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This feeling of superiority is how Europeans justified their foreign policies. Spanish Explorer Hernando Cortez was exploring Central America when he cam across the Mexican natives. The Mexican natives believed that Cortez was god because it went in ordinance with a religious prophecy that they had. Cortez played the role and asked for the gold which was in abundance there. Eventually he killed many Mexican people to get control of Mexico for Spain. This happened with many other nations exploring the world. Great Britain expanded its empire in to India for its many resources of expensive luxury items. They used the Indian workers as slaves in their factories. They would work hard for many hours and still receive substandard housing, clothes, and shelter. Countries would feel less remorse about this back in those years because the world had a "survival of the fittest" theme at that point. So if you didn't expand, you would exist down the road.
The greatest violation of human rights was the introduction of slavery into European society. Although many different types of races were enslaved, the Africans were the most commonly used. Africans were literally seized from their homes and villages, brought onto ships, and shipped away to be used as a form of currency. It was said that 20% died on the boat on the way due to the terrible conditions of living on the boat. Despite the fact that slavery did spark the creation and was the basis of capitalism, it was still a terribly inhumane practice. Slavery was also a key factor in the triangle trade between Europe, South America, and the present day United States. In the United States, sugar plantations had slave workers used to harvest the sugar cane and make it into sugar. Once it was sugar it was traded for even more slaves. The importance of sugar, how it was made, and what it meant to society is explained in great detail in the book Sweetness and Power by Sidney W.
