Class 12/5

How do you justify Enlightenment thought and how they treated people in the New World? How do you justify spreading Christianity while practicing slavery? 

• During the Enlightenment, a person's worth became more important. Unfortunately, most Europeans did not view Africans and Native Americans as people because of racial differences. Because of this, they were perfectly fine with practicing hypocrisy. 

"Us vs. Them." Is it the same in America as it is in Europe?

• In America, the primary divide was by race, and in Europe, it was by country. However, there were often distinctions made between whites born in Europe and whites born in America. In this case, the "us vs them" is the white (Europeans) against the Native Americans and slaves. 

How can you Christianize people who don't have souls (Native Americans/Africans)?

• Europeans used religion as a tool for controlling people. By eliminating old, tribal based religions, they made it more difficult for slaves/Native Americans to band together over similar interests. 

The Protestants weren't that interested in conversion. Why?

• After the Reformation, the Catholics felt like their religion was under attack. As a result, they tried to prove their dominance with numbers by forcibly converting native people and slaves in the Americas

What major European powers controlled Asia at this time? 

• In the beginning, the Portuguese and Dutch controlled Asia. However, England soon replaced both of them as the leading European power in Asia. 
• France held a lot of territory in Asia, but they ceded most of it to England in the Treaty of Paris. 
• India was under English control while Southeast Asia (particularly Vietnam) was controlled by France.