Looking back into history, at around the 1500s to the 1600s, people were very much the same in the sense that many countries were looking to aggrandize their economy and appear the greatest. It was this pride and thinking that motivated many of the superpowers of the world’s past. Two such monarchies in the European continent included England and Spain, which had at the time, the best fleets the world has ever seen. Because both were often striving to be the best, they conflicted with one another. Although England and Spain had their differences, they both had a thirst to see new things and it was this hunger that led them both to discovering different parts of the “New World” and thus, colonizing the Americas. The Spaniards arrived at the Americas prior to the English. The Spanish mainly wanted to explore in the first place because after the Black Death, the population increased, and thus, so did the frequency of commerce. There was a sudden new interest in new products and the new strong monarchs who sponsored the journeys wanted to be more affluent. Therefore, explorers such as Christopher Columbus attempted to go west to target Asia. However, he ended up on Cuba and called the natives Indians. The Spanish soon started to consider the Americas less of a blockage and could now see it as a source of resources. In 1518, Cortes arrived into Mexico with his group of conquistadors, or conquerors, which is a proper name because the men after gold exterminated native areas using their military skills, brutality and greed to turn the Southern America into a vast Spanish empire. The smallpox the Spanish unknowingly carried also helped wipe many people out. When they saw the religious ceremonies of the Aztecs that produced many skulls, they thought of these people as savages and not entirely human. This of coarse was quite hypocritical because the Spanish have killed before during the Inquisition for their faith. It was this contempt that made them think it was all right to slaughter the natives. Spanish colonies were established when conquistadors had gotten a license to finance the expedition from the crown to fixture encomiendas. These encomiendas were basically Indian villages that became a source of labor. The Spanish dreamed of becoming wealthier from South America, but they also wanted a profitable agricultural economy and to spread their Catholic religion (the Pueblo Indians converted to Christianity), which became very important in the 1540s.
...ything and everyone that were there. At times they would work with the Natives at other times they would be at war with the natives. The Spanish had been engaged with the natives longer and over time felt the best way to control them would be to convert them or put them into same locations where they could “keep an eye on them”. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was proof that no matter what they tried, when one man, country, or society tries to oppress another, war is almost always inevitable.
Beginning in the fifteenth century with the arrival of Columbus, natives of the Americas were infected with European diseases that proved to be deadly to the Indians. The population in northern Mexico suffered an immense decimation of 2,500,000 peoples to less than 320,000 by the end of the sixteenth century (Vargas, 30). The Spaniards’ cruel treatment of the natives aided this vast reduction in the Aztec and Mexican population, enabling the Spaniards to conquer the lands of the Aztecs and other native tribes. By the end of the sixteenth century, the Spaniards had expanded their conquests into the southwest region of what is now known as the United States of America.
When they found the “new world” is too weak to resist the invasion of European, they started to establish the colony in America. Bartolomé de Las Casas used to be a priest who explored America on Hispaniola and Cuba. But after he witnessed the colonists enslave and mistreat Indians, he changed his mind and start to protect the Indians. He free his Indian slaves in 1514, and start to against Spanish mistreat them (Foner, p.7). After that, he made the effort to liberate the Indian slaves, and he had backed to Spain several times want to make the King reduce the heavy labor of Indians. Finally, Spain published New Laws in 1542, which indicate that Indians no longer be enslaved (Foner, p.7).
The Control of England in North America and Demise of the Spanish Power in the Atlantic
Although there are some similarities between the two nations, England and Spain are easily the most opposite when their colonists are compared to each other. First, the similarities between the two are in their treatment of the Native Americans. Depending on the Spanish conquistador or expedition leader, the Natives may have been treated fairly or poorly. In the same way, British colonial governors sometimes had good relationships with the Natives (William Penn and Roger Williams), while others helped provoke wars with the tribes (James Moore). The contrast between Spanish and English colonists is in their spirit and reason for colonization. The Spaniards were seeking riches and were usually loyal to the Crown, starting in the 16th century
The history of early colonization and settlement revolves predominately around the British and Spanish colonies. Settlers from these colonies crossed over to America for various reasons and understandings that helped mold America as we know it today. Both the British and the Spanish colonies had historically elaborate, unique cultures. Within both of these colonies, they both had many different advantages and disadvantages that people categorize them for today. Spanish and British settlers both had very different motives and reasons for colonization. The Spanish settlers main purpose was to hunt and collect for gold and silver for immediate profit, as well as to convert natives to the catholic faith and set up assignments and missions. while the Spanish colonies were working on their intention and ideas, the British settlers were thinking about long term opportunities and wanting to settle in the land. Both the Spanish and the British settlements have developed many national trademarks that still remain to this day. Even though both civilizations had many similarities, The British and Spanish colonies did not settle in the same manner because of different beliefs, goals, and lifestyle.
The Spanish empire in the Americas faced huge political, social and economic problems in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The empire was stretched to its limit politically and socially with the threat of an uprising from the slave population in its empire. The economy also played a major role and the outlook was just as bleak for Spain with the American colonies drifting towards independence.
At the start of 1474, Spain was a non-existent entity that was composed of a series of minor kingdoms within the Iberian Peninsula. However Spain was subject to a process of change that led to the unification of the Iberian Peninsula under one monarchy, which controlled the new world and large areas of Northern Europe. This process of change was stimulated by the revenue of the new world and to varying degrees by domestic and international politics. However the New world was not always the primary factor during this period that catalysed the increase and maintenance of power. Over this time period the revenue from the new world increased, and thus directly Spain’s dependence upon it did as well. Isabella and Ferdinand had no reliance on the new world, as it occurred in the later third of their reign, and as such was viewed more as an economic failure. Kilsby rightly argues that with hindsight, the discovery of the Americas was the “the greatest event since the creation of the world.” Kamen shows us that there was a shift in the new world’s importance, as the “Indian globe” controlled by Spain caused their power and Kamen justily argues that the colonies were the sheet anchor of Phillips Power. The necessity of the new world is entirely due to the funds that it provided that stimulated other factors that contributed to Spain’s growing power over the time period.
Columbus was sure that God had sent him to complete this task and that he was destined to carry the good Christian ways to heathen lands. A Spanish settlement was made in 1609 named Santa Fe in what is now New Mexico (Curti, p.167). Hundreds of thousands of Pueblo Indians were then converted to Christianity. At the same time, across the country, England was establishing its first settlement at Jamestown. Originally the English, who colonized alongside the French, saw settlements in the New World as strictly trading posts, but they soon realized the valuable opportunities that lay in the virgin lands of America, such as cotton, tobacco, and several other agricultural products that could not be found anywhere else.
The Spaniards had a head start in exploration the New World. Soon after Christopher Columbus discovery of the Bahamas in 1492 The Spaniards focused their efforts on New World colonization. (Berkin, 25) According to Roman Catholics, the Treaty of Tordesillas granted Spain exclusive exploration to the Western Hemisphere, which included North, South and Central America. (Berkin, 25) The Spaniards quickly claimed regions, located precious metals such as gold & silver, and Christianized local natives. (Berkib, 27) Soon the Spaniards began minting silver coins that
The European nation that came into the American territory was the Spanish. The first contact between Europeans and the Maya was in 1502” (Source 3), this expedition was headed b y Christopher Columbus, who was trying to find a new trade route to the far East but inadvertently landed in what came to be known to the Europeans as the “New World” (Source11). The Spanish had claimed the New World territory, and when they found out that the Mayans were a divided group, had no political authority; they were also able to exploit this division by taking advantage of the rivalries within the group.
In the early 17th century, British colonizers began arriving in the New World in hopes of expanding their territorial domain. By the 18th century, Spanish colonizers had established trading posts and missions in the New World, covering a vast expanse of land that extended beyond even England’s colonial holdings. When the British arrived, they spurred on Indian depopulation and African and European immigration. The arrival of the Spanish resulted in near Indian extinction and a burgeoning international trade. Though Spain had an advantage of a century over Britain, both nations used the New World’s resources to further their mercantile goals, in the process, ravaging the native populations; however, Spain’s missionary efforts were more successful and the location of their respective colonies resulted in a monopoly of different economic commodities.
Ferdinand and Isabella used the Inquisition to eliminate opposition in Spain. Their thoughts were that by eliminating the Jews, Muslims, and New Christians in Spain they would gain unity, wealth, and power. They wanted to make a Christian and only a Christian Spain.
In 1492 Columbus and his men landed in a completely different part of the world than they expected; the Americas. They came to be a part of the emerging western empire, and the riches that came along with it. In the decades that followed that first landing in the Americas; Spanish explorers came in search for the great wonders that this land was claimed to have. These Spanish Explorers had no respect for the native peoples who have inhabited this land for centuries. Certain tribes were unable to revolt against the Conquistadores, however, some fought back and won. Over the next hundred years the Spanish continued their injustice towards the Natives because they believed their Christian duty allowed them to conquer this land and bring its people, no mater the cost, to their God.
The First "Europeans" reached the Western Hemisphere in the late 15th century. Upon arrival they encountered a rich and diverse culture that had already been inhabited for thousands of years. The Europeans were completely unprepared for the people they stumbled upon. They couldn't understand cultures that were so different and exotic from their own. The discovery of the existence of anything beyond their previous experience could threaten the stability of their entire religious and social structure. Seeing the Indians as savages they made them over in their own image as quickly as possible. In doing so they overlooked the roots that attached the Indians to their fascinating past. The importance of this past is often overlooked. Most text or history books begin the story of the Americas from the first European settlement and disregard the 30,000 years of separate, preceding cultural development (Deetz 7).