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Theme #14: Pivot Points in History

When Christopher Columbus first set foot in the New World in 1492, the contemporary world had no idea just how large an impact this would have on the world as they knew it. Whereas Columbus thought that his discovery would radically expand the possibilities for trade between Europe and Asia, history demonstrates that the discovery instead led to pivotal changes for European, African, and especially Native American societies. Whereas the discovery of the New World led to a general rise in material wealth for the Europeans due to the import of various crops, tobacco, gold, and other valuables, the Native Americans suffered immensely – both due to the religious crusades, which killed many Native Americans, but especially the diseases that were brought to America from Europe, to which the Natives were not resistant. Consequently, entire societies and a majority of the Native American population died as a direct result of Columbus’ discovery. Because the demand for labor in the New World persisted, Africans were brought to America to work and live as slaves of the European conquerors. While this represents a very obvious pivotal change for the individual enslaved Africans, it also had a consequence on the African societies, who had many of their strongest and fittest people robbed from them. In a letter to the Portuguese King João from 1526, the King Dom Alfonso of Congo wrote “we cannot reckon how great the damage is, since the mentioned merchants are taking every day our natives, sons of the land and the sons of our noblemen and vassals and our relatives” (“The African Past: Chronicles from Antiquity to Modern Times” in Mindtap, 14-4c), thus demonstrating that while the discovery of the New World directly influenced millions of people, it also represented a pivotal change to those many more millions of people who were indirectly touched by the new triangular flow of goods between Europe, Africa, and America.

Word count: 316

Theme #15: The Power of Personality

When describing, analyzing, and discussing the Reformation, the German monk Martin Luther and his 95 theses consistently occupy a central position – and with good reason. Although Luther was a Catholic, and his entire life revolved around worshipping God, Luther became one of the biggest obstacles the Catholic Church has ever had to face, and ultimately his interpretation of the bible led to huge religious, political, geographic changes especially in the Northern parts of Europe. The basis for Luther’s influence was of course his 95 theses, which among other subjects specifically challenged the sale of indulgences. Thesis 20 reads “Therefore the Pope, by his plenary remission of all penalties, does not mean “all” in the absolute sense, but only those imposed by himself” (Martin Luther, "Ninety-Five Theses" in Mindtap, 15-1b). Because of his theses, Luther was “ordered [by the Catholic Church] to recant the heresies he had espoused” (Duiker and Spielvogel, Mindtap, 15-1b), but contrary to the majority of people, who would have feared the largest institutional power at the time, Luther remained loyal to his personal beliefs and continued the battle for what he thought was a more just way of practicing Christianity. Although other actors in the 16th century also interpreted the bible differently than what the Catholic Church preached, Luther most definitely remained the single most influential character contributing to the Reformation, and, consequently to this day, people are still familiar with his name and his legacy.

Word count: 237

Theme #11: The Effects of Education on History

While Luther played an extremely important role in the beginning of the Reformation, certain preconditions had to be met, and among the most vital of these was the fact that Luther’s message could be conveyed to many people in a short period of time. In this sense, Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in the middle of the 15th century proved extremely important because it completely revolutionized the relationship between ordinary people and literature. Prior to this invention, books were handwritten, which naturally required an enormous amount of time, and therefore books were fewer and more valuable. With little or no literature to read, there was no incentive for poor people to learn how to read. With the introduction of the printing press, literature became readily available, and thus more and more people learned how to read. This educational improvement was required for the progress of Protestantism “because Luther had arrived at this doctrine from his study of the Bible” and “the Bible became for Luther, as for all other Protestants, the chief guide to religious truth.” (Duiker and Spielvogel, Mindtap, 15-1b) Because people were now able to read the bible for themselves, they were better able to follow Luther’s interpretations. Following this line of thought, one could argue that had the education of the masses not improved to a level where it was normal for the ordinary people to read, Luther’s ideas could only have been distributed among the rich and established, and thus the Reformation would have been stalled.

Word count: 251

Works Cited

Primary sources:

“The African Past: Chronicles from Antiquity to Modern Times” by Basil Davidson. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1964, Cengage Mindtap. Web. 11 September 2015.

“Martin Luther” by E.G. Rupp and Benjamin Drewery. Cengage Mindtap. Web. 11 September 2015.

Secondary source:

Duiker, William J. and Jackson Spielvogel. World History, Vol. II Since 1500. 8th Edition. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2016. Cengage Mindtap. Web. 11 September 2015.