The Great Divergence
In the last 200 years, there has been a major change of power in the world, coined The Great Divergence. It is hard to believe that 200 years ago, two countries accounted for about two thirds of the world economic output, India and China . It was at this very same time in history that countries of the Western Hemisphere, primarily Great Britain, began eclipsing these two powers of the world. Overtime, many historians have come up with arguments as to why this change in power occurred. Robert Marks analyzed many influencing factors surrounding the event, a few of them being, conquest, trade, natural resources, and the industrial revolution. Professor Jared Diamond studied why the wealth and power of the world became so …show more content…
Robert Marks made many valid arguments as to what lead to the rise of the West. The most compelling argument made was that Western dominance was a product of several conjunctions, convergences, and accidents. Some of these major events that took place around the world was, China ending its naval control of the Indian Ocean, Vasco De Gama sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, China choosing to use silver as their monetary system, as well as the discovery of the New World, and the discovery of large coal reserves in Britain. Up until the early 1400’s, China’s naval forces dominated the Indian Ocean. This was where the Chinese general Zheng He led several expeditions in the early 1400’s to establish overseas trade routes, and show others that China was the most powerful country in the world . However, due to some political uncertainties, China decided to focus more on the Mongols to the north than controlling the Indian Ocean. Therefore, their navy was almost non-existent to exist by the year 1450 . So far, the Indian Ocean had been a very peaceful trading destination for merchants alike . Until the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama introduced armed trading in the …show more content…
However, this raised another question. People of Papua New Guinea have been farming for almost 10,000 years, why weren’t they able to flourish like the West? The solution to this question is the availability in crops. Papua New Guinea’s farming was based on plants like the Taro Root, which must be planted one by one. Also, the Taro Root cannot be stored for long periods of time or else it will rot, whereas, wheat can be planted by the handful and stored for a long time. There was also very little protein found in Taro Roots compared to wheat, leading to protein deficiency. Along with the spread of crops to Europe, they also received domesticated animals such as, goats, sheep, horses, pigs, and cows. Whereas, the only domesticated animal in Papua New Guinea was the pig. Pigs were a good source of nutrients, however, they cannot be milked or used to plow fields like the animals that migrated from the Fertile Crescent. With there being no surplus in food Papua New Guinea, individuals were unable to focus on other technological advancements, like the formation of metal
In the last 200 years, there has been a major change of power in the world, coined The Great Divergence. It is hard to believe that 200 years ago, two countries accounted for about two thirds of the world economic output, India and China . It was at this very same time in history that countries of the Western Hemisphere, primarily Great Britain, began eclipsing these two powers of the world. Overtime, many historians have come up with arguments as to why this change in power occurred. Robert Marks analyzed many influencing factors surrounding the event, a few of them being, conquest, trade, natural resources, and the industrial revolution. Professor Jared Diamond studied why the wealth and power of the world became so …show more content…
Robert Marks made many valid arguments as to what lead to the rise of the West. The most compelling argument made was that Western dominance was a product of several conjunctions, convergences, and accidents. Some of these major events that took place around the world was, China ending its naval control of the Indian Ocean, Vasco De Gama sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, China choosing to use silver as their monetary system, as well as the discovery of the New World, and the discovery of large coal reserves in Britain. Up until the early 1400’s, China’s naval forces dominated the Indian Ocean. This was where the Chinese general Zheng He led several expeditions in the early 1400’s to establish overseas trade routes, and show others that China was the most powerful country in the world . However, due to some political uncertainties, China decided to focus more on the Mongols to the north than controlling the Indian Ocean. Therefore, their navy was almost non-existent to exist by the year 1450 . So far, the Indian Ocean had been a very peaceful trading destination for merchants alike . Until the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama introduced armed trading in the …show more content…
However, this raised another question. People of Papua New Guinea have been farming for almost 10,000 years, why weren’t they able to flourish like the West? The solution to this question is the availability in crops. Papua New Guinea’s farming was based on plants like the Taro Root, which must be planted one by one. Also, the Taro Root cannot be stored for long periods of time or else it will rot, whereas, wheat can be planted by the handful and stored for a long time. There was also very little protein found in Taro Roots compared to wheat, leading to protein deficiency. Along with the spread of crops to Europe, they also received domesticated animals such as, goats, sheep, horses, pigs, and cows. Whereas, the only domesticated animal in Papua New Guinea was the pig. Pigs were a good source of nutrients, however, they cannot be milked or used to plow fields like the animals that migrated from the Fertile Crescent. With there being no surplus in food Papua New Guinea, individuals were unable to focus on other technological advancements, like the formation of metal