What Is Spanish Colonization?

There were initially two to ten million natives in the United States prior to European contact. Those numbers dwindled down drastically in the years that Europeans came and started colonizing. The Europeans came to explore the New World in search of land, spices, gold, God and glory. Among these colonists were the Spanish and they colonized most of the southwest of the United States. Evidence of their settlements can still be seen today in the missions scattered across the land. These missions were started with the purpose of converting the Native Americans to Christianity. Now, imagine living your entire life with a particular set of beliefs, based on your ancestors and culture, and a group of foreigners come and proclaim that your views are all wrong and that you must follow their beliefs for the salvation of your soul. This is exactly what the Spanish did to the Natives. The relationship between the two parties were strained and rife with tension due to the conversion of the natives and the constant abuse doled out by the Spanish. This subsequently led to the disintegration of native life and culture.

Although the Spanish and the British started colonizing the new world relatively at the same time their colonization efforts we’re extremely different but had some overlapping similarities. The differences include the two nations different reasoning to explore the New World, their relationship with the Natives, and it types of governments that they attempted to set up. Although some of these differences might not seem as if they are very important, they helped one nation do you better than the other one when it came to colonization efforts.

I personally think the most important factor in the Spanish and Portuguese conquest is the ships used to get across the water. In my opinion, from reading through these first few chapters, the people during this time wouldn’t have gotten close to any of the places they went on for this conquest without these ships helping them. If they walked all over the world it would have taken them considerably longer to get the progress and answers they needed. For example Columbus set out 17 ships for the islands, which loaded 1500 people, domestic animals, sugarcane, tools, plants, and seed to maintain a colony in Hispaniola. If you were to picture this adventure without the ships, it wouldn’t have happened unless they swam. The slaves that they commandeered

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.

I am writing to you today in hopes of expanding Spain’s influence into the American territory of Mexico and Florida. I would like to sail to these new lands in hopes of finding resources such as: Cotton, Silk, Spices, Vegetables, Tobacco, Gold, Sugar, the list could go on and on. I know we will find these resources in these lands because of the Columbian Exchange which was created by fellow explorer Christopher Columbus. Exploring these new lands could strengthen Spain’s ties with the American colonies and could possibly be allies in trade and in war. We may face hardships like unpredictable weather and lack of territorial knowledge but I am prepared to take necessary precautions so that everything will go smoothly. This will also give Spain

The missionary schools were to educate and civilize the natives. The spanish felt superior to them and in order for the indians to be considered “gente de razon” (people with reason) they had to be baptized into this new religion. It was a way of expanding the Spanish power once the indians were baptized they

The Spanish travel to America for gold but in the failure of finding any they simply focus on building and protecting their new empire in America.

Europeans sailed to explore and find new lands where they could share their religions and gain glory for the finding of new islands. The indigenous people were on the verge of extinction due to the exploration and colonization of the Americas. Everyday, the Natives were forced to destroy their own culture, former beliefs, and selves. The Spaniard colonizers used inhumane acts as attempts to control the Natives and force them to complete tasks for them. The Spaniards viewed their lifestyle as superior and attempted to convert the indigenous people to follow their clean lifestyle. Spaniards did not view the Natives as equals which caused the justification of why they treated the Natives so poorly. The exploration of the Americas resulted in the

When it comes to the topic of the Spanish-American War of 1898, most Americans may believe humanitarian aspects influenced the United States’ role in Cuba. In a way, the public thought America would be “freeing” Cuba from the atrocities the Spaniards had laid upon them. One source about the reconcentration camps outlines what the Cubans faced, “Four hundred and sixty women and children thrown on the ground, heaped pell-mell as animals, some in a dying condition, others sick and others dead…” Sources such as these portrayed aspects of “yellow journalism” which exaggerated stories and influenced the emotions of the American public. Where the people’s argument ends, is whether or not freeing Cuba from Spanish rule was the sole reason behind American

There were various justifications given by the colonists for the colonization of the Americas. One of them was the economic gain. The colonists would found the colonies to make money. This could be seen through the Spanish Colonization as they would first look for gold and jewels and then destroy the agriculture locally, so they can plant large fields of sugar cane as it was a very expensive luxury in the Europe. By following the practice, Spain became the richest country in the world. Furthermore, the British colony in the North America named Jamestown, was settled purely because the inhabitants wished to find gold and treasure and not work. Thus, they simply wished to make the economic gain. Then, South Carolina was also discovered for business

Spain just wanting to be like any powerful European nation. They wanted to spread religion so they can get to heaven quicker, conquer new land for work, and find unique supplies to sale. The exploration era appear and they found a way to do all these three objectives. The Spanish didn 't arrive in Mexico with peace but greed and evil. Spain did something good for their country and brought honor to their King but what most people forget is the evil things they did to the Aztecs.They didn 't come to Mexico for a peaceful exploration but to finish their three objectives; force their religion on the Aztecs, conquer the Aztecs by being cruel to them, and gain supplies from them for money and to be recognize as a good Spaniard. Their

In the late 1400s, when Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon got married, they decided to join forces and unite their kingdoms. This newly united country was known as Spain. Isabella and Ferdinand were both Catholic, so they wanted their new country to remain Catholic as well. Achieving this goal was not originally an issue, but became a major challenge in around the late 1400s to the early 1500s, when the Protestant Reformation began. Protestantism, a new branch of Christianity, had spread rapidly around Europe. Around this time period, a Dominican friar warned Isabella that even though Spain was at that time a Catholic country, former Jews and Muslims who had converted to Catholicism were living there and secretly practicing their

Spanish colonization occured during 1781-1821. Spain wanted California to be considered their land and they had every intention of doing that. The Spanish started to build things such as missons which are permanent settlements and also presidios(forts). By building these structures the Spanish started to call California theirs. The first two missions built were in San Diego and Monterrey. It all started with Father Junipero Serra he was on a "sainted mission" and his goal was to convert the California native Americans into christians. By the time the Spanish were done there was 21 missions throughout California, they were made a days walk from each other. Of the 21 missions Father Junipero Serra found the first nine. Spanish exploration and settlement had a negative impact on California and California Indians because they lost their culture, were treated cruely, and the natives lost their land.

The Europeans were driven to colonize the New World for several reasons, one being religion. However, the question is to what extent? Did they really colonize the New World to church them or to make a profit and expand their empire? First off, the Spanish journeyed into the Indies because of legends of vast wealth that could be had. As they searched for gold, they pillaged the natives homes and crossed over several boundaries. Through their conquests, they spread European diseases that resulted in an epidemic, decreasing the native population by about 90 percent. The Spaniards spread their religion by forcing it upon the Natives. If they had been genuinely concerned about the faith of the population, they would have found better ways to spread

Christianity to the people. What happened instead was 350 years of Spanish rule that resulted