Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900

Detailed knowledge of worldwide wind patterns was the final piece of the puzzle that allowed Europeans to travel the world and conquer it at will. By the end of the 15th century, many European cultures had developed boats large and fast enough to allow intercontinental journeys and had weapons that would allow them to dominate Indigenous populations nearly anywhere. However, as Crosby states, “the explorer who puts to sea in the faith that there will always be a wind to carry him where he listeth will find that the wind will carry him where it listeth” (105). The conquest of the Azores, Madeiras, and Canaries helped in expanding European knowledge of wind patterns immensely, as it lead to the discovery of the trade winds and the westerlies, the two most important wind routes for crossing the Atlantic. Sailors found that the sail from Iberia to the Canaries was quick and easy; both winds and ocean currents helped push ships in exactly the right direction. To sail back the same route, in contrast, required endless tacking while constantly losing ground and exhausting the sailors, or hugging the coastline of Africa and risking crashing to shore in the event of a storm.