Reconquista Imperialism

Kacie Lee Tomasetti AP World P.6 11/11/17 AP World ID #10 1. Charlemagne (252-254) Charlemagne became the the ruler of the Franks in 768.

Have you ever wondered where why the many different countries in Europe came to America to explore and colonize? There were two main concepts that drew the Europeans to America: the excitement and profit of the "New World", and the past histories of their countries. The English, French, and Spanish each came to the Americas in search of a new beginning; a fresh start in which they could escape past torment and capture new wealth. However, each motive defined the character of each settlement.

The Spanish were the first European country to establish significant colonies in the Americas. By the 1570s, the Spanish had established roughly 200 cities and towns in the New World. They had also built many cathedrals, as well as the first universities in the Americas. New Spain refers to Spanish colonies in North and Central America and the Caribbean. At its height in 1795, New Spain included Mexico, Panama, several Caribbean islands, and most of the United States west of the Mississippi River. In these territories, the Spanish started large projects to get all available resources.

-The long struggle (ending in 1492) during which Spanish Christians reoccurred the Iberian peninsula from Muslim occupiers.

Established in 1961, the Special Committee of Decolonization is a body of the United Nations, an international bureaucratic agency, working towards the just treatment and interaction of Non-Self-Governing individuals. This body still operates in the present day. The Special Committee of Decolonization defines Non-Self-Governing Territories “whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government”. (United Nations 2017) In essence, a nation where foreign, commonly colonial powers dictate the lives of people who have and maintain rich, diverse, historical, and cultural existence in the world for millennia. And while The Special Committee of Decolonization, works towards the decolonization of these nations, they fail to end the scourge of informal imperialism.

The Conquest of Mexico and the conversion of the peoples of New Spain can and should be included among the histories of the world, not only because it was well done but because it was very great. . . . Long live, then, the name and memory of him [Cortés] who conquered so vast a land, converted such a multitude of men, cast down so many men, cast down so many men, cast down so many idols, and put an end to so much sacrifice and the eating of human flesh! —Francisco López de Gómara (1552)

The British Empire dramatically changed when Christopher Columbus located America. Countries were rushing to get a piece of the shiny new land they could conquer. No country wanted to be left behind on the road to colonization, the more they owned the more powerful they were. The French came and colonized central and northern America. The Dutch collected patchy parts of northern America and Spain got southern America (Keene et al, section 2).

With European conquest spreading throughout the world, the US as a growing nation needed political influence and military influence to protect themselves from imperialism. In the early 1800s, Latin America had been establishing their freedom from the Spanish empire, and the US decided to strengthen its power in the region. After acknowledging some of the first Latin American countries, President James Monroe announced the foreign policy, the Monroe Doctrine. President Monroe’s new policy followed three main ideas: no European colonization in the American continents, the US would not meddle with European affairs, and if the Europe did intervene in American matters then it would be considered as an act of war. Despite the lack of US military

During the times the Iberian Peninsula was ruled by the Muslims and was called Al-Andalus, Christians, Jews and Muslims coexisted in harmony in the Caliphates. However, the understanding of Spain as it is understood today did not exist. It was because of the Christianisation of the peninsula and the Reconquista that Iberia was reimagined as something more similar to what we understand today as Spain and Portugal. In this essay I intend to explain how this happened, which historical figures were key to this event and

Imperialism and then colonialism opened the floodgates that are troubled race relations, racism, and misguided societal values. Race has played a vital role in how Americans view each other, and themselves, and the experiences that they have. We constantly hear about institutionalized racism, the school-to-prison pipeline and police brutality on the news. The topic of race has such an enormous presence in our society that it simply cannot be ignored. But what is rarely talked about is how these conditions are incredibly similar to those that people in Latin America have to endure as well. Racism does not end at the borders of the United States, and in fact, they only seem to get worse in countries that are less developed.

The Iberian Peninsula consisted of Portugal, the combined kingdoms of Aragon and Castile resulting from the marriage of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella in 1479, and a small, southern region controlled by the Muslim Moors in Granada which were slowly getting pushed back by the Christian armies fueled by the Reconquista or “Reconquest” movement of Spain. The Reconquista was a violent conflict between Christians and Muslims that was brought on by the feeling of superiority of Christianity and the appetite for land and wealth of the Spanish people. With Spain finishing its campaign upon the Moors, they would soon need new crusade, and Columbus would conveniently give them

The last day of reconquering was on January 2nd, 1492 when king Boabdil surrendered Granada. (AE networks, 2017) After the Reconquista and all the disagreement and war, Spain was finally under one single religion. But, some of the beliefs of non-Muslims did not make it fair for the Muslims.

The European conquest for establishing North American colonies began with various motivations, each dependent on different, and/or merging necessities: economics, the desire to flee negative societal aspects, and the search for religious freedoms. Originally discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 in search for a trade route to Cathay (China), North America remained uninhabited, excluding the Native American establishments. Following this discovery, Spain –along with other European nations such as France, England, Sweden and the Netherlands– soon began the expedition to the new land with vast expectations. Driven by economic, societal, and religious purposes, the New World developed into a diversely structured colonial establishment

The conquest of Mexico is nonetheless one of the most significant turning points in history. It discovery was dominated with riches, expansion of ideas and new proclaimed land. Although not initially intending to sail sea in search of new land, “conquest,” rapidly became a focus, when the Americas was discovered. With an extreme difference in language, culture, etc., conquering the Americas would not have been successful without three factors being present; superior technology, immunity of carried diseases, and help form the Native People.

1. Three arguments’ that Juan Gines de Sepulveda used to justify enslaving the Native Americans were for gold, ore deposits, and for God’s sake and man’s faith in him. 2. Three arguments that Bartolome de las Casas gave in attacking Spanish clonial policies in the New World were the Indians eating human flesh, worshiping false gods, and also, he believed that the Indians were cowardly and timid. 3. For comparisons that Sepulveda used, in lines 1-7, to express the inferiority of the Indians was their prudence, skill virtues, and humanity were inferior to the Spanish as children to adults, or even apes to men. Comparisons he used to dismiss the significance of the Indians