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For many years, the Atlantic has just been seen as an ocean but in recent years, it became a symbol of European power. It was and still is a means of transportation, communication, trade, cultural interaction and most of all, adventure. Explorers like Columbus and men just like him used the Atlantic to head out into the world and use it as a highway to see what lies ahead for them. Little did he know that he opened the doors for what could possibly be one of the biggest turning points in European and World History: The Columbian Exchange. Soon, the Atlantic itself became an idea of exploration and discovery, much like how Kyle’s Post describes it. In Armitage`s article, “the three concepts of Atlantic History: Circum-(Transnational), Trans-(International), Cis-(Regional) all play key roles in establishing the structure of the Atlantic and its rich history (Armitage, 15).” Bernard Bailyn’s article “The idea of Atlantic History” states something very interesting and quite profound. He says World War 2 helped to “protect the “Atlantic Highway” by preserving the web of interests which joins together the Western World (Bailyn, 7).” It made me think the Atlantic weaves countries together as a way to preserve each other in times of crisis like that of World War II. I like how both Armitage and Bailyn give vivid detail about the rise of European power in the Atlantic through trade, communication and politics. In addition, Laurent Dubois describes how some countries like the United States “were born out of conquest and settlement (Dubois, 1).”I guess we can say Europe made the Atlantic itself a concept in World History because when you think about it, Europe started intercontinental trade and shaped the course of globalization forever. They are the reason they unified the world and made connections with so many other civilizations.
Armitage, David. Three Concepts in Atlantic History. New York: Macmillan. 2002.
Bailyn, Bernard. Atlantic History: Concepts and Contours. London: Harvard University Press. 2005.
Dubois, Laurent “Atlantic Freedoms” Aeon. (November 2016). Accessed December 6, 2016. https://aeon.co/essays/why-haiti-should-be-at-the-centre-of-the-age-of-revolution