In the first chapter of Empires of the Atlantic World, author J.H. Elliott describes the
Atlantic World as resulting from the European expansion in the competitive
reach for wealth and power. In this
historical view of the Atlantic World, European royalty at first sent
expeditions in search of more efficient trade routes with Asia, and eventually
stumbled upon what was deemed the New World.
At this point, there was a shift from trade routes to actual physical
riches, which spurred a competitive charge to colonize the lands to the west
and establish new sources of gold, silver, and other valuable resources. Over the course of several centuries, the
products sent through the Atlantic would change, but the culture of the
Atlantic World characteristic of the region and its users.
Alison
Games, in authoring “Atlantic History: Definitions, Challenges, and
Opportunities” has a different take then that of Elliott. Games believes that the Atlantic World in and
of itself is given too much focus as its own sect of history, when in actuality
the relative history changes depending on whose eyes you are seeing it
from. Much of the history of the
Atlantic as currently understood is written from the perspective of American or
European history. Yet there is little
perception from the vantage of the Native Americans or Africans who were
equally if not more affected by the interaction between worlds that took place
by way of the Atlantic.
Finally,
Peter Coclais, in writing “Atlantic World or Atlantic/World,” argues even
further that the Atlantic World is given too much attention, and should in
reality be viewed as simply a small part of the whole. According to Coclais, the Atlantic World was
created by all involved, and that includes much more of the world then just
Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Northwestern
European extensions during the time period 1500-1800 were not Atlantic, but
global. Coclais argues the importance of
Asian wealth and trade, and the impact that had on the entire scope of the
Atlantic trade. In other words, the
Atlantic was nothing more then a road by which the World as a whole evolved.
In
each author’s work involving the Atlantic World there is some level of merit
found within their arguments. That said;
I do not find any clear-cut right answer of these three. I have an understanding of the history as
outlined by J.H. Elliott, therefore agree with much of his findings. I think the New World was ultimately pursued
as a result of European competition for wealth and power, and was later
justified by the expansion of the Christian faith. Games makes a valid point in that there
should be a greater emphasis on the understanding of African and Native
American history for the time period in question. However, for the Native Americans, they were
the recipients, whether good or bad, of European expansion, and therefore the
study of their movement within the Atlantic World would seem minimal. As for the ideas outlines by Coclais, I agree
only with the idea that the happenings of the Atlantic World would affect the
world over, and change the makeup of the international system as we know it
today. That said, I believe it to be
naïve to gloss over the Atlantic World as being too focused on. Though the study of the Atlantic World is
always debatable, the affect felt by the Empires involved and the Empires that
would result is unquestionable. People from many countries and cultures put
into motion a shift in power, culture,
and political policy that effectively defines the history we know as the Atlantic
World.
