Social and Economic History in 15TH and 16TH Century

Social and Economic History in 15^TH and 16^TH Century

The face of Europe in the 15^th and 16^th centuries focuses on the Atlantic ocean, which was regarded as a central position for most activities such as migration, settlement, and colonization. During that period, these activities were facilitated by the wide range and variety of ecological and climate diversity (453). On the same, the Atlantic area also posed a great danger, especially on the Americans who blamed the Europeans for disease epidemics. Europe also faced hostility in their economy primarily due to high influx of silver caused by South America, where the Americans also introduced stimulants which had a target on free labor regime (458). Despite the European governments having control over transatlantic trade, most private entrepreneurs saw this as a massive chance in the slave supply chain, where most Africans would be captured through the West African Ports (461). Also, since the Americans introduced new plantations, they took slaves from Africa through human trafficking (458). Consequently, the European states got into the internal competition, which also led them to be exported to the Atlantic world.

For Europe, during the reformation period, it states remained highly politically unstable while religious wars were also experienced on the continent. That was evidenced by Roman Catholic now inducing its religious beliefs to the Asians and Americans after losing religious dominance in Europe (456). The religious wars were controlled by Spanish crowns whose defense on Catholic church was clear, and through trying to unify both Catholic faithful and the Spanish protestants was one of the major wars experienced in Western history. Also, the war in England was uncontrollable, which led both moral and political philosophers to intervene, trying to point out the role of governments, thus proving that monarchies conflicts also existed (456). The primary thing by now that would help the philosophers was by understanding the religious pluralism and the different political ideologies that caused excessive violence.

The 15^th and 16^th century also led to the formation of new social hierarchy, where new governments were formed from Mexico and Peru (459). Also,  new and well-regulated communities in the areas were also experienced, making it easier for the Spanish government to maintain law and order through such local communities. As well, the government was so considerate that it did not uproot the native cultures that existed, but instead, they took advantage of the native labor (459).  As well, the Spanish culture, in as much as they tried in converting the natives into Catholicism, they ensured that they maintained harmony through non-interference with the native’s life patterns. Such acts resulted in cultural assimilations, which led to intermarriages between male colonizers and their female subjects, which led to the rise of New Spain.

In as much as Americans were colonized, Europe seemed to enjoy having ample and firm economic growth since the fifteenth century (463). All that changed during the second half of the 16^th century due to the prolonged economic, religious, and political wars that ended up destabilizing the European economy. The conflicts within Europe had a widespread within its colonial holdings that resulted in the determination of the most influential European states where the determination was evaluated through the state’s ability to survive the conflicts and withhold their dominance in Atlantic and beyond (463).

Therefore, it can be asserted that in the late 16^th century, any unprecedented price inflation posed a significant threat to the European economy leading to panic among the Europeans. Lately, in the twentieth century, despite having more price inflations, people are more scared when the prices shoot up too high due to the price revolution concerning the markets.  Therefore, the new silver world and the old world of economies can be said to possess the same goal of Europe’s economic growth. However, due to the new price revolution, the approach to gaining such economics has greatly changed.