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In this reading, Benton discusses river exploration and its importance in shaping and advancing other European laws and policies such as treason within European empires. As Europeans discovered new areas, such as Africa and the New World, they quickly realized the value of river travel. While river trade in Africa proved challenging and difficult at first, Europeans discovered an effective strategy to control the rivers and trade (pg. 45). When Europeans began to settle the New World and establish trade routes and settlements, they looked to the examples they previously had from Europe and Africa. They quickly found that the New World rivers were nothing like those of Africa or Europe, and they also quickly discovered how difficult they were to navigate. Explorers were often confused and lacked the proper knowledge to navigate the region, causing the rivers to become very deadly. Further reliance on Indians proved unstable, with the Indians often sabotaging Europeans (pg. 53).
It is in these rivers that Benton argues that treason began to have power (pg. 68). Benton backs this concept up using the life of Bemoim, an African king who instructed Portuguese to build a fort on an estuary, which was unfamiliar river territory for the Portuguese. As Portuguese at the fort grew sick and died, Bemoim was blamed and executed for treason (pg. 65). While stories like these were not necessarily a commonplace, Benton argues that they were vastly important in understanding the advancement of European laws and power. He further equates unfamiliarity of rivers and inland water with the rise in use of treason. In the pursuit of gold, riches, and land, Europeans used treason as a method to dispose of that stood in their way (pg. 86). Benton backs this concept up using evidence from Bacon’s Rebellion. It was there that Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion against the Governor in an attempt to gain political power (pg. 98). Through examples such as this, it is clear that there was a progression in the use of treason for political gain.
Allison Robert argues rivers were a symbol of land ownership, which I agree with. Rivers were important in European expansion, as they allowed for travel to other regions. Their importance is largely the reason for the creation of treason laws, which were in turn expanded to be used in any case involving individuals that got in the way of political, economic, or land expansion.