Cultural Differences Between East Asia And The Americas

History overtime has shown a variety of different reactions to cultural mixing and identities coming together. The ways that East Asia and the Americas adapted to changes in the world were very different. This was due to the differing governmental structures, the direct and original reaction to the foreigners, and their reaction and adaptation to religious takeover. The differences in the original governmental structures are partially seen in how the different cultures reacted to the Europeans that were contacting the region. In the Americas, prior to Spanish colonization, empires frequently over took the peoples around them. This led to a more abrasive and less stabilized peoples and overall, an ever changing empire. Later on the peoples …show more content…
The East Asians through complete isolation and the Americans through a show of force. The Ming Dynasty forced the European merchants to an enclave on the coast. Then they also built a physical wall to keep the Europeans apart from the Chinese peoples. The Japanese were slower to this isolationist movement, at the beginning the Japanese allowed merchants in but once they realized that their culture, all based on the hierarchy and religion, was under attack they pushed the European merchants onto one island. The Aztecs in the Americas also tried to keep the Europeans at bay through a show of force by sending jewels, sorcerer, and prized feathers to intimidate and bewitch the incoming Europeans. The original response was not yet one of violence or military …show more content…
Through the missionaries being brought in by the Spaniards the native peoples were often forced to convert to Christianity they adjusted by fusing their own religions with Christianity, the idea of conversion was not seen as a replacement for the native religions but instead as a supplement to them. This was seen through a variety of different examples, such as the taking of the name Maria and using it to worship the native deities. The people also began to turn their backs on the missionaries when they noticed the amount of death and disease that they