European Influence On American Culture

This time period saw major changes on long held European beliefs. Included among those are ideas about race and its relationship to freedom. With new innovations and the high time of Indian Ocean trade, new ideas were spread everywhere. Two factors influenced this change. One was the discovery of the New World and the second was the demand for slaves. With the discovery of the New World, explorers were introduced to new civilizations. While they were sophisticated, they were still primitive in comparison to the Europeans. Their customs and lifestyle were different from those of Europeans. Europeans thought of them as barbarians which only increased the Europeans mentality of superiority. In the minds of the Europeans, the Indians were inferior and had to be reformed before being accepted into society.
With the discovery of silver in South America, the increasing gold trade, and the demand for sugar, slaves were in high demand. As increasing number of slaves were being used for hard labour like working in the mines or on plantations. Some Europeans then looked for justification for their actions so as to not to be sinful or against Christianity. They turned to the Bible and science. They said that blacks were destined by God to be
They might wear the clothes, but that does not stop Europeans from alienating them from society. Black skin defined slavery itself, so no black person could be on the same level as any white person. Some might attain some level of freedom, but they truly cannot be free because of the new definition of slavery and what it means.
The New World and the increasing usage for slaves were pivotal factors for the changes relating to race and freedom. Europeans believed them superior to the less civilized Africans and Indians. Eventually this mentality died out, but it took a long time and a lot of struggles to get there. We can still feel the pangs of slavery