Spanish Exploration

When Granada was finally taken control of, Isabella and Ferdinand began to take notice of Columbus’ proposition. They realized that the outcome would be very beneficial to their kingdom, and it would not cost much money for them to fund the expedition (“Queen Isabella’s Influence in the New World”). They had also recently discovered some islands to the west, so they thought there could be more. They concluded that funding Columbus was worth the effort (In Depth Info).

Spain, Portugal, and France sought to convert natives to the Roman Catholic Church, while England and the Netherlands believed that Catholicism was corrupt, and attempted to build support for the Protestant movement in the New World.

The beginning of the Spanish Exploration begun in 1492 when Christopher Columbus set out on his first voyage with Spanish explores and conquistadors to conquer the Americas. The motives for the Spanish exploration was the three G’s gold, god and glory stated in source B. His objective was to not only to conquer the Americas but sail west until he reached Asia or The Indies, where the riches of gold and pearls awaited him and his men. Some of the difficulties connected to the exploration was the lack of knowledge of the oceans also the Spanish had beliefs that there were sea monsters lurking the deep but disease and starvation didn’t help the journey. Even more problems occurred such as wild natives, cannibals, reefs and shoals also storms,

One would think the famed 1492 voyage by the Italian sailor known as Christopher Columbus Italy logically funded the voyage, right? Well, actually that is not the case! Columbus managed to convince Spanish monarchs Ferdinand V and Isabella I to fund his voyage to find a new trade route to India. Christopher Columbus, known as Cristobal Colon in Spanish, actually didn’t go to the Spaniards first; he actually went to officials in Portugal, France and England, but he they turned him away due to disputes about the size of the earth. In 1491, he convinced the Spanish monarchy to fund his voyage. The Spaniards provided him with two small ships called caravels and one larger type of ship called a carrack. They were fifteen to thirty meters long. On August 3rd, Columbus set voyage with the three ships: the Nina (originally named la Santa Clara), the Pinta (called la Pintada by the sailors), and the Santa Maria (actually named la Santa Gallega or Maria Galante). He arrived on Hispaniola on October 12. But why would a foreign country be interested in funding a foreign explorer? There were several reasons why King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella supported the voyage of Columbus. Those reasons were the monarch’s wish to become a world power, their want to trade with Asia, and lastly, to spread their religion. There were various other reasons, but these were the main three.

During The 15th and 16th centuries, rulers of numerous European countries paid for several expeditions with hopes that The explorers would discover enormous riches and vast unheard of lands. Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, asked multiple countries to sponsor his expedition, such as Portugal, France, and England but they turned down the proposition numerous times. Not until 1491, the Spanish monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the King and Queen of Spain, he finally discovered a sympathetic audience. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand were both Catholic monarchs in Spain during the late 1400 century and the early 1500 century. Christopher Columbus came to the King and Queen asking them to fund his expedition across the Atlantic, hoping to find a quicker trading route to Asia, spread Christianity, and to discover new lands and treasures. The King and Queen both put their faith into the Italian explorer and funded his mission to cross the Atlantic to find glory for himself and as well as King Ferdinand, Queen Isabella, and Spain.

Before 1453, Europe was in a period of time often referred to as the Dark ages. Critics claim that they had little access to any kind of trade, wealth or ideas that traveled along the Silk Roads. Meaning that the Europeans economy was based largely off of agriculture and they lived very difficult lives in poverty. This was until daring and courageous men decided to pull Europe out of the Dark ages and into the Renaissance (A Golden Age). The many voyages of European explorers and conquistadors are what brought Europe into what would become known as The Age of Exploration. This connected Europe to trade and cultural ideas along the east. Although the Europeans and conquistadors did conquer the natives and spread the base of slavery, these men did bring new ideas, technology, science and culture that ultimately result in a huge impact on history.

There are 3 main causes for exploration; to avoid the Ottomans, convert people to Christianity, and to trade goods. When the Ottoman started to increase their empire, they took control of some European trade routes. As it says in document 1, “The Ottoman armies seemed nearly invincible and the empire’s desire for expansion limitless…With trade routes to the east in the hands of the Ottomans, Europeans needed to find new trade routes.” To avoid the Ottoman armies they had to come up with or discover new trade routes so they can still be engaged in worldwide trade. For Christians to convert people to their religion, they first need to find people to convert, and they did this by traveling. Document 3 states, “Your Highnesses...determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the above-mentioned countries of India, to see the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their

Spanish exploration and settlement of the western hemisphere lasted from 1492 until 1898, from Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to the loss of its last colonies in the Spanish-American war. As with all major seafaring European nations, they were in pursuit of the fabled Northwest Passage, a direct route to Asia. This was how Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the Americas, on his quest for this route. The Spanish were after more though, specifically gold and spread of the Christian faith. With this page we will discuss multiple historical figures, places, and ideas that emphasized what the Spanish found most important at the time, God and gold.

1). The Nations of Europe sought to expand their empire because they were on the verge of overpopulation.Between 1550 and 1600 the population grew from three million to four million people. Also, England and Spain were at a war for power. The Spanish attempts at colonizing the New World had been extremely successful, for they had gained both wealth and power. The English did not see such success, as their ships would crash, be lost to the seas, or their colonization efforts would cease to be useful. Through the Spaniards control over the Americas they had gained a massive naval army, noted as the Spanish Armada. The Spanish attempt to invade England in 1588 failed which lead to the beginning of the fall of the Spanish empire in the New World.

Throughout early history, beginning with 1492, exploration was well on its way. European nations began heading west towards the New World in search of new trade routes to the East Indies. With support from kings through financial aid and moral guidance, a new peak was reached upon the arrival of Columbus in the Caribbean islands off the mainland of the Americas. Such an extraordinary event, future voyages were sent off to explore the rest of the New World by Spanish, French, and English ships and explorers. During these times of exploration, traveling nations encountered the Natives among the lands where they would then determine their future through alliances and conflicts. The settlement patterns, along with the attitudes of the American Indians that were encountered with by the Spanish, French and English exploration, can be compared and contrasted through the goals of these nations culturally and socially, and even through the opportunity for economic growth .

Columbus, the first Spanish explorer to reach America, initially thought that the he had landed in the East Indies, which had been his ultimate goal. “His sea wanderings would have been written off as an expensive failure, once it was realized that he had not found the illusive water route to India, had it not been for the discovery of gold on Hispaniola in 1493”(Nash, 18). Once it became known that there were gold and other precious metals on this continent, people from Spain began to journey to America in hopes of gaining immense wealth. The Spanish claimed Panama, Mexico, parts of South America, and southern areas of what is now North America and these expeditions were typically led by military figures. The Spanish viewed America as land to be conquered and they viewed Native Americans

Crusading fervor remained a basic part of the Portuguese and Spanish national ideals. The desire to Christianize Muslims and pagan peoples played a central role in European expansion. Queen Isabella of Spain, for example, showed a fantastical zeal for converting the Muslims to Christianity and concentrated her efforts on the Muslims in Granada (Buckler 503). These conquests and mass conversions were done solely to bring Christianity to the world. Crusades and conquests were essentially wars of conversion. As an unnamed scholar wrote about a crusade in China, “While Buddha came to China on white elephants, Christ was borne on cannon balls.” Explorers such as crusaders forced Christianity into places that were home to other religions. But not all explorers who practiced the Christian faith spread their religion through crusading. Christopher Columbus understood Christianity as a missionary religion that should be carried to peoples and places where it did not exist. Although his character certainly included material and secular qualities, first and foremost, as he wrote in 1498, he believed he was a divine agent: “God made me the messenger of the new heaven and the new earth of which he spoke of in the Apocalypse of St. John after having spoken of it through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah; and he showed me the post where to find it.” (Buckler 506)

Portuguese explorers fled to Western India looking for new goods. Later on, Christopher Columbus was ordered to convert people to the Christian religion on and expedtion. On this expedition, he explored new things. He brought back new ideas and rulers throughout Europe began to fund voyages. The goals of the Spanish Monarchs had changed becasue of his voyage. Not only did he convert people to the churches religion, but he gained and found new land and discovered many things. The Columbian

The tremendous idea proposed by Christopher Columbus found unlikely supporters in Spain’s King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I, despite not being from Spain. The trade between Portugal and Africa peaked Columbus’s interest. Portugal was taking trips around Africa, to get to what is now current day Ghana, for gold to take back to Europe. While thinking of more efficient ways to get the gold from Africa, he devised a route to travel west towards the Atlantic ocean. Columbus believed that this new route was so promising, he set out to find sponsorship so he could venture through uncharted waters. While searching Columbus came across the Spaniards. They were in need of an explorer

The potential of Columbus and his voyages could not have been realized without the aid of Spain, specifically King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Columbus was in dire need of financial support to help in making his dream come true, so he sought out assistance from wealthy leaders. Initially, he approached King John II of Portugal about his idea of sailing westward, but he was ultimately denied his request. Spain was a lesser power than Portugal at the time; nevertheless, Columbus decided to seek aid from them. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were convinced to offer patronage on the condition that Columbus would return with riches as well as spread Christian faith to the many in Asia.