Pros And Contributions Of Vasco Da Gama

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exploration against Portugal for the promised wealth and profit (Andrews 9). Da Gama’s discovery of a sea route to India helped other European countries to take the challenge and sail to Asia to look for exotic treasures. The sudden growth of wealth in Portugal attracted other European countries to compete in exploration and desire for wealth that Portugal obtained. These diverse competitions helped Europe to dominate other parts of the world with more advanced equipment during the Renaissance period. Second, Da Gama’s founding involved some countries by force to benefit Portugal. In order to conquer more lands, “trading centers from Angola to India to China were established at the point of a gun” (Andrews 9). Although most countries joined …show more content…

The idea of exploration and colonization eventually led to beginning of slavery system in Europe. The Europeans started to treat original inhabitants of the land as lower human beings and decided to use them for hard labors. The slave trade initiated by Portugal expanded quickly among Europeans and “the Portuguese base at Elmina became an infamous link in the chain that brought millions of [Africans] to the Americas . . . by 1700s, 30,000 slaves were passing through Elmina each year” (Andrews 9). The idea of slavery started in the Renaissance and continued even after Renaissance period. At first, slave trade was a small business that only involved a small amount of people in Africa. Although Vasco da Gama was not slave trader, he was involved with the Portuguese who made profits from slavery. The slavery system was devastating result of colonization to Africans, but their contributions changed the lives of Europeans during the Renaissance. The slave trade reduced the labor costs and workers to complete hard tasks. As a result, these changes help Europeans to spend their money on other important missions like trades and conversions. Slavery was only beneficial to Europe while damaging many small African communities. However, without slavery, the industrial world of Renaissance period could not have experienced significant

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