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“In Greek mythology,
the titan Atlas supported the pillars that held heaven
and earth apart. The pillars rested in the sea beyond
the western horizon in the “Sea of Atlas” - now known as
the Atlantic. Today we know that the Atlantic began to
open about 180 million years ago, and is still widening
by some 25mm per year.” A surface area of 106
 million km
including adjoining seas, the Atlantic Ocean covers
approximately 19% of the earth’s surface. Its currents
play a vital role in regulating the earth’s temperature,
absorbing and redistributing heat. Some of the world's
largest rivers run into the Atlantic, including the
Amazon, Mississippi, St. Lawrence, Congo, Orange, Niger,
Senegal, and Volta.
In addition to the ocean, the Atlantic World includes
continents and numerous islands. Contact among the
inhabitants of these land masses has been the subject of
intense debate. There is some historical evidence that
several ancient and medieval European, African and Asian
civilizations established contact with the Americas
prior to Columbus’s voyage. The great cultural and
biological exchange that followed Columbus’s arrival in
the New World continued to grow in scope and magnitude
throughout the colonial period and continues today. The
exchange of plants, animals, and pathogens has changed
the natural environment of the two hemispheres.
 The transatlantic slave trade reached its highest volume
in the latter half of the 18th century when an average
of more than 70,000 persons were transported per year.
According to W. E. B. Du Bois, “that sinister traffic,
on which the British Empire and the American Republic
were largely built, cost black Africa no less than
100,000,000 souls, the wreckage of its political and
social life, and left the continent in precisely that
state of helplessness which invites aggression and
exploitation.” Two hundred years ago, Great Britain
(1807) and the United States (1808) declared the
abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade although slavery
continued. Simultaneously, profound new world liberal
ideals, of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
were spreading rapidly.
Issues of great historical, social, political, artistic,
cultural, environmental, health, and commercial import
will be examined through the Year of the ATLANTIC WORLD
as we look for better ways to understand the
relationships that connect people around this great body
of water and look to identify ways that we can promote
mutually beneficial development in peace and security. |
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