In this stunningly original reinterpretation of the New World, Grandin reveals how the United States …
Marrero also stressed the importance of the Americas to greater Europe’s sense of identity. By this point in the late 1770s, there was no shortage of imperial propagandists arguing that the New World was the source of English and Spanish wealth and power. Marrero agreed. But he went beyond declaring that any single nation wouldn’t have prospered were it not for their American colonies. He said Europe as Europe would cease to exist if it gave up colonial exploitation. “Europe cannot maintain its current power unless it has the whole of America entirely in its dependence,” he wrote. “Since its discovery, the riches provided by that part of the world has sparked a prodigious expansion of Europe’s agriculture, arts, industry, commerce, and navigation.” Marrero went on to say, “The wealth that circulates from these activities adds value to all of Europe’s products and services.”