The personal satisfaction in being the most dominant and powerful group of people inspired the Spaniards to persevere through the colonization. The Europeans considered themselves an advanced population, individually, and collectively. They were confident in their European superiority over other indigenous cultures. During colonization, the European people encountered a wide range of communities of people, yet “with very few exceptions, Europeans felt powerfully superior to virtually all of the people they encountered, even those like the Aztecs who had technological and organizational skills the Europeans could recognize and greatly admire”(Greenblatt 9). This attitude of dominance made it easy for the Europeans to justify their brutality …show more content…
Columbus’ goal was supposedly “…to propagate His holy name and His Gospel throughout the universe”, but as Todorov reveals, spiritual expansion is tied to material conquest. (Todorov pp.10,44). The Catholic Church had begun issuing papal bulls in 1452, which granted rights and privileges in order to promote missionary activity. In the eyes of the conquistadors, the Papal Bull was a justification to conquer the indigenous people and exploit them. Todorov then argues “Some priests were more interested in gaining treasure on earth than in heaven” giving the example of the lack of baptism of the Aztec Emperor Motezuma, due to the fact the conquistadors were too busy collecting gold from the Aztecs (Todorov). While the spreading of the Christian faith was said to be a motivator of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the historian Fernández de Oviedo claimed the majority of conquistadors were, “the sort of men who have no intention of converting the Indians or of settling and remaining in this land. They come only to get some gold or wealth in whatever form they can obtain it”(Thomas 137). The desire for Catholicism to dominate religion on a global level was said to be a basis for the Spanish conquest, yet many individuals didn’t actively pursue this goal because motivators such as gold, power, and glory produced greater
Sandra Nava-Martinez P.5 Chapter 2 questions Section 1: 1. The conquistadors came to the Americas to continue the tradition that is “God, Gold, and, Glory.” They wanted to get all the riches that were on the land that they were conquering. Along with this they wanted to teach the people that were on the land about their religious views, and they wanted the glory that they would receive when they returned to their home. 2.The cortes’ conquered the Aztecs by knowing that the native americans that lived in that area hates the Aztecs.
The exploration era, from 1519-1684, of Spanish rule in Texas was both a failure and a success. The early Spanish exploration of Texas was a failure because they went in expecting to find gold and silver anywhere they looked, but found little to none. Another failure during this era was their inability to uphold their other goal of following the will of God. On page 24, a conqueror said that the reasons they were going to Mexico were because “We came to Serve God and get rich”. However, they were not able to get rich because of the lack of fine substances like gold and silver, but they also were not very Godly when it came to dealing with the Indians.
Pizarro and the Conquistadors came to view the Inca civilization as a utopia where they could establish their power and control over for personal gain. The conquest would lead to drastic change that would forever change the future of the region and continent. The role of the catholic religion justified the often inhumane acts such as rampant murder and abuse of the native population with the grounded justification that they [the conquistadors] were performing a service in the name of god. “as human beings, Indians were not exempt from original sin...abhorrent customs, sexual practices, family structure, religious rituals, and presumed human sacrifices were all sinful” (pg 21). The quote demonstrates just one of the many ‘justifiable’ reasons the conquistadors felt that their acts of violence were
The conquistadors worked to convert the American Indians to their religion because a major factor of Christianity
They didn’t feel as if the Native population mattered, and quickly enslaved them, “...the extraction and appropriation of gold and other riches by the ‘conquistadors’ was marked by violence and based on 〚exploitation〛of the Indigenous population” (SAIIC). The conquistadors saw the Native population as savage, and in need of control and ruling. To the Spanish, they were less than human; some saw them as in need of religious conversion, to others they were wild, and to many they were faceless. “The official religion 〚appeased〛the ‘conquistadors’ consciences… only 45 years〚later〛, the Catholic Church recognized the Indigenous peoples as human beings” (SAIIC). Any doubt conquistadors had about killing and enslaving thousands were hushed by the Church, which was benefiting off the slaughter and slavery.
All the Spaniards had done was killing of innocent lives for personal greed and acquiring as much goods as they could for their Majesty, doing so for the money was their justifications for killing the natives. Then we have Cortes, who instead of killing off the Natives of Tenochtitlan, he opened their eyes to the horrors of their religious ways and gave them the revelation of Christianity. Cortes didn’t mention any genocide of the natives, he spoke about the geography and religious views of the natives. He stated, “I will simply say that the manner of living among the people is very similar to that of Spain, and considering that this is a barbarous nation shut off from a knowledge of true God or communication with enlightened nations, one may well marvel at the orderliness and good government which is everywhere mentioned” (SB, 8). Cortes is only praising the natives and their life style because he feels the people have everything figured out in terms of being dominant and true government but, lacked in religion which he left them
Mendicant friars, Jesuits, and priests traveled across the New World to preach Catholicism in hopes of converting the non-Catholics. Religious values were one of the main motivations for conquistadors, because they felt more powerful and superior. The progress of Spanish colonization was shaped by several factors involving war, disease, and religion. The main motivation for colonization during this time period were the “Three G’s” - gold, gaining riches and wealth; glory, success during war; and gospel, spreading religion. Spanish colonization has largely impacted Central and South America’s history and culture, which has made them the continents that they are
In the 16th Century, Spain became one of the European forces to reckon with. To expand even further globally, Spanish conquistadors were sent abroad to discover lands, riches, and North America and its civilizations. When the Spanish and Native American groups met one another, they judged each other, as they were both unfamiliar with the people that stood before them. The Native American and Spanish views and opinions of one another are more similar than different because when meeting and getting to know each other, neither the Spaniards nor the Native Americans saw the other group of people as human. Both groups of people thought of one another as barbaric monsters and were confused and amazed by each other’s cultures.
Spanish claims to Latin America were based on the Christianizing mission. When Christopher Columbus arrived at the ‘New World’ in 1492 he quickly and forcibly took advantage of the wealth of the Indian tribes; those who refused to hand over their gold and jewels faced brutal punishment of all sorts. In return, Columbus and other Spaniards bestowed the Indians with Catholicism by baptizing them and teaching them the rituals of the religion. Hence, the colonization of Latin America was justified under the guise of spreading Christianity.
This power imbalance and these payments are key in the subjugation of the natives. Furthermore, the paternalism of the Spanish toward the Indigenous peoples is obvious: “Captain [Cortes] stared at him [Cuauhtemoc]…then patted him on the head” (p.117). Post-conquest, and still today, “difficult relations” between the descendants of the Indigenous peoples and the “others” (p.117) still exist. The European view of the natives “as idolatrous savages” or, on the contrary, as “models of natural virtue” (p.175) demonstrate the versatile and often contradictory views held. Similarly, the Aztecs at times saw the Spaniards as gods, and other times as gold-hungry savages who “fingered it like monkeys” (p.51).
This does not justify how they are considered the worst of the colonizing empires because they happen to have more things said about how they treated the Natives. They set up missions spreading their beliefs in the Christian religion and yet somehow became known for using un-Christian methods. Also they gave Natives the encomiedas system which limited their rights by a bit yet when it came down to it the English did the exact same thing but they worded it just a bit differently. Lastly the whole belief that the English and French came to the New world to help the Natives who they saw as meek and gentle while in reality they were only after more money. Spanish lives were negatively influenced by the Black Legend and made to think that they did something so horrible while in reality they were just bits a pieces of things that they really did that were bad.
To this day majority of Central and South America practice Christianity, they wear western clothes, speak Spanish and follow their values. They outbred so much of the indigenous population that Latins look like their colonizers compared to when the Spaniards landed. Spain and other European countries that took part in colonization are successful today because of their colonies and the bloodshed of the indigenous, those colonies are now left to suffer the after-effects of colonization economically after they became independent and were left to fend for themselves while Europe prospered and they were left to rebuild their history. If the conquistadors could see the extent of their suffering led to they be proud as they were ambitious and power-hungry. Unfortunately, Cortez was successful, he did wonders for the
He believed it a good idea to take some natives back with him to Spain so that the natives could learn their language, customs, and faith…and of course, tell the Spanish what treasures they have in their country. “They are ready to believe […] quick to recite any prayer we tell them to say, and to make the sign of the cross. Your Majesties should therefore determine to convert them to Christianity…” (p. 9). Columbus believed the Indians had no religion and that they did not know the meaning of evil thus, implying that it would be very simple to convert them to Christianity.
In The Requerimiento by Juan López de Palacios Rubios, natives in the new world were told, “We ask that … you acknowledge the Christian church as the ruler and superior of the whole world, and as superiors that you agree to let the Christian priests preach to you … (The Priests) shall not compel you to become Christians unless you yourself wish to be converted. But if you do not do this … we shall forcefully enter into your country and make war against you.” The Spanish conquistadors allowed natives to choose whether or not they wanted to convert to Christianity, However if they did not, then the Spanish turned them into slaves. The True History of the Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz del Castillo openly stated that a reason for Spanish exploration was, “To serve God and his majesty, to give light to those who were in darkness.” The Spanish viewed non-Christians as unintelligent people because they believed in a different God.
The Spanish empire wanted to come and expand their religion and get money as well of their purpose towards the reason why they migrated to the New World. Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who was one of the Spanish conquistadors, on the reason of Spanish motivations towards the New World stated that, “We came to serve God and to get rich, as all men wish to