Native people in general were seen as heathens; uncivilized, savage people who practiced human sacrifice. Christianity was the only way to make uncivilized people civilized, through the belief of their God. Not thinking that these people had their own gods they prayed to, forcing a religion on someone who not only doesn’t understand you and inevitably can’t say no to, in itself is a conquering of people. Cortés and his soldiers in hopes of gaining allies to help defeat Montezuma II, went village to village spreading Christianity to create this idea of brotherhood. (Diaz, 144,191)
Columbus's expedition arrived October 12, 1492 to the Antilles. The December 5, 1492 Columbus reached the island of the Spanish, now divided into two countries, Haiti and Dominican Republic, and established the first European settlement in the New World. Later on several trips, the Spanish were exploring and establishing small colonies, first in the archipelago of the Antilles, then in the mainland, ie the Americas. The conquests shape Spanish influence in Europe in different way. The gold and silver that was brought to Spain from the New World, was going no where because Spain was not getting any richer.
One of the lasting impact the Spanish settlements had; the settlers created a bad relationship with the natives. The natives had several purposes to contemn the settlers. One reason being, in document c, that it states that the natives inculpated the settlers, or more specifically priests, for transporting disease from Spain to the native’s motherland. Corresponding to the natives, the settlers also have their motives for resenting the natives. For instance, the Apache and Comanches tribes had slaughtered several innocent settlers and soldiers, as well as raiding a couple of missions around San Antonio and La Bahia (doc b).
In the late 1400's, conquistadors started their first voyages to the “New World”. They sought gold, resources, and to convert any indigenous peoples they came across. The Spanish, the conquistadors were heroes for spreading Catholicism and returning new resources. Yet, from the point of view of the natives and Bartholome de Las Casas, they were villains. The conquistadors massacred the natives; enslaving those who escaped.
The Natives gave riches to the Spaniards all on their own will and even considered that they were some higher form of power, a deity of sorts. While this relationship was
The Age of Exploration was a time of great expansion in the European Countries. From Africa, to North and South America, the Spanish, Dutch, English and French were all competing to find new trade routes, new commodities, and new areas to convert to their religion. The Age of Exploration had a tremendous impact on Europe, the Americas, and Africa. On one hand, Europe was able to expand widely across the world spreading their culture. On the other hand, the Americas were discovered and had their original culture changed immensely.
The natives did not receive correct treatment from those who conquered their land. For example, Hernan Cortes demanded that the natives must change their beliefs. The Aztecs would sacrifice 50 souls every year to their gods. Cortes opposed of this and therefor forced them to adopt a new religion. The Aztecs didn’t easily accept the new religion since they have been following their religion for a very long time (document 3).
In 1492, supported by Spain and tasked with finding a westward route to Asia by sea and negotiate trade agreements, Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. After two more voyages to the New World, Columbus died in 1506 thinking he had discovered a route to Asia. Not until another explorer by the name of Amerigo Vespucci came to South America, did the Europeans discover they had stumbled upon an entirely different continent. Entry 2 Where did the Spanish settle in the New World?
Spain in the New World As the Spanish began to conquer land in the Americas from the 1500s to 1600s, their demand for goods to bring back to Europe caused a greater need for labor in which the Spanish were not willing to provide themselves. The Spanish were also aspiring to spread the Christian faith unto the Native Americans. When such did not go as planned they used the Native’s rebellion against the Catholic faith as an excuse to use them to force them into laboring for the good of Spanish wealth. The Native Americans were treated unfairly under the system of Encomiendas, causing a change of attitude and governmental protocol by the Spaniards and soon imported the African population to supply their labor. Document one shows a letter written
Las Casas was a part of the conquering of Cuba, but soon saw the abuse of the Indians. He wrote a book describing the horrible conditions of those who had their home taken from them. “There is nothing more detestable or more cruel than the tyranny which the Spaniards use toward the Indians.” For Columbus and Cortes, religion was a way to justify their actions, but for Casas, what they did was against God himself. “Consider whether this usage be consistent with the precepts which God Commands charity our neighbor.”
The Native Americans were seen as weak willed, for they barely resisted the conquest of their homes. If the Native Americans showed no incentive of retaliating and were better at manual work, it seemed natural to the Spanish that they be enslaved. The Native Americans, on the other hand, saw the Spanish in a different light as well as they watched many Spaniards become obsessed with gold. The Spanish were given Gold as gifts and went crazy just holding it and lusting for more, like savage monkeys. The Spanish, by nature, couldn’t help but become greedy monsters for gold, because in Europe riches were equivalent to power.
European exploration was brought on by the three G’s: God, gold, and glory. People wanted to spread Christianity whether it be Catholicism or Protestantism, while explorers such as Cortes were looking for gold to get rich and glory to get famous. This age of exploration was able to occur because of technological advances such as the caravel, cannons on ships, more advanced cartography, and the magnetic compass. The impact exploration had on the natives of the New World was changes in the natives culture, enslavement of the native people, and a massive population decrease.
The European explorations begin the era of the Colonial Latin Americas. In 1492 Christopher Columbus arrived to the Americas and it is colonized. From that moment on,
The end of the fifteenth century is attributed as the time period in which Christopher Colombus “discovered” the Americas. Although he was allegedly the first European to have reached these unknown lands at the time, many sought to reach the new world, for a variety of reasons. Most of those people could be divided in two: the settlers and the conquerors. In North America, there were more of the former, people looking for a new home where they could rebuild their families and lives. In Meso-America, however, the goal was to exploit the lands in order to produce and extract new goods which they could trade.
On the surface, it is easy to get the impression that the Spaniards’ goal for going to new lands focused on only gold. If it is only looked at in that aspect, it makes them look greedy. Often times in high school history classes, they focus on the voyages themselves rather than the culture of the Spanish society. They were very religious, as were many other empires. Despite a major concentration on the riches of the New World, the conquest of the Americas is best understood through the evangelism and theology of both the indigenous people and Spanish voyagers.
