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Both articles discuss the formation of the Atlantic cities namely the Potosi and Yoruba cities.
Located in high in the Andean altiplano, Potosi was a ghost town that nobody know about. That was it, until silvers were discovered in 1545. Magan argues, “To study Potosi in the early-modern era is to encounter the forces of colonialism and early globalization (2).” The silver rush quickly transformed isolated Potosi into an urban center. Population rise as tens of thousands of people rushed into the city in hope for little profit. Slaves and Indigenous laborers were used. Silver linked Potosi to global trade. Potosi silver circulated in trade markets all over the world from Americas to Africa and to European and Asian countries.
In City Planning, the authors noted that Western scholars tend to focus more on western cities and regard Yoruba cities as “semi-urban” (Adelusi-Adeluyi 1316). Yet this so called semi- urban held such advance sociopolitical organization, military alliances, and monopolization of ritual activity and commerce (Adelusi-Adeluyi 1314). Some of the most important Yoruba cities roots in the 19th century wars and emerged from the efforts of refugee populations. It was these new immigrants, and the descendent of ex-slaves brought in new skills that added to the richness of Yoruba culture, for example, the unique Yoruba architecture (Adelusi-Adeluyi 1319).
Yoruba cities are very much similar to like the Potosi. Both have such rich history of heterogeneous cultures. They are interesting cities and important case study to examine the history of the Atlantic world. Yet, like my classmate, Allison Roberts discusses in her post, these cities are often disregarded by scholars because they were not big western cities.