Historical Globalization Research Paper

To discuss to what extent contemporary society should respond to the legacies of historical globalization, first we must define exactly what we’re talking about. Historical globalization deals with the initial rise of imperialism and colonization during the early 1400’s, which led to the exploration of the “New World” and the acquirement of land, and the people living on it, by the major European superpowers such as England, France, Spain, and Portugal. The legacies of that exploration and the conquering of regions in the Americas are still felt today. The stereotypical ideas of Columbus arriving in Hispaniola to be greeted only by thick jungles, untouched by the hand of man, and small nomadic tribes of indigenous people is something that

one might think of in respect to this era. However, Charles C. Mann’s 1491 aims to shed some light on the much more culturally diverse and technologically advanced groups of people living in the Americas. Mann’s novel focuses mainly on the misconceptions about the longevity of the Indian’s habitation of the “New World” as well as the manner with which they altered the land, previously thought to be pristine and Eden-esque, to suit their various needs. The novel does an effective job of explaining what life was like for the Native population leading up to the arrival of Columbus and could perhaps change the way we think about the the original inhabitants of the Americas.

The first issue brought up by Mann in 1491 is the misconception that First Nations throughout North, South, and Central America were spread out into small tribes and lacked culture and basic human intelligence. This is the same worldview popularized during the age of colonization that argued indigenous populations were subject to the White Man’s Burden. Mann describes this misconception in modern times as the “Holmberg mistake”. Named after Alan R. Holmberg, it states that the Sirionó, a native group living in Beni, a region of grasslands in Bolivia were, “among the most culturally backward