Maura's History Blog

In the reading there are three factors that are described as advantageous: 1. Their states and trading companies enabled the effective mobilization of both human and  material resources. 2. Their searing technology which allowed them to cross the Atlantic with growing ease, transporting people and supplies across great distances. 3. And finally, their ironworking technology, gunpowder weapons and horses. (pg 557) These were definitely key factors in colonizing and taking over.  As the reading continues I had not realized just how many people were essentially killed because of the new diseases that were introduced to them. Native Americans were loosing up to 90 percent of their population, double digit populations plummeting into just over 1 million. I remember learning how disease did in fact affect cultures, but never to this extent.  The section that really captivated me was "Colonies of Sugar". I could not believe the conditions they were deman...