GES 110
The Atlantic World
Introduction to the Atlantic
● The Atlantic is the world’s second largest ocean after the Pacific.
● On the east it is bounded by Africa and Europe and on the west by North and
South America.
○ The equator divides it into a North and South Atlantic.
● The name Atlantic is thought to be derived from Greek mythology and refers to
the sea of Atlas.
● It connects to the Arctic Sea via the Greenland, Norwegian and Barents Seas and
the Denmark Strait.
○ It links up with the Pacific Ocean via the Panama Canal and the Straits of
Magellan further south.
● Other significant bodies of water include the Caribbean Sea, the North Sea and
the Gulf of Mexico.
● The Atlantic has generated a large amount of scholarship from a variety of
disciplines.
● It has been studied for:
○ Its role in the rise of American and European global dominance.
○ Its role in the Atlantic slave trade.
○ Its role in the emergence of plantation economies, sugar cultivation and
the general underdevelopment of continental South America and the
Caribbean.
● It is also referred to as the Black Atlantic.
○ This is in reference to the Atlantic slave trade, the African diaspora and
the role of Africans in shaping an Atlantic culture, economy and society.
● In history, the Atlantic is used as a way to investigate the connected histories of
the landmasses bordering the ocean.
● The British historian David Armitage calls the Atlantic a European invention.
, ○ Before 1492 and Columbus, the Atlantic did not exist as one single
commercial or social-political entity.
● It is an artificial construct because the Atlantic lacks geographical as well as
cultural coherence.
● It is bordered by four disparate continents and despite significant connections, it
is difficult to conceive of an Atlantic culture.
○ Geographically, the landmasses range from the Sahara Desert, to tropical
rainforests and the ice tundra of north-western Canada.
The Atlantic before 1492
● The Atlantic world was much smaller thus the littoral societies did not venture far
out into the ocean.
○ In other words, the Indian Ocean was more integrated before the arrival
of the Europeans than was the Atlantic Ocean.
● Africans on the west coast of Africa had been venturing and travelling into the
Atlantic long before Columbus and other Europeans.
○ As early as 718 CE, Muslim North Africans were travelling and trading
along the eastern Atlantic.
● The pace of travel and trade increased with the Muslim conquest of southern
Spain and the establishment of the province of Al-Andalus as part of the Muslim
empire.
● Further south, the ancient Kingdom of Kongo was also an active contributor to
Atlantic activity.
● Scholars believe that the Canary Islands were in fact first inhabited by Africans
having sailed from Morocco and the Western Sahara.
○ The Canary Islands were first encountered by Europeans in the 1340s and
used as way-stations for further ventures into the Atlantic.
● The Spanish expeditions of the 1400s led to conquest of this territory which
Columbus would use later as a base to refuel.
The Atlantic World
Introduction to the Atlantic
● The Atlantic is the world’s second largest ocean after the Pacific.
● On the east it is bounded by Africa and Europe and on the west by North and
South America.
○ The equator divides it into a North and South Atlantic.
● The name Atlantic is thought to be derived from Greek mythology and refers to
the sea of Atlas.
● It connects to the Arctic Sea via the Greenland, Norwegian and Barents Seas and
the Denmark Strait.
○ It links up with the Pacific Ocean via the Panama Canal and the Straits of
Magellan further south.
● Other significant bodies of water include the Caribbean Sea, the North Sea and
the Gulf of Mexico.
● The Atlantic has generated a large amount of scholarship from a variety of
disciplines.
● It has been studied for:
○ Its role in the rise of American and European global dominance.
○ Its role in the Atlantic slave trade.
○ Its role in the emergence of plantation economies, sugar cultivation and
the general underdevelopment of continental South America and the
Caribbean.
● It is also referred to as the Black Atlantic.
○ This is in reference to the Atlantic slave trade, the African diaspora and
the role of Africans in shaping an Atlantic culture, economy and society.
● In history, the Atlantic is used as a way to investigate the connected histories of
the landmasses bordering the ocean.
● The British historian David Armitage calls the Atlantic a European invention.
, ○ Before 1492 and Columbus, the Atlantic did not exist as one single
commercial or social-political entity.
● It is an artificial construct because the Atlantic lacks geographical as well as
cultural coherence.
● It is bordered by four disparate continents and despite significant connections, it
is difficult to conceive of an Atlantic culture.
○ Geographically, the landmasses range from the Sahara Desert, to tropical
rainforests and the ice tundra of north-western Canada.
The Atlantic before 1492
● The Atlantic world was much smaller thus the littoral societies did not venture far
out into the ocean.
○ In other words, the Indian Ocean was more integrated before the arrival
of the Europeans than was the Atlantic Ocean.
● Africans on the west coast of Africa had been venturing and travelling into the
Atlantic long before Columbus and other Europeans.
○ As early as 718 CE, Muslim North Africans were travelling and trading
along the eastern Atlantic.
● The pace of travel and trade increased with the Muslim conquest of southern
Spain and the establishment of the province of Al-Andalus as part of the Muslim
empire.
● Further south, the ancient Kingdom of Kongo was also an active contributor to
Atlantic activity.
● Scholars believe that the Canary Islands were in fact first inhabited by Africans
having sailed from Morocco and the Western Sahara.
○ The Canary Islands were first encountered by Europeans in the 1340s and
used as way-stations for further ventures into the Atlantic.
● The Spanish expeditions of the 1400s led to conquest of this territory which
Columbus would use later as a base to refuel.
