Introduction
In the age of imperialism, many countries sought to extend the influence of their culture all over the world, to lands previously unexplored. Many of these areas that were explored contained natives, so the explorers sought to make use of them in many ways. Frequently, this led to brutal treatment of the natives, as they were used as slaves and forcefully removed from their homeland and sent somewhere else to work. Not everyone wanted to do this, however, as some thought it their duty to spread Christianity to the natives, as it was thought that the introduction of Christianity would better the lives of the natives and help the natives move forward as a society. Those who went to faraway countries to spread Christianity to native peoples are known as missionaries, and those from Britain are the focus of The CMS Juvenile Instructor Vol. 1.
One of the ways some people sought to keep the idea of imperialism alive in their country was by writing literature directed toward the youth. This can be seen in the popular literature of the day as many stories, the most famous of which being Robinson Crusoe, told of people leaving their home country and going on a grand adventure. In The CMS Juvenile Instructor Vol. 1 the situation is similar as it tells many stories about people going all over the globe on missionary trips, and of the effect of Christianity on the natives.
While The CMS Juvenile Instructor Vol. 1 contains stories from all over the globe, for this Scalar book the focus is going to be on the West Indies missions. The West Indies are a small group of islands just to the north of of South America, containing Jamaica and other countries. These islands contained many native peoples and as such were prime targets for missionary trips. The introduction of Christianity to these native people was good, as it allowed them to move toward being a more civilized society.
