What Was Columbus's Motivation For American Exploration

Knowledge of circular current wind patterns made sailing long distances substantially easier and less labor intensive. The Old World began to travel farther and farther by the ocean. In this sense, it was inevitable that the Old World and the New World should collide. Columbus took advantage of this sea-ward gaze and the Spanish desire to exercise their power, acquire resources, and extend the reach of Christianity. In hindsight, Columbus' original intention to sail to India an obvious and major miscalculation but the mere action of crossing the Atlantic turned “a barrier into a bridge” (Horan). Upon Columbus' arrival, the European advantage became evident: gunpowder weaponry, use of horses for military and transportation, and iron weapons, tools, and armor.

Ferdinand and Isabella knew that in order to bolster Spain they needed new sources of funding themselves. They turned to the pope and he gave them rights to build the Catholic Church in areas where the Moors had been driven from. He also published decrees giving them control over the funds in the Americas. The Church became a crucial utensil in developing royal absolutism. The New World also proved to be a great source of revenue for Spain (“Ferdinand V”).

During the 15th and 16th century, exploration became the new norm of society. Each individual country had their own motives, reasons and goals regarding voyages across land and sea. For instance, Christopher Columbus, in the name of Spain, voyaged out to find an alternative route to Asia. The Portuguese, tried to increase their knowledge about trading. Moreover, while some traveled to increase their powers, Zheng He, of China, traveled to discover raw resources and generate more capital into China’s economy. If we compare the maritime policies of the kingdom of Spain and Portugal on the one hand and the Ming Empire on the other the differences in motives clearly outweigh the similarities between these two societies. For example, the Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal traveled to spread Christianity, to gain land, to rule over new subjects and to spread their power throughout the different continents, while as the Ming Dynasty was only interested in capital and new/raw resources.

With the inventions of more efficient ships and the perfection of navigational instruments, the Spanish (as well as England and France) gained a curiosity to explore and find a way to Asia by water and

Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, European exploration and expansion thrived. Portugal led the way in this movement of exploration with their development of efficiently built ships known as caravels, seafaring devices such as compasses and astrolabes, and cutting-edge naval academies. Various European countries, including Spain, England, France, etc., followed Portugal’s example by utilizing their progressive naval technology. These technological advancements led to the crossing of oceans and eventually the circumnavigation of the world. These Portuguese sailing techniques were implemented by explorers such as Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Hernando Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, and Bernal Castillo allowing them to travel by sea to places such as Africa, East Asia, the Caribbean, and the Americas. These nations and explorers were persuaded to put in the time and effort to complete these complex expeditions by three essential motivations. Financial gain, political dignity, and religious expansion were fundamental motivators for the European Age of Exploration.

Slavery, like Portugal, was crucial for Spain. Unlike Portugal Spain used Native Americans as their slaves. (Mainly because of geography) Spain also believed in Encomienda. Which is basically there way of “giving back” to Native Americans, they would teach Native Americans their religious views and in return Native Americans would be forced to work to death. So it would appear that converting people (slaves) to Catholicism was an important reason why they went to the “new world”. Needless to say relations between Spain and the Native Americans spoiled just like the relationship between Portugal and Africans did. A lot of Native Americans believed that Spain gave them nothing. Most if not all of Spain’s economy was based on mining silver and gold and sugar plantations. At the time of this colonization and for the next 200 years Spain is extremely rich.

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.

Religion was not a major reason for European exploration because many of the European traders and travelers wanted to get rich by finding gold or some other valuable object, people wanted to travel to another place because of their country’s poverty, disease, or and economic backwardness, and also that the Europeans started traveling more ever since their technology and navigation was more developed.

During the 1500’s, and many years following, exploration became a significant curiosity among empires around the world. More land meant more power and could potentially lead to riches such as gold and jewels. This idea of more land, sparked England and Spain's ambition. Spain's empire had grown powerful and dominate to all others. Knowing this, the English became worried that Spain, along with their Catholicism would overtake and convert them. During this time, Queen Elizabeth was ruling England and encouraged a huge following of the Protestant- religion. Noticing the differences in several

Religious motives of the ‘Old Land’ of Europe’s exploration can be traced back to the days of the Crusades down to the 11th and 15th century, where the European Christians tried to invade and claim the city of Jerusalem from its Muslim control. The struggle between the Islamic rule and the European Christians planted the ideology of ‘Reconquista’ in the latter’s religion. It influenced the Christian religion with an air of religious intolerance. With the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, European Catholic’s interests in colonizing newer lands and declare global dominance earned a new momentum. And strong Catholic nations of Spain and Portugal were the

The early voyages by the Portuguese and Spanish were motivated by gold, trade and the spread of the Catholic faith through religious conversion. The voyages of a few adventurers show that the Spanish and Portuguese goals were to spread Catholicism, expand trade, and expand the kingdom of the Spanish and the Portuguese to the new lands they’ve discovered. These adventures were Christopher Columbus who attempted to find a new route to Asia to extend Spain’s trade and to colonize, Bartholomew Columbus and his successful founding of Santo Domingo, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his

Christopher Columbus had many categorical dreams and lots of hopes of finding his way westward to the Indies. Christopher Columbus authentically had a ton of potential goals, but how was he going to fortify his voyage financially? Columbus needed money, sturdy ships, staunch men, and supplies. Christopher Columbus absolutely could not afford any of those things himself, so he desperately probed for a funder to fortify his peregrination.

During the 15th through 16th centuries, The Portuguese and Spanish explorers were very attracted to valuable resources, new land, and trade routes. These motives encouraged them to seek out new explorations and search for items that would benefit their home countries. Common resources that both the Spanish and Portuguese sought out included silks, porcelain, spices, persian horses, silver, and gold (Chasteen, 2001). Although the Portuguese and Spanish explored and sought out new land for many of the same reasons, they also had some different causes for exploration which were often very specific to the needs and goals of Portugal and Spain.

Christopher Columbus and his goalsCertainly, Columbus was a devout Catholic. He lived during the period of the great Spanish Inquisition, which led to the defeat of the Jews and Muslims. Perhaps he wanted to continue the Spanish legacy and spread the faith toward the west. However, personal ambitions may have also sparked Columbus's interest in finding a water route to the Indies. He asks for gold many times from the natives and searches all the islands in hopes of discovering more. He views the natives as a source of economical benefit, hoping to employ them for practical purposes. Even though there are not any indications of immense amounts of gold and spices in the New World, Columbus continues to ask for more Spanish support in order

European exploration wasn’t only entirely based of one motivation in the 15th and 16th century. Although many voyages of discovery were started in search of wealth, religion was also a big reason for exploring other continents. Religion wasn’t the main motivation for European exploration in the 15th and 16th century. Instead, the main motivation was economic motives, which was closely followed by religion, and to a lesser extent was technological developments.