The New World Colonization: How & Why

The colonization of the New World (The Americas) may have been the most important colonization in all of history. Without it a majority of people would either be living in Europe or not even alive at all. By honing in on the arguments of Jared Diamond and David Graeber, we can get a grasp on the reasons why Europe colonized the New World. From 1450-1750, Europe was going through drastic changes; therefore, their need for wealth, accompanied with their organization and vastly advanced technological society fueled their want and need to conquer the New World. By thoroughly examining and dissecting these main points, the reasons for colonization will become clearer.

Without money a society cannot function. Therefore, it's no surprise that the Europeans had a mass craving for wealth. What they would do for it depended on how bad they needed it.

In the mid 1500's China's need for silver was so great that they exhausted the mines within China and neighboring Japan. Thus they had to search overseas. Graeber states " Chinese mines were quickly exhausted,...Before long, China had to turn to Europe and the New World." (Debt 311). China's need for the silver that fueled their economy led them to employing Europeans to go over to the New World and taking the massive amounts of silver from the mines and returning it to the Chinese. If the Chinese did not have enough silver there economy would collapse leading to mass chaos and debt. In comparison, when the Spaniards encountered the Inca's in 1532 they could not believe the amounts of gold and silver that the Inca's possessed. "So great was the amount of furniture of gold and silver of which they bore, that it was a marvel to observe how the sun glinted upon it." (GGS 71). The Spaniards desire and want for the Inca's gold and silver was further fueled by the knowledge of the amount that the Inca's possessed. This want led to the brutal killings of thousands of Inca's and the ultimate conquest of the Inca empire. The comparison between the Chinese and the Spanish conquistadors is that they were both fueled by tremendous amounts of greed and guilty pleasure. The thought of becoming filthy rich led to them to doing horrible and unimaginable things; for example, the massacres of the Inca's.

Having vast amounts of money is every persons dream. In the 1570's China achieved that dream. The silver they were getting from the mines in the New World was making them richer than they would have imagined. "China was importing almost fifty tons of silver a year." (Debt 312). The Chinese were in control of everything and this kept making them want more. "Asian trade became the single most significant factor in the emerging global economy, and those who ultimately controlled the financial levers...became fantastically rich." (Debt 312). The Chinese trade controlled the world. Their trade benefited them immensely, but took away from other countries in the process. While Europe saw massive influxes of gold and silver flowing through their ports they very rarely touched one ounce of it. This made Europe poor and no one was happy about it. "...most families were so low on cash that they were regularly reduced to melting down the family silver to pay their taxes." (Debt 312-13). The Europeans were the ones working hard to get the gold and return it to Europe and then through to China; therefore to do this they had to find ways to cover up their cruel atrocities happening overseas. The Spanish conquistadors used the act of god to justify the mass killings in the Inca empire. "Come at these enemy dogs who reject the things of God. That tyrant has thrown my book of holy law to the ground." (GGS 72). The Europeans were in debt and sneaking around trying to make it, by using God as a scapegoat to gain these mass amounts of gold they were able to please the Chinese while surviving. While China benefited the Europeans struggled to make it. The need for wealth benefited some societies but corrupted many more.

Organization was a big factor in the way these explorations were carried out. Political organization played a huge role in Pizzaro's expedition to the New World. The explorers were not rich people; on the other hand, they were mainly poor. Without the political organization in Europe there is a strong possibility that explorations to the New World would have never happened. "Pizzaro's presence depended on the centralized political organization that enabled Spain to finance, build, staff, and equip the ships." (GGS 78). Pizzaro would have never been able to make the journey with money out of his own pocket, because he didn't have it. The Spanish government therefore paid Pizzaro to make this journey while they received the majority of the treasures upon his return. Similarly, the expedition undertaken by Hernan Cortes followed the same pattern. Cortes was not a man of money, so to make money he convinced a governor to fund a trip to what is now Mexico. Although the governor pulled out, Cortes continued anyway, bribing his soldiers with the belief that they would get an equal amount of share in the treasure. "Cortes...sailed for the mainland with six hundred men." (Debt 316). Cortes never would have became the famous man that he is now if he had not received six hundred men to find alongside him during their conquest of the Aztec empire. The comparisons between the conquests of Pizzaro and Cortes is that they would have both not been able to complete these explorations without the aid of rich people within their respective governments.

Perhaps the greatest reason why the Inca's fell to the Spanish so rapidly was their political organization. The Inca's had a much different set up than the Europeans did. The Inca's revered their king as a God. The Inca's couldn't function if their king was not in place.