Spanish And Puritans Compare And Contrast Essay

The American continent was a new place where any country could develop it in their own unique way. Two great empires in the 17th century, Spain and England, both jumped on this opportunity.Both countries colonized America in their own way, but at the same time shared similar methods. The Spanish settlements in the southwest and the Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in New England, in the 17th century, were similar in the way that mercantilist practices with their mother country and religion were two main reasons for their colonization. However, over time, the two settlements differed in the way they handled their religion and their treatment towards Native Americans.

In some aspects, the Spanish and English seemed total opposites, but

Once settled down the English and Spanish went in two different directions in regard to their religion. The Spanish conquistadors’ and friars’ in the southwest wanted to spread christianity to anyone they could. The Spanish would conqueror Native American tribes and force christianity upon them. To the Spanish in the southwest they just wanted the Native Americans’ to have some type of Christian beliefs. The Puritans’ however were very strict about following their values. For instance, Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams were both banished from the colony for going against their official teachings. As well, as being less tolerate, the Puritans’ were not as aggressive as forcing their religion onto Native Americans’. Other than praying towns, the Puritans’ did not force their beliefs on to the Native Americans’ who lived around them. The Spanish on the other hand sought out Native Americans’ to convert them. The Spanish, after conquering a tribe or ransacking a village, would force the Native Americans’ to convert. If they refused they would use the encomienda system to convert them. The encomienda system was a Spanish practice, where they enslaved Native Americans who refused to convert to Christianity. The conquistadors’ would force them to mine gold and silver until death or conversion. How they Spanish and Puritans’ managed their religion reflected on how the two interacted with Natives. The two differed in their treatment toward Native Americans’ with the intimate relationships they had with them. In the southwest many Spaniards would marry Native American women and bear children called mestizos. In Massachusetts, however it was unheard of to have any type of intimate relations between whites and Native Americans.