Europe and the People without History by Eric Wolf

In his book Europe and the People without History, Eric Wolf addresses the expansion of Spain and Portugal into the Americas, with Spain conquering Nuclear America and Portugal occupying Atlantic coastal Brazil. In 1494 Spain and Portugal had signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the newly discovered land outside Europe between Spain and Portugal along a Meridian 370 West of Cape Verde Island. This treaty made it legal for both countries to claim their territories in the Americas. Once the Spanish and Portuguese arrived in the Americas the indigenous populations were enslaved and also almost decimated either by diseases, such as smallpox and measles, brought to the New World by the Europeans or by the harsh labor conditions. The pre-Historic population of Mesoamerica, for instance, had been estimated in 25 million. By 1650 that number had fallen to 1.5 million. In Brazil it was not any different.

Spain was interested in acquiring silver from the Americas. From 1503 and 1660 more than seven million pounds of silver reached Spain from Central and South America. Spain also imported dyestuffs and cocoa. In Brazil, the Portuguese enterprises were organized from the start to raise a crop for export. First, they exported brazilwood and later sugar from the sugarcane plantations they established along the coast. Once the Dutch introduced sugarcane in the Caribbean and the demand for sugar from Brazil declined, the Portuguese geared their efforts towards finding gold in their colony. After almost 200 years of their presence in Brazil, gold was finally discovered in 1695 in the state of Minas Gerais. Its extraction would last for the next 100 years and consumed the lives of thousands of African slaves.

Wolf goes on to present the history of the fur trade in North America. The North American beaver became the most valuable furbearer of the New World and for three hundred years demand for beaver hats in Europe propelled the hunting of this most industrious rodent. The North American Indians developed a need for muskets, balls, powder, kettles, knives, hatches, needles, scissors, pipes, and other goods as well as a taste for tobacco, rum and brandy. Thus, the North American fur trade redefined Native American’s relationships with the wildlife, the forest, and their spiritual world. It made them more and more dependent on Europeans and their goods and also less able to resist invasion of their lands. In addition, dissemination of firearms brought much deadliness to the Indian population. The advancing European settlement frontier set the final blow to most Indian groups in North America, and the demands established by the fur trade depleted the beaver population to near extinction.

Eric Wolf also explores the slave trade, which grew gradually during the sixteenth century in response to Spanish and Portuguese demand. Both Portuguese and English had come to Africa in search of commodities, such as gold, pepper, ivory, dyewoods, gum, beeswax, leather, and timber. Later, both the Portuguese and the English engaged in slave trade. It would take three hundred years by the time England decided to abolish the slave trade (1807). However, even after that, millions of slaves were still transported across the Atlantic, especially to Brazil, which did not abolish slavery until 1888. Wolf explains that Europeans had tried to enslave the indigenous peoples of the Americas, but they found it to be difficult task because the indigenous would run away since they were so close to their native groups. It is important to point out that Europeans did not hunt African slaves. There were three mechanisms in Africa that turned a free man into a potential slave: pawnship, judicial separation of a person from the protection of lineage, and warfare. Wolf presents with details all the areas in Africa that provided slaves to Europeans.

Finally, Wolf presents the trade and conquest in the Orient. Both the Portuguese and the Dutch had their eyes set in Asia. They sought spices there, especially pepper. In the late 18th century the English moved into Asia and took over the Mughal Empire. Wolf explains that what enabled the European to expand into Asia was the gun-bearing sailing ship. The English settled in India in 1690, altering much of India’s way of life, which had profound consequences for the society. For instance, the spread of machine-goods introduced by the English disrupted village crafts, affecting the livelihood of the local artisans. Later, the English established commerce with China and purchased silks, porcelains, and medicines. Instead of accepting the English commodities, the Chinese Emperor demanded payment in silver. In 1664 the English were introduced to tea by the Dutch and the serrated leaves of the tea shrub became a desired commodity in England. Millions of pounds of tea were brought into England from China and had to be paid in silver. Portuguese and Spanish brought tobacco, sweet potatoes, and peanuts into China, changing the food habits of the Chinese. The English also brought into China opium from India and sandalwood from Australia and various Pacific islands. While England expanded its commodity trade in China, it also expanded its dominance in India. With the installation of the capitalist mode of production, England drew India into its expanding orbit. Wolf argues that both India and China were crucial to the evolution of the international economy. It is important to notice that while presenting the expansion of Europe into the Americas and Asia in the early modern age, Wolf is able to show how non-Europeans were active participants in their history.
Neda Bezerra