The beginning of the Modern Era is discussed in the intro of part 4. The signs that a modern era was emerging started developing around the world. Significant events like the Scientific Revolution, double in world population (from 374 million to 968 million) because of new foods from America, organized economies, manufacturing, and new military power (gunpowder) all were marks of a new era. But this idea of "Modern" that we think about today is nowhere to be used to describe the time that this chapter is talking about, as Strayer suggests. There were no indication of industrial fabrication, gender inequality was accepted and normal. All people lived still in a way of old traditional principles.
Reading this intro I developed some questions that may or may not be answered as the chapter moves forward. Since the author is basically saying that this era between he times of 1450-1750 were no where near the advancements of the idea of "modern" and is more of a late agrarian era, why was it still designated as such? Also it made me question what is agrarian? And why is Strayer calling it that? What made him make this assumption?
It is no mystery that the Europeans were the first Eastern Hemisphere people to make settlement in the Americas, and this is because of several reasons. They had advantages that other countries did not. One being they were simply closer. It was a simple straight line across the ocean. With their mapmaking and navigation skills they were able to track the wind currents that evidently got them there faster. As history went on, the Europeans inevitably created disaster in the Americas. They carried disease that the Native Americans had no immunity to. Thus, it wiped out a majority of them. New foods and crops began to arise in the Americas. One example being sugar. Not only did this bring in wealth to Brazil but also induced slave labor.
Reading this intro I developed some questions that may or may not be answered as the chapter moves forward. Since the author is basically saying that this era between he times of 1450-1750 were no where near the advancements of the idea of "modern" and is more of a late agrarian era, why was it still designated as such? Also it made me question what is agrarian? And why is Strayer calling it that? What made him make this assumption?
It is no mystery that the Europeans were the first Eastern Hemisphere people to make settlement in the Americas, and this is because of several reasons. They had advantages that other countries did not. One being they were simply closer. It was a simple straight line across the ocean. With their mapmaking and navigation skills they were able to track the wind currents that evidently got them there faster. As history went on, the Europeans inevitably created disaster in the Americas. They carried disease that the Native Americans had no immunity to. Thus, it wiped out a majority of them. New foods and crops began to arise in the Americas. One example being sugar. Not only did this bring in wealth to Brazil but also induced slave labor.
