Chapter 14

Chapter 14 is titled Empires and Encounters. The chapter begins with how Uighurs sought independence from China and Native Americans protesting against the 500th anniversay of Columbus discovery of America. I found the president of Indigenous Women's Network quote to be interesting because it's not very frequent that you hear someone speak negatively of Columbus. Russians constructed a major empire, the Qing dynasty China doubled in size, Mughal Empire of India pulled together the Hindus and Muslims. Western European empires dealt with maritime expansion. The portuguese established themselves in Brazil, the spaniards focused on the caribbean, aztec and inca empires, British, French and Dutch in North America while the Europeans were in most of the americas by the mid-nineteenth century. The Europeans had an advantage due to the geography, need of chinese and indians rich markets, rivalry with intersate

The collapse of native american societies happened pre-columbian western hemisphere once had  the population of 60 to 80 million who had no immunity to old world diseases that the Europeans brought and killed 90% of the population. Due to all of these moralities, there was a labor shortage which helped Europeans and African slaves create new societies in the americas along with their plants and animals. Wheat, rice, sugarcane, grapes and other vegetables and fruits became popular during this time. Corn, potatoes and cassava spread through the eastern hemisphere. Corn and potatoes helped the population in Europe go from 60 million to 390 million in 500 years. The exchange of plants and animals helped the biological environment of the planet. Due to communication, migration, trade, transfer of plants and animals became known as "the Columbian exchange" The atlantic connected four continents. Europeans benefited the most out of this exchange. 

Europeans also created new societies that were shaped by mercantilism and believed in closed markets for other country's manufactured goods. The spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires  gave Spain the most wealthy, urbanized, and populous regions of the Western Hemisphere as well as established major cities, universities, and a religious and bureaucratic infrastructure. The mestizo population became majority of the mexican population by the nineteenth century. Indian women had a desire to the security of a spanish household where children would not be subject to abuse and harsh demands mades on native people. Spaniards looked down on the mestizos. 

Sugar was in high demand in Europe where they used as a medicine, spice, sweetener, preservative and in sculptured forms as a decoration that indicated high status. Arabs had a large-scale sugar production into the Mediterranean. Europeans learned it and transferred it to Atlantic islands and Americas. Portuguese on Brazilian coast dominated the world sugar market 1570–1670 until the British, French and Dutch in the Caribbean became highly productive sugar producing colonies and broke the portuguese and brazillian monopoly. Sugar's production in Brazil and the Caribbean had production labor intensive, called first modern industry and was produced with massive slave labor.

British colonist tried to escape elements of European society. By 1750, the british outnumbered spaniards in New World 5 to 1. England was protestant who didnt proselytize like the catholics. Russian