Blog Number 5# Chapters 13, 14 and 15 Chapter 13 was a chapter that just made me laugh in that the European view on things during that time was so elitist and self-promoting. They just seemed like they knew everything and were always right and never wrong even when it was obvious that they were. This was shown in everything the Europeans touched in the Americas. I found it hard to believe the number of Native Americans that died from European diseases, and also how delicate civilizations were during this time to such things. I found it interesting to see the parallel emergence of the big powers Russia and China. Chapter 14 was a very disappointing read in that it marked the beginning of the real slave trade throughout the world. It also showed the Portuguese to be nothing but a bunch of pirates, while the Spaniards looked like they just wanted to colonize anywhere they could get to. It seemed to me that because the Portuguese didn’t have much trade to offer they went heavily into the slave trade and created a market. Chapter 15 was nice to see some stabilization from the humanistic globalization of Christianity. Although Christianity had its obvious downfalls the basic humanistic fundamentals were entrenched throughout the world. I also liked how science started and was seen as more of Cultural Revolution. I just can’t imagine now being in a time where science was looked at as witchcraft, even when the answers are irrefutable. The early stages of the enlightenment would have been a very scary time to be living in especially if you were looking to prove science.