A Cultural History Of The Atlantic World Essay - 2126 Words

In John K. Thornton’s book, A Cultural History of the Atlantic World, 1250 – 1820, Thornton describes the exploration of the western world by powerful European nations. Early on in the text Thornton details the ways early European merchants and explorers discovered the routes across the Atlantic to what would eventually become the Americas. He then lays out the formation and expansion of the slave trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Throughout all of this Thornton very effectively communicates and disproves any common mistakes or false presumptions readers may have. He continues to do this when he switches his focus from the discovery of the Atlantic world to the colonization of it. Thornton explains how the two major European powers in the Atlantic world at that time, England and Spain, â€Å"conquered† and colonized the new world. He especially focuses on the relationships between the native peoples and the incoming Europeans. He explores the ways b oth groups effected each other. He goes on to state that the way in which the social structure of the European colonies was determine in large measure by the social structure of the indigenous people at the time of European arrival. This serves as Thornton’s thesis of the text and he provides evidence to support his claim. He also mentions that most of the time the story of the Atlantic World is told from an exclusively European perspective. And while he does try to include all aspects in the narrative I’m not totallyShow MoreRelatedAtlantic History : Concept And Contours854 Words   |  4 PagesThe study of the Atlantic as an interwoven community is a relatively new theory. Historians are beginning to see Atlantic History as â€Å"a sudden and harsh encounter between two old worlds that transformed both and integrated them into a single New World† , and not just separate entities with detached pasts. Atlantic History: Concept and Contours by Bernard Bailyn la ys the framework for what Atlantic History is and how it should be studied. Bailyn states that the reasoning behind writing the book isRead MoreThe Transatlantic Slave Trade And Africa801 Words   |  4 PagesIn the last two decades, scholars have analyzed and debated the transatlantic slave trade and this eventually transformed the field of Atlantic history. John Thornton’s Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680 changed the way scholars view the role of Africans because of its revisionist perspective and ground breaking interpretations of the slave trade. 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