Important Events in World History

¶ … world's nations and citizens was the Cold War. Indeed, slave trade was important, and the formation of American colonies in the 17th century has had an enormous impact on the history of the planet. Also the Seven Years' War and imperialism had enormous implications and impacts. But the years of the Cold War stand out as more pivotal in terms of the history of the world. This paper will explain why the Cold War was most important.

Slave Trade: The International Slavery Museum (ISM) explains that European slave traders "forcibly uprooted millions of people" from West African and West Central Africa between the years 1500 to 1900. In particular, the 16th century was a century in which millions of African peoples were forcibly shipped in cruelly over-crowded slave ships to the Americas. These individuals from Africa were "…farmers, merchants, priests, soldiers, goldsmiths and musicians" (ISM). While crossing the oceans from Africa to the Americas, millions of Africans died or were thrown overboard when slave ships ran short of supplies. One of the transatlantic trade routes was called the "Middle Passage," and it took about 8 weeks for the Africans to be sold on the shores of the Americas, including the American colonies. It turns out that slaves had a great deal to do with the economy of the South, as they helped plant and harvest the cotton, which was one of the main agricultural parts of the economy.

US Colonies were formed: One could argue that the American nation, started in the colonies in the 17th century, has had a major impact on the development of the rest of the world. It is true that America today is the lone superpower in the world (albeit China is catching up rapidly), and it all began as immigrants from England left Europe in search of religious freedom and in search of a new way of life. This part of history is undeniably pivotal vis-a-vis the shape of the world and the allegiances that have formed subsequently, and the wars that have been fought.

Seven Years War: Author Fred Anderson claims that American independence would have been delayed had the Seven Years War (also known as the French and Indian War) not occurred. Moreover, the Seven Years War was essentially between France and the British colonies; and England (with various Native American tribes as allies) basically assured that the French would lose all claims to Canada when the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763. This was an important world event, but is dwarfed by the dynamics of the Cold War.

Imperialism: this movement is not to be belittled, because nations in the 19th century were eager to claim all the territories they could, in order to assure they had sufficient natural resources and strategic locations to stay powerful and even expand power. The U.S. was certainly active in imperialism during that period, as was Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Holland.