Spanish Invasion Into The Americas Research Paper

1026 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The spanish conquest of the americas essay

The Spanish conquest and invasion into the Americas was enhanced by various factors in the colonial era. Spanish Christians played a significant role in aiding the actions of the Spanish colonists. Christianity was used as a hiding place a tool that enabled the Spanish to traverse the vast lands and convince people to join the faith. Spanish imperialism in the Americas was defined by colonial acts and the association between the Native Americans and the Spanish. Regarding the Indians, the Spanish sought to convert all of them so that they could join the Spanish empire. However, the methods that were used by the Spanish Christians were not based on moral foundations and went as far as enslaving the Indians.
This paper seeks to expound on the relationship between the Spanish and the Native Americans, and the role of Christianity in the Spanish conquest. The Spanish missionaries aided the activities of the Spain colonists by covering all the places preaching the word of God. Most individuals were Christians, and native Spain was entirely dominated by Catholics. The imperialist style of Spain that was adopted also facilitated the success of the conquest as Spain found a way into more colonies in the Americas. The main agenda of the missionaries and the daily aspects of conversion were significant towards the Spanish conquest, …show more content…

Christians got into the Indian lands and carried out all forms of oppressive practices on the Indians. The food which the Indians toiled to produce was misused, and the Spanish took away Indian children and women to work till their lands. The Indians who resisted were attacked with beatings and forced to agree to the demands of the Christians. The Spanish conquest was facilitated by the activities of the Christians and missionaries who were expected to fight for morally virtuous lives of the Indians. (Casas,

Show More
Related

  • Devastation Of The Indies Summary

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    Native American civilization was not always a pit of terror and agonizing torture for every single being. The Spanish arrived in Hispaniola, during the early 1500, with the seemingly good intention of introducing to the indigenous the Christian faith. Unfortunately, their mission turned into an almost complete annihilation of a culture unlike their own. Bartolome de la Casas, depicts a graphic and ultimately disturbing castings of the happenings during their expedition. The Spanish Christians involved in these happenings can be seen as hypocritical, heartless, and close minded. Although, in the minds of these men, they were completing their God assigned duties, such as

    Read More

  • Dbq Columbian Exchange

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    Their main goal was to come to the New World and spread Christianity, and they were determined to do so. Document 1 explains that from the minute they arrived in the Americas, the Europeans were instilling their religion into the Native people through friendship and gifts. Not to mention, Document 6 states, “missions were built to help spread Christianity.” It also says, “missions and settlements helped spread European languages.” By looking at Latin America today we can see how much the Spanish and Portuguese have helped mold what it is today.

    Read More

  • Bartolome De Las Casas Analysis

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bartolome de las casas had hoped to prevent further harm to Indians, and clarify that they were not barbarians. Of the text named Bartolome de las casas: In Defense of the Indians(c.1550) it covers what is to be the Spanish Conquistadores, and talks of the natives to which at the time seen by many are barbaric, ignorant, incapable of learning, just another group of people to be conquered. But to the Catholic missionaries, they see the Natives as new people to influence and enlighten. But if at any time the person drops the belief in Christianity, they would use deadly force against the person or family. Adding to that, Hernán comments that their cities are “ worth of admiration because of their buildings, which are like those of Venice”(Poole 4).

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Native American And Spanish Civilization

    461 Words  | 1 Pages

    Finally, when it came down to the types of ceremonies and views both civilizations had, they were on two different pages. The Natives believed happiness was the key to good fortune. So, in order to get that fortune, they’d do sacrifices, and rituals to please the “mighty ones”. Then, as stated in the book “A History of Latin America”, it says, “Jews publicly converted to Christianity to avoid the torture…”, In which, this showed how religion and the spiritual views were forced upon people in the Spanish civilization.

    Read More

  • The Devastation of the Indies

    287 Words  | 1 Pages

    The discovery and conquest of American Indians inspired efforts to develop an ideology that could justify why they needed to enslave the Indians. The Spanish monarch wanted an ideal empire. "A universal empire, of which all their subjects were but servants. Charles V remained for them the dominus mundi, the legitimate and God-ordained lord of the world." (Weckmann, The Transit of Civilization, 23) Gold and religious conversion was the two most important inspirations for conquistadors in conquering America. Father Bartolome De Las Casas was a Dominican priest who came to the New World to convert the Indians to become Christians. He spent forty years on Hispanolia and nearby islands, and saw how the Spaniards brutally treated the Indians and sympathized with them. The Devastation of the Indies was an actual eyewitness account of the genocide by Las Casas, and his group of Dominican friars in which he demonizes the Spanish colonists and praises the Indians. Father Las Casas returned to Seville, where he published his book that caused an on going debate on whether the suppression of the Indians corrupted the Spaniards' values. What Las Casas was trying to achieve was the notion of human rights, that human beings are free and cogent by nature without the interference of others.

    Read More

  • The Struggles of Mexicans in Mexican-American History

    2047 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Spaniards two main goals in invading, conquering and in the conquest of the Mexico region were to maintain political control over the Indians, which populated Mexico at the time and to convert the Indians to Christianity. As Vargas states in her book, Major Problems in Mexican American History, "the Spanish crown pursued its double goal of Christianization and Hispanicization, the world of the Indian was systematically destroyed through a sustained policy of military campaigns and forced labor; disease and malnutrition, which also took a toll on the native populations"(Vargas 91). The Spaniards were able to divide the indigenous people of Mexico and conquer them with the help of other ethnic groups occupying the Mexico region. In planning the conquest, the Spaniards would identify a group that would ally with them to further defeat the ethnic group in power. The collaboration of the Spaniards and the rival ethni...

    Read More

  • Spaniards in Southwest America

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Spanish began their movement to Southwest America in the late sixteenth century. From that point on, their influence both on the Native Americans and the environment was extraordinaire. The goal of the Spaniards with regards to the Native Americans was to transform them “into tax-paying Christians.” This is in contrast to the idea that their goal was to eradicate the Indians form the Americas. Consequently, the Spaniards took many Indians so that they may plant their religion in the Natives and to use them as cheap labor. This led many Indians to learn the customs and language of the Spaniards so they could to be able to thrive in the Spanish culture. Thus, some Natives acquired Spanish, which was the main source of their Hispanicization; this was the notion of Indians becoming encompassed by the Spanish society. Furthermore, Indians gradually learned skills, obtained land, and sometimes found Hispanic spouses, thus furthering their Hispanicization. They now began to live in a Spanish manner and blend into the bottom of the Spanish societal ladder. This “acculturation” of the Native Americans was in contrast to the models of early English colonization. Spanish goals and plans sought to involve the Indians so that they may live in their society even if at the lower end of it’s ladder. English colonies viewed the Natives as savages and looked to them for slave labor or to rape their women. They did not plan to take the Indians into their society as the Spaniards did so throughout this era.

    Read More

  • Colonial Oppression: Native Americans and Africans (1492-1700)

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    They gave the least power and human rights to the Native Americans to show dominance over them, and prove who of them had the power. The purpose of the church building was to convert Native Americans to Christianity, many converted to avoid bloodshed and damage to their people. The Spanish forced the Native Americans to work; Encomienda, which means to have Native American labor. The Native Americans labored on haciendas/plantations, which means farms. They forced Native Americans to work

    Read More

  • Spaniards Vs. English Colonization

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Did Spain Colonize The Americas?

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    With so many people coming to the Americas because of religious prosecution there was a melding pot of religions. All four nations had come to the Americas with different tactics to colonize the Americas and the first step in colonizing the Americas was to create positive relations with the natives. Spain came to the Americas with brute force and resistances from the natives in Americas. France had seen how the Spaniards where failing in their conquest of the Americas and went the other way about colonizing. The French knew that if they went the same route as the Spaniards they would not get very far.

    Read More

  • The Spanish Conquest Of California Summary

    1892 Words  | 4 Pages

    Upon invading, the Spaniards believed the Natives were barbarians, uncivilized, heathens doing the Devil’s work. Thus, in order to subject and use the Native Californians, Spanish Padres took it upon themselves to Christianize and socialize them into molds of the Spanish people. In

    Read More

  • Cabeza de Vaca's Adeventures in the Unknown Interior of America

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cabeza de Vaca’s Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America shows that while Christians thought themselves superior to natives, both sides were diverse and could commit good, bad, or neutral behavior towards each other. Therefore, the Indians and the Christians were much more similar than different. This is apparent in de Vaca’s accounts of Indian to Indian behavior, Christian to Christian behavior, and Indian to Christian behavior (and vice-versa).

    Read More

  • Spanish American Imperialism Essay

    2526 Words  | 6 Pages

    Immediately following the war with Spain, the United States had both the political will to pursue imperial policies and the geopolitical circumstances conducive to doing so. But the way in which these policies would manifest was an open question; was the impulse to actively remake the world in America’s Anglo-Saxon image justified? Hence, there were several models of American imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century. In the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Samoa, the United States asserted unwavering political control. In Cuba, and later throughout most of the Caribbean basin, the economic and political domination of customarily sovereign governments became the policy. Ultimately, the United States was able to expand its territory

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Victor And Vanquished

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    From 711-1492, Christian Spaniards lived under Moorish rule until eventually, the Christian Kingdoms took over during the Reconquista. The conflicts between the Muslims and Christians created a militaristic culture in Spain that surpassed that of any other European nation. Furthermore, being trained militarily was often exclusively attributed to the nobility however, in Spain, “many young men knew these skills and used them to their advantage.” Without a doubt, recently reconquering their homeland motivated the Spanish to a basis for expansion and conquest that most other European societies were lacking. In addition, the voyages of Christopher Columbus led to discovering the New World which undoubtedly contributed to added interest in conquest. Eventually, each conquest further raised Spanish hopes for fame and

    Read More

  • Spanish American Imperialism Analysis

    1847 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the Spanish American war, as well as the Philippine American war, America was in a state of international expansion and imperialism. This period of time brought about political unrest nationwide because of the argument; to be an imperialist nation or not to be an imperialist nation? Ultimately, American took on an imperialist point of view in foreign endeavors, however the question remains was this the right idea? During this proliferation of American imperialism, America colonized the Philippines, but ultimately the anti-imperialist movement won the war on imperialism. This small part of American history has helped to set the tone of our foreign policy as we know it today.

    Read More

More about Spanish Invasion Into The Americas Research Paper

Open Document