Indigenous People
Giovanni da Verrazzano had nothing but kind words for the Indigenous people of the Americas. When he came in contact with the Narragansett, he described them in a letter to King Francis I as, “They exceed us in size, and they are of a very fair complexion, some incline more to a white and others to a tawny color; their faces are sharp, and their hair long and black, upon the adorning of which they bestow great pains; their eyes are black and sharp, their expressions mild and pleasant, greatly resembling the antique.” and he also complimented them saying, “[They] are the most beautiful and have the most civil customs that we found on this voyage.” Although Verrazzano said these kind words to the Narragansett people, he did attempt to kidnap a small amount of natives who lived around the Cape Fear area. He and his crew did not see the wrong in these actions, and proceeded to take a child from their mother,and bring it with them back to France.
Even though it seems that Giovanni da Verrazzano did not negatively impact the Indigenous people of the Americas, his discovery led to many other Europeans during the Columbian Exchange to change that. These sailors, bringing items of trade to and from the Americas, changed the way the Indigenous people lived their lives. The Europeans brought livestock, crop, as well as diseases to the New World, and the natives were all seeing this for the very first time. Things like cows, sheep, pigs, and horses, arrived in the Americas, where the Indigenous didn’t know what these new animals were, and why they were there. Diseases spread through the Native American population like wildfire. Smallpox, Influenza, Typhus, and many other diseases that the natives had no immunities to devastated the population, killing over fifty percent of the native population. This outcome was one of the many negative impacts on the Indigenous people.
Even though it seems that Giovanni da Verrazzano did not negatively impact the Indigenous people of the Americas, his discovery led to many other Europeans during the Columbian Exchange to change that. These sailors, bringing items of trade to and from the Americas, changed the way the Indigenous people lived their lives. The Europeans brought livestock, crop, as well as diseases to the New World, and the natives were all seeing this for the very first time. Things like cows, sheep, pigs, and horses, arrived in the Americas, where the Indigenous didn’t know what these new animals were, and why they were there. Diseases spread through the Native American population like wildfire. Smallpox, Influenza, Typhus, and many other diseases that the natives had no immunities to devastated the population, killing over fifty percent of the native population. This outcome was one of the many negative impacts on the Indigenous people.