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Spanish Colonization Of North America

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Spanish Colonization of North America In 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered the New World, Spain had discovered its next easy conquest. With North America added to its territory Spain had surpassed ancient Rome as the largest empire. Exploiting the land, labor, and minerals Spain quickly conquered and settled most of South America, the Caribbean, and the Southwest. Spain used its new wealth to help finance their war in Europe. With promises of riches and many natives to convert to Christianity the Spanish sent conquistadors who brought with them not only superior military technology but also diseases like smallpox, scarlet fever, and the bubonic plague decimating native populations like the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas. These Spanish conquistadors, who were poverty-stricken nobles predominantly from the west and south of Spain, were then awarded encomiendas, land grants that included the right to force native populations into slavery as long as the convert them to Christianity (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008). The Spanish Monarchy governed North America using viceroyalties and audencias, royal mediation courts. The church also played a part in governing the New World and large areas like what is known today as Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California was under control of Dominican, Franciscan, and Jesuit missionaries with the goal of converting the natives to Catholicism. Since North America was being used to fuel the income needs of wars over in Europe the Spanish

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