Matthew Liivoja: Atlantic Battleground<\/u><\/p>\n
Chapter 4 of The Atlantic World<\/em> by Douglas R. Egerton et al. vividly describes the bitter and ruthless rivalries between European countries and their methods of acquiring land and materials. Potosi<\/em>, Spanish for wealth, inspired the Spanish and men like Francisco Manuel to find rich mineral deposits like silver and, of course, gold. It made Spain rich and powerful by expanding their military and their empire and soon enough, their rivals England, France and the Dutch wanted a chunk of the Spanish wealth for themselves. In turn, they resorted to piracy in places like the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Seaboard like the English settlement of Roanoke, VA. I read Kyle Kelsay`s response and I like how he mentions the \u201cPirates of the Caribbean\u201d ride at Disneyland because it`s actually very relevant with Atlantic History especially with piracy running rampant in the Caribbean. I was surprised to hear the Dutch, French and English were actually granted licenses to raid enemy ships like the Spanish galleons. In doing so, piracy left Spain impoverished.<\/p>\n Secondly, Chapter 4 describes religion as a motivation for colonization. Catholicism was the primary religion across Europe and according the Egerton, Spain’s military power made King Philip, \u201cthe protector of Catholicism and pushed to protect it. (Egerton, 122).\u201d He defended it so much, he bankrupted Spain. Martin Luther, however, believed \u201cthe Bible should be accessible to everyone (Egerton, 117).\u201d So, the English and the Dutch took advantage of Spain`s fall and Martin’s goal to spread the Word of God in Africa and the Americas. As a result, the Protestant Reformation swept across the world as the Dutch and English took up land formerly occupied by the Spanish.<\/p>\n In conclusion, this \u201cAtlantic Race\u201d was all fueled by the dream of wealth and creating larger networks of religion by using mercantilism to extract the world`s wealth. When you think about it, the battles for money and religion made empires out of Spain, England, and the Dutch. All in all, this chapter is about how rivalries and religion forged the Atlantic into a powerful \u201chighway\u201d for commerce, competition, and communication.<\/p>\n