showing off his or her power. It would have been much easier if they created a system of commerce together that worked out for everyone.

I believe that the commercialization of furs, silver, textiles and spices had a great impact in global commerce, but was it necessary to add human beings into the commercialization? Why did we have to continue trading slaves? And why was Africa the primary source of slave labor? Was it because of their color? Maybe not, according to WW “Africans were skilled farmers, they had some immunity to both tropical and European diseases; they were not Christians; they were relatively speaking, close at hand and they were readily available…” (Pg 451) What is ironic is that today, people of color, such as Africans, are associated with laziness, being slow, and not wanting to work. And back then they were the perfect match to do any type of work.

         I didn’t know that Catholicism and Christianity, before the Protestant Reformation, were the same thing. I remember that a friend of mine once asked me if I was Christian or Protestant. I said Christian, and then he asked me what Catholic Church I went to. I responded by reminding him I was a Christian not a Catholic, in which he said they both are the same thing. He totally confused me. But after reading chapter 16, I now have a better understanding of what he meant. With this new information, I have to say that I am a protestant, and share with Luther the same understanding of salvation that comes through faith alone. I know that these ideas are still a challenge to the Catholic Church. I remember my mom asking the bishop of our church things about the bible, and him telling us that he didn’t think a Catholic church or Catholicism is for us anymore. Those types of responses lead Catholics to search for other alternatives.