Chapters 13-15

Following the personal personal trend I have noticed in the reading, I find myself becoming more and more interested as the time frame we are reading about gets nearer and nearer to contemporary times. I am not sure if this is as a result of the greater evidence for the facts and the resulting reduction in imaginative speculation. It was interesting to read the path of the western development across and through the Atlantic. I had no idea the Portugal was a dominant world power. Not only did they spread through the Atlantic, but also established some control in the Indian Ocean. Another surprise was the spread and power of the Dutch people. I had heard of the power of the Spanish before, but never the Portuguese and Dutch. 

Also of interest to me was the mixing of the “slave” and “master” races in the Caribbean areas and South and Central American as compared to the American colonies. I was intrigued at the social mobility of the mixed races of the southern areas whereas in the American colonies there was little to no upward movement possible for quite a long time. 

Not surprising or new, but still good to read about was the independence of the citizens of the American colonies from the governments of their mother countries and the proclivity for individual worship and separation of religion from government. Finally, not new but still interesting was reading about the currency, in the form of resources, of the Americas, the Russian, Middle Eastern, and Asian Empires.