The Chemicals of History

History is almost a branch of Chemistry because the major world events that formed our present civilization revolved mainly around an element, a compound, and a mixture. That element is gold, a lustrous and malleable metal. That compound is salt, which is a crystalline substance that easily dissolves in water to break down into sodium and chloride ions. That mixture is gunpowder composed of sulfur, carbon, and potassium nitrate.

Gold: The Element of History

Gold is an attractive metal because it glitters and does not tarnish. Its rarity makes it a very valuable material. In ancient Europe and Asia, it was used as currency because it is malleable and can be minted into coins. While in the empires of ancient Americas, it was used to make ornaments and statues of gods and kings. The gold-hungry Spaniards explored and colonized the gold-rich New World indirectly because of salt. They took the gold artifacts from the natives by using gunpowder.

The Kingdom of Spain became richer because of the gold from its territories. It was able to send more expeditions to claim more lands. The Spanish Empire was a global empire with colonies in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia-Pacific. The colonies sent treasures and supplies to Spain. However, English pirates started raiding some of the Spanish ships in the 1580s. So King Felipe II (Philip II) of Spain wanted to conquer England. In 1588, he sent the Invincible Spanish Armada of 130 ships with more than 25,000 Spaniards and 2,500 guns. Unfortunately, the Armada was defeated by the English who had long-range heavy guns. This victory of the English launched the rise of England to become the core of the British Empire. England sent colonists to North America whose descendants formed the United States.

The expanse of the Spanish Empire tremendously decreased in the first half of the 19th century after the countries of Latin America declared their independence. By 1865, only Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean and Guam and the Philippines in the Pacific remained as Spanish territories. As the power of Spain was declining, the United States was emerging. As a rising superpower, the US was eager for expansion. America’s westward movement did not end in the Pacific Coast. It reached Hawaii and was aiming at Guam and the Philippines on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. This was the motivation of the war between the US and Spain. Manila Bay was the stage of the first battle between the American and Spanish forces on May 1, 1898. The peace treaty was signed on December 10, 1898 in Paris. After the war, the US gained control over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. Cuba and the Philippines were granted independence in 1902 and 1946, respectively. On the other hand, Puerto Rico and Guam remain as US territories until now.

Salt: The Compound of History

Salt was the reason for the building of the earliest roads because it needed to be transported from its source to places where there was no salt. Some roads followed the animal trails leading to salt licks or salt springs while others extended from inland settlements to the seashores. One of the first paved Roman roads was the Via Salaria (Salt Road) that stretched from Rome to the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Salt was also transported through rivers and across the Mediterranean Sea. Those salt roads and waterways became the foundations of the pioneer trade networks that would eventually connect Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East. The trading among distant populations gave rise to flourishing cities where the merchants and traders exchanged their goods. One of the most important trading centers was Venice. The Venetian merchants monopolized the Oriental commodities. So the Spaniards wanted to reach Asia by sailing to the west. In 1492, the Kingdom of Spain sent Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) using some money earned from the production of salt in southern Spain. But instead of reaching the East, he discovered a landmass that was previously unknown to the southern Europeans. The Spaniards saw that the inhabitants of the New World had gold. Fernando de Magallanes (Ferdinand Magellan) was the first European to reach the East by sailing westward when he landed in the Philippines in 1521 after crossing the vast Pacific Ocean. The Spaniards saw that the islanders also had gold. So they used gunpowder to conquer the indigenous peoples of the Americas and the Philippines. They brought the gold loot to Spain.

Gunpowder: The Mixture of History

The gunpowder was invented in China around 850 AD. The formula of this discovery traveled from the Far East to Europe through the trade routes that linked the two sides of Eurasia, the same paths that brought the Black Death that killed as many as 20 million people or about one-third of all Europeans at that time. After the devastation of the plague, there were fewer warriors in the armies of Europe. So they needed a weapon that was more powerful than stone, arrow or spear. They started using the gunpowder in conquest and warfare. The Chinese invention made the Europeans the most powerful people of the world. They explored the world and claimed the lands that they discovered. They built empires across the globe. Spain and Portugal became the first superpowers. The Spanish Empire included parts of the present-day United States, Latin America (except Brazil), Guam, and the Philippines. The Portuguese Empire included the present-day Brazil, parts of Africa, the Middle East, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Macau in China. In 1580, King Felipe II (Philip II) of Spain also became the King of Portugal. From 1580 to 1640, only one monarch ruled the two empires. The French, British and Dutch also carved their empires. The French Empire included parts of North America and Africa, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The British Empire included parts of North America, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Asia-Pacific. The Dutch Empire included parts of South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Manhattan Island. The Europeans were able to dominate the world because of the gunpowder.

The gunpowder played a very important role when the Allied Powers fought the Central Powers during World War I (1914-1918). The gunpowder was also used when the Allies clashed with the Axis Powers during World War II (1941-1945). The United States again used the gunpowder and led some countries during the Korean War (1950-1953), Vietnam War (1955-1973), Gulf War (1990-1991), Bosnian War (1994-1995), Kosovo War (1998-1999), War in Afghanistan (2001-2014), and Iraq War (2003-2011). The US and some countries are currently using gunpowder in the war against ISIL that started last year.

These three chemicals of history became the measures of global supremacy. The United States is the foremost superpower because it has the largest amount of gold reserves in the world, it has the highest military strength and firepower in the world, and it has the most powerful navy in the world that patrols, controls and commands the biggest area and greatest depth of salty waters. Therefore, these three chemicals of history that shaped our present civilization still continue to influence the present and the future of humanity.

The Author: Andy Salatan is a chemist and a descendant of Chinese migrants and indigenous Pacific Islanders in the Philippines (named after King Philip II of Spain) who were conquered by the Spaniards, the British, the Americans, and the Japanese.