Early European Explorers

”(DOC 4) Valignano, in his visit to Japan, inferred that the Japanese were pagans, something that would not be accepted in the European world. 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. This, then, was the result of assumptions made by the arrival European explorers on the side of native peoples. ” (DOC 5) And when Alessandro Valignano came to Japan in 1583, he had much to write about the sin of their sensuality and called them “blind pagans” (DOC 11). 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. Lavanha felt that the African people would accept the Christian faith very easily, as did Columbus, who wrote that they would be “easily converted to our Holy faith by gentle means than by force. In some areas, such as Africa, threats were made to stop the ravaging of its people. In Africa, the Portuguese gave people generous gifts to trade for slaves, who would be brought back to the New World. ” (DOC 11) The efforts by Europeans, put into place to change the ways of life in new lands, regardless of success, continued.

Just as the European explorers were surprised at what they found, the indigenous people were shocked as well. ” (DOC 3) The removal of slaves from their homeland was extremely damaging and depopulating to the area. 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. Meanwhile, in America, the Native Americans reacted to Spanish explorers coming to their home with horror, overwhelmed with the sight of cannons exploding objects. 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.