Chapter Seven of The Atlantic World starts with introducing Bernardo de Vargas Machuca. He \u201cchallenged the assertions of the missionary Las Casas \u201cdue to \u201cSpanish cruelty\u201d (Egerton, 217). Vargas Machuca offered an idea that would lessen rebellions and allow Indians to integrate into colonial society. In order to do allow this change to happen, colonists would hold a weekly market in order for Indians to trade and start the process of \u201chispanicization\u201d. In doing so, more people would be happy, and Indians would have more money to pay forward. Spaniards hoped religion would help convert Indians; however, it was the market exchange helped out much more because the Atlantic world was a world about commodities. The entire chapter focuses on the changes and demands of commodities. Europeans traveled to Africa and across the Atlantic to the Americas to get goods. Then they created the demand for labor, which resulted in the demand of millions of enslaved people for labor. Social and political changes happened as well as cities. Instead of dying due to environmental diseases, citizens continued on and thrived due to constant migration (218). Later on, the chapter focuses on tobacco. Because of religious and location reasons, it became \u201can ideal crop from a mercantilist standpoint\u201d and the demand for it skyrocketed (229). Due to the high demand of product, it resulted in a high demand for labor, which changed the world.
\nChapter Eight discusses the racial mixture that came about due to the Atlantic world. It mentions Dom Joao and Senhora Catarina. It parallels the nature of the Atlantic world, showing that it \u201cresulted in the creation of numerous mixed and creole, or locally born, populations\u201d (256). It showed the Atlantic world being \u201cculturally flexible and multilingual\u201d in order to \u201csurvive\u201d and \u201cseize an opportunity\u201d (257). The mixture of cultured happened at places such as trading posts along the West African coast, making them \u201cunpredictable\u201d due to the different ways in which \u201cthey wanted to adapt to foreign ways\u201d (258). This idea of mixture of cultures has been apparent in many readings. The most well-known is the Saltwater Frontier where colonists and Native Americans traded goods near rivers. Those areas were prosperous in trade, not just goods but ideas as well. This concept was brought up by Steven Andreen<\/a>.<\/p>\n