What new knowledge and perspectives on slavery in the Atlantic world have you gained so far in this course? Identify and discuss three ways in which your awareness has grown.At this point, do you have any opinion on whether some form of apology or reparation may be in order for the descendants of the enslaved? Discuss, giving your ideas and reasons.
Essay Two: 750 words (60 points)
Write on one of these three topics.
- The Columbian Exchange, it has been argued, was the most important world development of the period covered by this course. What was the Columbian Exchange? What were its main components? What was its impact on Europe, the Americas, and Africa? Can winners or losers be identified? Discuss.
- According to David Christian, This Fleeting World (2008), there have been three major eras of human history going back at least 250,000-300,000 years. What are these eras? What are their respective time periods and what are the major characteristics and developments in each of them? What is exceptional in the current period in which we live? Discuss.
- What surprised you most about the major causes for the increase in human life expectancy over the past several centuries that Steve Johnson identifies in Extra Life: a Short History of Liviing Longer? Why? What have been the consequences, both positive and negative, on individuals, nations, and the environment of the planet of this increased human life expectancy? Discuss.