The European Advantage


I found the section on CH 13 The European Advantage an interesting one. It was clever how they understood and mastered air currents. It text states, once these air currents were understood and mastered, they provided a far different maritime environment than the alternating monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean, in which Asian powers had long operated  (Strayer 619). Along with this the European innovations in mapmaking, navigation, sailing techniques and ship design enabled their penetration of the Atlantic Ocean. This was interesting because rather than just sail on boat, they took sailing to a new level by coming up with these innovations to give them leverage. Furthermore, the Europeans had certain advantages in carving out empires. For example, even though they were away from home, they had effective mobilization of both human and material resources. Also, building on their Chinese and Islamic predecessors, they had better seafaring technology that helped them cross the Atlantic with ease, transporting people, and supplies across great distances. Their ironworking technology, gunpowder, and horses were a huge advantage as well. However, their biggest advantage lay in their germs and diseases, to which Native Americans had no immunities. They used these germs and diseases to wipe out society after society. It makes me think how the Native Americans could have combated such an epidemic. But even if they did manage to become immune to the diseases of the Europeans, it would have been hard to face them because they had gunpowder weapons at their disposal. In any case, this section was interesting because they had numerous advantages and it seemed like no one could stop them.

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