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As we all know, the rise of the West was actually very late.
It was not until the 16th and 17th centuries that Europe began to expand on a large scale.
And when they became the world hegemon exactly, it was already the 19th century.
It has to be criticized that the reason why Europe was able to rise so quickly was "indispensable" to the slave trade.
After Europeans colonized the American continent, they introduced a large number of cheap black slaves, using women as men and men as livestock.
In this way, relying on cheap black slaves, vast American lands and rich American minerals, Europe accumulated huge wealth.
It not only successfully coped with the attacks of the Ottoman Empire from the East, but also successfully developed modern Western science and technology.
It's just that behind this "brilliant achievement" are countless black slaves who left their homeland and died innocently and tragically...
European medieval and early colonial exploration
The historical development of Europe is actually relatively similar to that of the mainland at the beginning.
Both regions first developed their own countries and fangguo, and then reached unification through conquest.
At that time, the Han and Rome were the two most powerful countries on the entire continent.
They all admire each other very much, and for a while "the limelight is incomparable".
But when China and the West faced foreign invasions at the same time, the histories of the two sides began to diverge.
After the division of the northern and southern dynasties, China finally overcame the Chen dynasty in the south by the Sui dynasty in the north, completing the second great unification.
And the West, after experiencing the fall of Western Rome and the failure of the Eastern Roman Crusade, was "embarrassed".
Eastern Rome could not destroy the barbarians of the West.
The barbarians could not defeat Eastern Rome to the east.
This is critical.
Because soon, China and the West will face a second large-scale foreign invasion.
At that time, China had completed reunification and was capable of withstanding the Turkic attack with the efforts of Li Shimin's father and son.
And even in turn destroy the Turks.
The West, on the other hand, was divided and could not concentrate its power, and was swept up by the newly rising Arabs.
The Middle East, North Africa and even vast areas of Sicily and Spain were occupied by the Arabs.
As a result, the West slumped and failed to emerge from the Middle Ages for a thousand years.
However, the Middle Ages were not all barbaric and dark.
Through a long period of division, war, trade, invasion and counter-invasion, Europeans accumulated rich experience in navigation, trade, and colonization.
These experiences do not seem to play a decisive role in normal times.
But when the New World was discovered, everything was different.
In the 15th and 16th centuries AD, Isabella, Queen of Castile of Spain, was very talented.
Not only did she send troops to wipe out the remnants of the Islamic state on the Iberian Peninsula, but she also sponsored Columbus' voyages.
And Columbus lived up to expectations and successfully discovered America.
It is a pity that until his death, he firmly believed that the continent he discovered was "India".
Spain soon realized the value of America.
This is not because of how prosperous the Americas are, but because there are countless mineral deposits under the Americas.
In addition, at that time, Spain was engaged in a European version of the "war for hegemony" and urgently needed a lot of silver and gold.
However, at this time, Europeans still believed in their hearts that they had the mission of educating the indigenous people and were not harsh on the local natives.
He even wanted them to convert to Christianity and become civilized "modern people."
But with the death of Queen Isabella, this ideal gradually became an unrealistic fantasy.
Increasingly strict colonial policies and the introduction of black slaves
Queen Isabella's grandson, Charles V, can simply be said to be the European version of the "chosen son".
His grandfather gave him the right to stand for election to the Austrian, Hungarian and Shinra thrones.
His grandmother gave him Burgundy with the lowlands near present-day Holland.
His grandmother gave him the throne of Castile.
And his grandfather gave him the throne of Aragon.
By the time Charles V came to power, he had already acquired nearly 80 titles and nearly half of Europe's lands by inheritance.
But these territories and titles were a burden to Charles V.
Because these territories are so broken.
Moreover, he has too many enemies.
At that time, his situation was described as "attacking in groups", which is not excessive.
The ministers had the illusion that Charles V could complete Christendom.
That is, the unification of Europe in the sense of the time, the establishment of a Christian republic.
But for Charles V, it was an elusive goal.
He spent his whole life trying to maintain the status quo.
But maintaining the status quo also requires money.
Charles V was initially able to take a gentle attitude towards the Americans, and even sponsored Magellan's circumnavigation of the world.
But after the war and financial constraints, he began to change his policy in the Americas.
Since most Europeans are not interested in such "uncivilized regions" as the Americas.
Therefore, Spain had to recruit and exile some "undignified" people to colonize and reclaim the Americas.
Most of these people are scoundrels, robbers, bandits, and they do all kinds of evil.
However, Spain needed these people to squeeze money.
So those responsible turned a blind eye and let them do something wrong on the soil of the Americas.
During that time, countless Americans were forced to work in the mines.
They don't have enough to eat, they don't have warm clothes, they can only change shifts once a week, and they can't rest until they die.
There is almost no protection in the mine.
In the event of a fatal accident, another group of Americans was directly arrested to continue working.
But the number of Americans is limited.
And when Europeans went to colonize the Americas, they brought with them a lot of new viruses, new germs and new infectious diseases.
The Americans did not have the corresponding antibodies and died in batches.
The combination of these factors has led to a precipitous decline in the number of Americans.
But even so, someone has to do it.
The thugs from Spain were not willing to do this dangerous work themselves.
At this time, they came up with a "good way" to increase the number of workers, that is, the slave trade.
The slave trade and the shame of the fig leaf
In fact, Africa began cultural and material exchanges with Europe very early.
But this exchange is limited to North Africa.
At that time, the vast area of South Africa and Central Africa was called by Europeans "an unknown southern continent".
It was not until the 15th century that they began to "dabble".
However, because most of the North Africans who have been exchanged before are white.
Therefore, Europeans were not accustomed to dealing with predominantly black South Africa and Central Africa at first, thinking that they were "inferior" races.
But soon, they realized that there was a business opportunity.
The economy of black Africa lagged far behind that of North Africa and Europe.
Therefore, Europeans here can buy black slaves of quite good quality at prices far below the European market price.
This is very tempting for Europe.
In addition, most of the slaves in the European slave market at that time were prisoners of war or residents and villagers captured during the sacking of cities and villages.
Although these white and yellow slaves were better in appearance, intelligence and civilization than black slaves.
But black slaves were far more physically powerful than whites and could do heavy work.
For the colonists of the Americas, physical strength was far more important than posture and intelligence.
This can be seen in the fact that male slaves cost five to ten times more than women.
As a result, European merchants went to black Africa to sell male slaves with good physical strength.
But most colonists didn't go and catch blacks themselves.
Because this kind of behavior is time-consuming and laborious, if it is not done, it will be caught by blacks and executed according to their punishment.
At that time, captains often chose to start with "human feelings".
In the beginning, they first invited local dignitaries such as chiefs, samurai, and shamans to drink, eat, and make good relations.
Once the relationship was very harmonious, the captains would make a request to buy black people.
At first, local African tribal chiefs resisted the practice.
But the Europeans gave too much.
And the black trade was a good deal for the black rulers.
On the one hand, chiefs and warriors could sell prisoners of war and captive men and women from rival tribes to Europeans.
In this way, they can not only reap a small fortune, but also weaken the strength of rival tribes.
And Europeans sometimes exchanged weapons for black slaves.
The new firearms of Europeans are placed in the primitive tribes of Africa, and that is definitely a "dimensionality reduction strike".
Ambitious black rulers were especially fond of these firearms.
On the other hand, the rulers of black Africa had their own opponents.
They may be powerful, they may be charismatic, they may be armed.
But as long as the chiefs did not talk about martial virtue, they carried out sneak attacks and sold them to the Europeans.
Then no matter how capable they are, they can only spend the rest of their lives in a foreign country, or even die on the road.
In addition, according to records, a very strong black man could be sold for 15 pounds, which could be exchanged for about 640 pounds of wine.
This temptation is something that few drunken chiefs can resist.
In the eyes of the chiefs and captains, the slave was not a human being, but a valuable and tradable object.
Rather, commodities.
Since it is just a "thing", it can naturally be tossed at will, how to save costs and how to come.
Therefore, even if the slave trade was as profitable as 600%, the captains tried to save as much money as possible to load more slaves.
Naturally, the black slaves lived extremely miserable.
There are some locked in seats below deck, and although it is possible to sit, it is necessary to paddle constantly.
Eating, drinking, and Lasa can only be carried out in a small space in the dark, and the conditions are extremely harsh.
The food they eat is also some inferior supplies that rot and stink because of the long voyage.
But these people can still eat more or less and sit.
Others don't even have room to sit.
The crew stuffed the cabins and then ignored them except for feeding.
The slaves could neither go up to the deck for ventilation nor space to sit, and even had to go to the toilet on the spot.
You can imagine a pigsty that hasn't been cleaned for months, and that's just the case.
In this case, the captains actually continued to oppress the black slaves.
Not only did he strip them all of their clothes for money.
They are not even allowed to wear even a little clothes, not even a fig leaf.
This was not just because the colonists feared that they would bring weapons with them.
More importantly, for a "commodity", civilization and dignity are not important, the important thing is to show the advantages and disadvantages of the commodity and choose it.
Only by allowing black slaves to show most or even all of their bodies to the owners of American manors can they increase the transaction rate and sell them at a good price.
summary
Perhaps many people thought that after being sold, the lives of black slaves would be greatly improved.
But that's just good wishes.
True, after being bought, they are no longer commodities, they can wear clothes, they can be "civilized", they can have toilets.
But in the eyes of the owner of the manor, they are still not "people", but from commodities to humanoid "machines" controlled by themselves.
Therefore, the farmer will still squeeze as much as possible and will not carry out humanistic care.
In their opinion, this "commodity" is not in short supply anyway, and if it is "bad", they will buy another batch.
The slave trade was so cruel, bloody and realistic.
bibliography
"Race for Power"
"Chasing Glory"
Research on Geographical Discoveries
The Emperor (Biography of Charles V)
Isabella: The Samurai Queen