Early European Explorers
During the 15th and 16th centuries around the world, the lure of economic opportunity, heroism, and adventure tempted explorers from Europe to travel hundreds of miles to explore the worlds that existed outside their own. What they discovered upon arriving at their destinations, was that these new lands, rich in natural resources, were already inhabited by people who had been living there for hundreds of years. The interactions that ensued between the European explorers and native peoples led to an abundance of trade between the Old and New worlds and increased horizons for people witnessing new cultures for the first time. For the most part, however, this interaction gave rise to warfare, slavery, and exploitation largely due to newfound perceptions about the people and their culture that went both ways; Europeans and indigenous peoples alike made assumptions about the other. These misconceptions shaped the way they regarded these new people they were in contact with as well. When Europeans' treks led them to Africa, the Americas, and Japan, they were quick to judge what they saw, given their own backgrounds and range of knowledge. Their limited experiences caused them to make misguided opinions of the people they found. Among
Because they had developed separately, there were profound differences in everyday life and in order to make sense of things, both the European explorers and the native people they came in contact with provided their own answers to questions raised by these new lifestyles. Whatever the result, the connections of these diverse cultures hugely impacted the further developments of these people and their role during the age of European exploration. The groups of people, who had been living on their own for so long, made their own assumptions about the strangers who came from so far away. " (DOC 3) The removal of slaves from their homeland was extremely damaging and depopulating to the area. " (DOC 11) The efforts by Europeans, put into place to change the ways of life in new lands, regardless of success, continued. Some of these interactions were positive, like prosperous trade, and some were negative, such as warfare. Amerigo Vespucci also took note of the eating habits of indigenous Americans, as well as a tradition of eating the flesh of their enemies, "with so much barbarity it is a brutal thing to mention. However, he seemed to understand the huge differences found in Japanese culture when he wrote, "everything is so different and opposite that they are like us in practically nothing. When Christianity was introduced to various peoples, it was not always accepted without question, because the missionaries were unfamiliar, while the people were more comfortable with the beliefs they had been raised with. Because these explorers were unfamiliar with the cultures they came into contact with, they made many assumptions that led to actions incongruous with the somewhat peaceful nature of these people. In some areas, such as Africa, threats were made to stop the ravaging of its people. During the age of exploration, many different people with different cultures came in contact with one another. It was proposed by Mbemba that if the white men did not stop taking slaves, they would lose trade with Congo. In Japan, where Buddhism was the religion of most of the people, the introduction of Christianity was rejected, especially by one Japanese named Suzuki Shosan, who wrote, ". This, then, was the result of assumptions made by the arrival European explorers on the side of native peoples.
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