Before American Hegemony Analysis

The world in the years of 1200 to 1600 was a period where many tumultuous and random events had many far reaching consequences shifting the balance of power and influence in an unpredictable manner. The nations and empires which have long persisted for many centuries and in some cases many millennia observed and experienced the upheaval of their landscape and the dynamics of the world. The many entities previously seeking out the domination and submission of neighboring nations now had to struggle with merely surviving and attempt keeping its territories and boundaries from other opportunistic rivals. As many nations began to decline and continued to regress, this period in human history would mark the beginnings and ascent of Europe. The …show more content…
In Abu-Lughod’s “Before European Hegemony”, Abu-Lughod states the notable powers within all the regions world during the thirteenth century were all on par with one another as trade routes ensured all would see the same amount and flow of exchanges across all continents with the exception of the Americas, which would see much its wealth plundered promptly after their initial contact with the Europeans. Where cracks in the security and freedom of trade so began the nation's road to decline in overall wealth and economy. The empires of the Americas prior to European contact saw much prosperity in trade within their own nations, with the Incan and Aztec empires paving the way for prosperity through military campaigns (Von Sivers 517). The Incan Empire, whose territories were located in South America, implemented military conquests and installed their own governors who oversaw exchanges and bartering within their dominion (Von Sivers 512 ). The Aztec empire was similar as much the stability in the region relied upon the submission of its neighboring tribes and proper running their city-states (Von Sivers 514). The state of affairs around the fourteenth century in the economies of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East were much more developed, with international markets permitting trade across these continents. Trade was consistent across all these regions, allowing many popular ports and city to be established (Abu-Lughod 33). The apparent benefits of this trade structures eventually lend itself to bring misfortune to the densely populated cities which hosted trade and affect much of the regions across these continents due the outbreak of the black plague (Abu-Lughod 45). The conditions of the overall world trade system after the Black Plague would see its