Thoughts and Reflections on: The Human Story, Chapter 10: The New World Falls to the Old One

    European exploration was one of the first events in history to affect the entire globe. While ushering in an an era of trade, prosperity, and empires for much of Europe, this exploration led to the oppression (and in some cases destruction) of several cultures. Take the Americas for exampl. There the cultures of the Aztecs and Incas thrived for centuries, but they were practically demolished after the arrival of Europeans. Their religion was replaced, their culture destroyed, and their people enslaved. The hardships of the people were so great that the majority of a generation was never born. While this brought further wealth to countries such as Spain and Portugal, in means that that world will never know what these civilizations may have achieved if left to their own devices. The colonization of the Americas is not dissimilar to the actions taken in Africa. There too the locals were enslaved and the treasure of the land taken back to Europe. Various European countries established colonies all over the world, and established themselves as global powers.