The general theme from the lecture and readings of the Emerging Modern World and Age of Discovery focuses on the big picture behind 15th century history and what we all know as the Age of Discovery. Not only was this time period filled with exploration, more significantly, this was a time of expansion and conquest. When we use the word “discovery” to describe this time period, we can often overlook what really happened behind the scenes, which was essentially the extermination of millions of indigenous people. Perhaps a more fitting title for this period of history could be The Age of Conquest. This was a time where history as we know it commenced, the foundation for the modern corporations with rights and entities under governed, controlled
…show more content…
The Ming Dynasty had an ongoing concern with Northern boundaries. They wanted to maintain a strong frontier and fortified border from Northern enemies so that China could remain in control. However, The Great Wall of China is not ancient in its origins. The art of wall building is no stranger to ancient Chinese tradition. Building walls as a means of protective boundaries had been done in China long before the 15th century. This is another point to add to the fact that much of what became known as the age of discovery is in fact not …show more content…
Often called “ocean going Junks”(Kalivas, Lecture 1), these fleets were led by Zheng He, a Muslim Chinese admiral who was in charge of leading around 300 ocean going Junks in an attempt to wave the Ming Dynasty’s banner around the Indian Ocean. These journeys were meant to develop relationships in the Indian Ocean in order to foster trade. Eventually, the Ming emperors were no longer interested in the Treasure Fleet due to the fact that they were more concerned with the Mongols and Manchus that were threatening to China’s northern frontiers. The Mongols even led the emperor to move the capital away from the northern borders to what is present day Beijing. The Treasure Fleet during China’s Ming Dynasty proves that China had the navigational tools and technologies for maritime expansion in the Atlantic Ocean in the fifteenth century, long before Western Europe made the discovery of the
The Ming Dynasty had an ongoing concern with Northern boundaries. They wanted to maintain a strong frontier and fortified border from Northern enemies so that China could remain in control. However, The Great Wall of China is not ancient in its origins. The art of wall building is no stranger to ancient Chinese tradition. Building walls as a means of protective boundaries had been done in China long before the 15th century. This is another point to add to the fact that much of what became known as the age of discovery is in fact not …show more content…
Often called “ocean going Junks”(Kalivas, Lecture 1), these fleets were led by Zheng He, a Muslim Chinese admiral who was in charge of leading around 300 ocean going Junks in an attempt to wave the Ming Dynasty’s banner around the Indian Ocean. These journeys were meant to develop relationships in the Indian Ocean in order to foster trade. Eventually, the Ming emperors were no longer interested in the Treasure Fleet due to the fact that they were more concerned with the Mongols and Manchus that were threatening to China’s northern frontiers. The Mongols even led the emperor to move the capital away from the northern borders to what is present day Beijing. The Treasure Fleet during China’s Ming Dynasty proves that China had the navigational tools and technologies for maritime expansion in the Atlantic Ocean in the fifteenth century, long before Western Europe made the discovery of the