Journal Extract By Jacques Cartier On Meeting The Micmac Indians

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First Interaction The “Journal extract by Jacques Cartier on meeting the Micmac Indians (1534)” has many great examples of what it was like to be an explorer and how Europeans viewed the Americas. There were many different explorers and each has their own story. Jacques Cartier’s story is especially unique because historians believe that he was one of the first Europeans to have long interactions with the native people of the area they were exploring. That is one reason why I feel this document helps express the way Europeans viewed the Americas the best. There were many examples of European attitudes toward the Americas in, the “Journal extract by Jacques Cartier on meeting the Micmac Indians”, which were displayed in the way they viewed the land, their reasoning for the actions they took, and the way they viewed the Indians they came into contact with. First off, the Europeans viewed the Americas as having lots of opportunities for riches. This included the land and resources. The whole reason Jacques Cartier had made three expeditions to the New World was because, “He was searching for riches as well as a route to China” (Text …show more content…

Jacques Cartier only had one boat, which meant they were greatly outnumbered compared to the Micmac Indian’s number of 40-50 boats. Cartier decided to go a different route, but then the Micmac Indian’s decided to send boats after them to follow them. This frightened Jacques Cartier so after warning them to turn back and them not cooperating, “We shot off two pieces among them, which dis so terrifie them” (Text D-10). After firing the shots, the Micmac Indians no longer followed them and instead were scared. I think the Europeans reacted this way because they weren’t sure what the Micmac’s intentions were at first. They felt highly outnumbered and so they got