In 1400, perhaps 50 million people or more lived in the Americas, completely isolated from the Old World of Eurasia and Africa. The peoples of Western Europe and West Africa were largely, though not completely, isolated from each other, and both had only limited interactions with the rest of the Old World. By 1600, however, the native population of the Americas had declined precipitously. Tens of thousands of West Africans had been transported to the New World as slaves, and Europeans dominated oceanic trade routes throughout much of the world and had established burgeoning settlements along much of the eastern coasts of the Americas. How did this transformation occur? In your response, consider the roles played of Europeans, Africans, and Americans in this transformation, the characteristics of each of these groups, and how each continent was affected by the transformation. Issues to consider are technologies, social and political organizations, biological transfers, economic motivations, and ideologies. When writing your post, draw from the contents of one of the following videos (all available through the Films On Demand database via the Ashford University Library) in conjunction with the text book: a. Dark passages b. After the Mayflower
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