Philip D. Curtin
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195055108
- eISBN:
- 9780199854219
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195055108.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
This chapter locates European and African migration to North America in the long continuum of migrations throughout thousands of years of human history. It connects the geographic locus of migration ...
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This chapter locates European and African migration to North America in the long continuum of migrations throughout thousands of years of human history. It connects the geographic locus of migration and the occurrence of slave migration, indenture contracts, and free migration to changing demands for forced and free labor at various stages of regional economic development. Although the United States was certainly a focal point for European migration, and the descendants of Africans are a significant part of its present population, the United States stood on the periphery of the slave trade, and absorbed less than 10% of its product. The great population movements throughout the tropical world and Asia that followed the abolition of the slave trade completely evaded North America. Not until after World War II did movements of tropical peoples from the Third World direct themselves to highly developed regions like North America and Europe.Less
This chapter locates European and African migration to North America in the long continuum of migrations throughout thousands of years of human history. It connects the geographic locus of migration and the occurrence of slave migration, indenture contracts, and free migration to changing demands for forced and free labor at various stages of regional economic development. Although the United States was certainly a focal point for European migration, and the descendants of Africans are a significant part of its present population, the United States stood on the periphery of the slave trade, and absorbed less than 10% of its product. The great population movements throughout the tropical world and Asia that followed the abolition of the slave trade completely evaded North America. Not until after World War II did movements of tropical peoples from the Third World direct themselves to highly developed regions like North America and Europe.
Corey Ross
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199590414
- eISBN:
- 9780191829901
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199590414.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, Social History
This brief chapter foregrounds the overall arguments of the book by emphasizing the centrality of environmental factors in the history of modern empire, and the important role of imperial power in ...
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This brief chapter foregrounds the overall arguments of the book by emphasizing the centrality of environmental factors in the history of modern empire, and the important role of imperial power in shaping the global environment since the nineteenth century. Although the environmental history of empire has attracted considerable attention over the last two decades, scholarly coverage has been highly uneven, and most studies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are focused on particular areas or topics. Relatively little attempt has been made thus far to distil this material or to situate it within the wider context of global environmental change. This book seeks to deepen our understanding of neglected issues while also providing a broader synthetic framework.Less
This brief chapter foregrounds the overall arguments of the book by emphasizing the centrality of environmental factors in the history of modern empire, and the important role of imperial power in shaping the global environment since the nineteenth century. Although the environmental history of empire has attracted considerable attention over the last two decades, scholarly coverage has been highly uneven, and most studies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are focused on particular areas or topics. Relatively little attempt has been made thus far to distil this material or to situate it within the wider context of global environmental change. This book seeks to deepen our understanding of neglected issues while also providing a broader synthetic framework.
Corey Ross
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199590414
- eISBN:
- 9780191829901
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199590414.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, Social History
This book provides the first wide-ranging environmental history of the heyday of European imperialism, from the late nineteenth century to the end of the colonial era. It focuses on the ecological ...
More
This book provides the first wide-ranging environmental history of the heyday of European imperialism, from the late nineteenth century to the end of the colonial era. It focuses on the ecological dimensions of the explosive growth of tropical commodity production, global trade, and modern resource management—transformations that still visibly shape our world today—and how they were related to social, cultural, and political developments in Europe’s colonies. Covering the overseas empires of all the major European powers, it argues that tropical environments were not merely a stage on which conquest and subjugation took place, but were an essential part of the colonial project, profoundly shaping the imperial enterprise even as they were shaped by it. The story it tells is not only about the complexities of human experience, but also about people’s relationship with the ecosystems in which they were embedded: the soil, water, plants, and animals that were likewise a part of Europe’s empire. Although it shows that imperial conquest rarely represented a sudden bout of ecological devastation, it nonetheless demonstrates that modern imperialism marked a decisive and largely negative milestone for the natural environment. By relating the expansion of modern empire, global trade, and mass consumption to the momentous ecological shifts that they entailed, this book provides a historical perspective on the vital nexus of social, political, and environmental issues that we face in the twenty-first-century world.Less
This book provides the first wide-ranging environmental history of the heyday of European imperialism, from the late nineteenth century to the end of the colonial era. It focuses on the ecological dimensions of the explosive growth of tropical commodity production, global trade, and modern resource management—transformations that still visibly shape our world today—and how they were related to social, cultural, and political developments in Europe’s colonies. Covering the overseas empires of all the major European powers, it argues that tropical environments were not merely a stage on which conquest and subjugation took place, but were an essential part of the colonial project, profoundly shaping the imperial enterprise even as they were shaped by it. The story it tells is not only about the complexities of human experience, but also about people’s relationship with the ecosystems in which they were embedded: the soil, water, plants, and animals that were likewise a part of Europe’s empire. Although it shows that imperial conquest rarely represented a sudden bout of ecological devastation, it nonetheless demonstrates that modern imperialism marked a decisive and largely negative milestone for the natural environment. By relating the expansion of modern empire, global trade, and mass consumption to the momentous ecological shifts that they entailed, this book provides a historical perspective on the vital nexus of social, political, and environmental issues that we face in the twenty-first-century world.
