European Exploration Relations to Natives Dbq

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European Exploration Relations to Natives During the Early Modern Period, European travel and exploration in the Americas expanded steadily after 1492. Many explorers had different motives behind their journeys and they came in contact with many new things. For example, the native people were a common sighting in the New World and the Europeans had many different interactions and opinions of them. The European explorers were very intrigued by the Natives. Due to the cultural opposites between the Europeans and the Natives, there was a lot of effort needed on both sides to try to get to know the other culture. It was especially strange for the Europeans. For example, the religious beliefs of the Natives differed greatly from that of the Europeans.(doc. 1) A group of Natives seen by Amerigo Vespucci made no sacrifices or had any holy temple or place of prayer. (doc. 1) From Amerigo’s point of view this was strange because he had a catholic background and knew nothing different than his catholic beliefs. Aside from basic religious traditions, some cultural differences were such the antithesis of the other that the Europeans were disturbed. For example, the Caribe people were cannibals. They would travel to near-by islands, abduct women and girls, and eat the men. (doc. 2) Human bones were found that were gnawed down to the toughest part of the bone that could not be bitten into. (doc. 2) This perspective from Dr. Diego Alverez is useful because it isn’t biased for the Natives and has no justification for the Natives actions. So, I t shows the first hand reaction of the European explorer and how opposite the Caribe Native culture is from European culture. Though there were many differences amongst the cultures, on occasion, the Natives and Europeans would get along very well. For example, The Natives from the Island of Cozumel held great respect for the European

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