18 ChApTEr 1 | firSt ContaCtS | period one 14 91–1607 TopIC III | transatlantic Conquest^19matter.... But if the white men do not comply with it they will lose the aforemen
tioned goods. And if we do them this favor and concession it is for the part Your
Highness has in it, since we know that it is in your service too that these goods are
taken from our Kingdom, otherwise we should not consent to this....Basil Davidson, The African Past: Chronicles from Antiquity to Modern Times (Boston, MA:
Atlantic Monthly Press, 1964), 192–193.prACTICINg historical Thinking
Identify: According to this letter, King Afonso was upset that some of his people
were selling certain subjects of his kingdom into slavery. Which of his subjects did
he wish to protect from the European slave trade?
Analyze: Why might Europeans be less concerned with these subjects than Afonso
was?
Evaluate: Compare Afonso’s perception of Africans to Pope Paul III’s perception of
Native Americans (Doc. 1.6). What are the similarities and differences?Document 1.11 JACqueS CARTieR, voyage to the
St. lawrence
1534French explorer Jacques Cartier (1491–1557) was the first European to traverse the region
of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which he named the “Land of the Canadas.” In his memoir,
he described the following interaction with native peoples in modern Quebec.... And we navigated with weather at will until the second day of October,...
during which time and on the way we found many folks of the country,... [who]
brought us fish and other victuals, dancing and showing great joy at our com
ing. And to attract and hold them in amity [friendship] with us, the said cap
tain gave them for recompense some knives, paternosters [rosaries], and other
trivial goods, with which they were much content. And we having arrived at the
said Hochelaga [an Iroquois village], more than a thousand persons presented
themselves before us, men, women, and children alike,... [who] gave us as good
reception as ever father did to child, showing marvelous joy; for the men in one
band danced, the women on their side and the children on the other,... [who]
brought us store of fish and of their bread made of coarse millet, which they
cast into our said boats in a way that it seemed as if it tumbled from the air. See
ing this, our said captain landed with a number of his men, and as soon as he
was landed they gathered all about him, and about all the others, giving them an
unrestrained welcome.
02_STA_2012_ch1_001-026.indd 18 26/03/15 10:35 AM