Human history over the past few centuries has been dominated by European government, conflict, thought, and expansion. Prior to this, cultures and civilizations grew independently of one another, largely due to the barrier of distance between regions and civilizations. Eventually, Europe was able to consolidate power, wealth, and technology to the point where they no longer had to avoid the vast oceans and could look outward towards expansion. This thirst for exploration was fueled by two goals: economic gains and religious expansion. The former had been pushed by the rise of the mercantilist economic system that came out of the theories of Jean-Baptiste Colbert under King Louis XIV. The need for trade partners that could be dominated and trade exclusively with a single state made expansion and colonialism necessary. In terms of religious conversion, the protestant reformation started by Martin Luther in the 16th century, pushed Catholic countries and the Vatican towards religious expansion as they saw it as a sort of trade: they would lose heretics to protestantism in Europe, but would gain millions of converts in developing areas. Both economic and religious interests were to be balanced by nations, however, very few states were ever able to successfully achieve both. For example, two areas that were impacted heavily by European expansion were the Americas and China. Through analysis of major works describing the expansions, namely “A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies” and “Matteo Ricci and the Catholic Mission in China”, it could be seen that a number of factors were present that made economic drives more impactful in expansion to the Americas and religious drives more impactful in China, although these histories do not negate the impact of religious drivers in the Americas and economic drivers in China. This difference in purpose lead to a difference in impact in the areas, with the Americas being overrun as colonies and China benefiting from European interactions economically and educationally.
European influence in the Americas mainly consisted of Spanish and Portugese influence at the time of De La Casas’ writing. Here it could be seen through numerous reports, especially “A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies”, that mercantilism was the main purpose of expansion. However, conquistadors and the monarchies made it a fact that the expansion would be in the name of Catholicism, however this was in name only. De Las Casas was one of the few men that truly wanted to see Catholicism spread to the Americas, whereas the vast majority of the men who came to the Americas came for gold and silver. With an abundance of silver located in the Americas, there was an abundance of greed to match it. The way in which gold and silver were extracted from the Americas could be regarded as the most ruthless, inhumane conquest in human history. In each region that De Las Casas discusses in “A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies”, only one charachteristic is constant: brutality. Hundreds of thousands to millions of natives were burnt to death, raped, hanged, beheaded, and tortured. This was done to the point where De Las Casas estimated that three million natives that have lived in Hispaniola, were reduced to less than 300. Although the accuracy of this number may be disputed, the genocide is backed historically. This was due not only to the pure brutality of European influence, but of disease as well. It is well documented that Europeans brought diseases along their voyage from Europe to the Americas, of which the natives had no previous exposure to. This lead to what would be regarded as one of the worst diseases crises in recorded history. The absolute horror that constituted the European exploration of the Americas had very few positive impacts if any during this period. Had the vision of De Las Casas and the Catholic church actually been fulfilled, violence certainly would have been reduced and the population would have actually been converted. However, it is interesting to note that Catholicism is the dominant faith in Central and South America, even with its brutal history. Though, this “success” did not come by the means through which the church and its missionaries had hoped. Only those who had converted to Catholicism were spared their lives and all else had been murdered. This technique did manage to convert natives, but only a handful. The enslavement, torture, murder, and plunder of all of the Americas by Europeans, whether to kings or commoners, left a lasting impact on the area that can be seen to this day. The native empires and civilizations that had been built prior to European civilization were almost entirely lost. The question of how this could of been avoided remains quite difficult. The Europeans had the upperhand in every aspect of technology and would most likely have won every physical conflict between the two sides, yet the stance of immediate companionship by the Americans, rather than immediate combat did not aid the cause of the Natives. It is well documented by De Las Casas that the majority of natives that the Europeans encountered believed that they could appease the Europeans with gifts and kindness rather than conflict. Unfortunately, the Europeans did not see this as a sign of advanced civilization and strong societal ethics, but rather as a sign of simplicity and deemed them as inferior, possibly aiding the decision to overrun them rather than cooperate. The progress of an entire geographic area was reset hundreds of years, while the Europeans brought their values, hierarchies, and societies to the Americas. The Americas have yet to truly recover from the plunder of their natural resources, people, and culture, with no country other than Canada and America truly being a prominent world power.
In contrast, Matteo Ricci’s travels to China show the European impact to be one that could make positive impacts on an area. Although originally Europeans travelled to China for economic reasons, the Chinese were able to keep a much tighter grip on their holdings than those in the Americas. This is due to the fact that China had had limited contact with Europe in prior centuries, as well as their more modern knowledge. Americans had not seen horses, guns, or any of the modern technologies that the Europeans had brought with them to the Americas, therefore they had no choice but to appease them, which eventually ended in their massacre. However the Chinese were near equal in strength and had invented a number of technologies that the Europeaans later adopted, such as gunpowder and a rudimentary printing press. The Chinese also had a much stronger and impressive form of government than that of the Americas and Europe at the time according to Matteo Ricci. The establishment of the Chinese as a capable and knowledgeable civilization stopped most states from attempting an economic takeover like that of the Americas. However, there was the Portugese Macau that merchants were able to settle, however this area was under a very close watch by the Chinese government. The ideas of a European takeover of China were not out of the question, had the majority of Europe not been engulfed in war and/or been involved in the Americas, there could have potentially been a much stronger sentiment to economically take over China. Instead, the Catholic church was able to send missionaries to the area through Africa, attempting what they could not in the Americas, a full conversion of a population. Although the outcome was not a full conversion of China through its emperor, the missionaries were able to convert thousands of people while exchanging ideas with the Chinese population. The Jesuits adopted the strategy of attempting to convert the Mandarins, as they believed that to convert all of China, they had to convert its emperor, which could only be done through the influence of the Mandarins that were closest to him. This required missionaries to take up a more scholarly approach, as the Chinese were one of the few, if not the only, society in the world that placed education and scholarship at the top of its social hierarchy. This social structure forced Matteo Ricci and the Jesuit mission to develop an understanding of the Chinese culture, mainly through the Confucian teachings, but also developed a pathway for the exchange of European ideas that were outside of theology and religion. This resulted in an exchange of expertise for social status. As Matteo Ricci and the Jesuits had taught local elite the advanced developments in cartography and mathematics, while continuing to produce works of literature based upon Confucian teachings, the elites would give him contacts and notoriety, allowing them to expand their religion and become closer to the emperor's inner circle. There are a number of meetings where Ricci’s writings and teachings gain him access to dinner party debates with Buddhist and Confucian elites alike, allowing him to showcase his faith, such as his famous debate with the Buddhist abbot Xuelang Hong’en. The effect of his writings, debates, and literature were much more than simply a victory for Ricci personally, but it was an expansion of European influence in its most ideal form. Rather than forcing itself upon an area and a culture by brute force (although this did occur in some parts of Macau), influence had been spread by genuine communication and cooperation. Chinese elites and locals alike admired Ricci and the Jesuits, painting a good name not only for the faith and its missionaries, but for the extreme west of Europe. No longer were Europeans simply barbarians seeking lowly economic benefit, instead they were a people of knowledge and culture, able to match and surpass the Chinese. This allowed for a steady, stable line of communication between the cultures and governments of Europe and China, creating an amicable relationship that remains to this day, as there have hardly ever been any conflicts between European nations and China (in comparison to the number of conflicts that European nations have had with other regions, such as the Americas).
Overall, Europe has had a direct role in influencing the majority of the world’s nations through its perpetual involvement economically as well as religiously. Both the Americas and China had been influenced heavily by Europe as portrayed by both “A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies” and “Matteo Ricci and the Catholic Mission in China”. However, there is a stark contrast in the type of influence each received; that of brutality in the Americas to that of equality in China. The reasons for such stark contrast in treatment could be consequences of the decision by the majority of native Americans to greet the Europeans as companions rather than foes, the prior knowledge of Europeans about China, the European intention of economic or religious expansion, or the ability of each region to defend itself militarily with modern technology. No matter the cause of the influence, it is well established and well documented that Europe has altered the course of history in both regions for better and for worse with their involvement.
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