Dbq Research Paper

539 Words2 Pages

I believe that gold, God, and glory were all prominent reasons for Europeans coming to the New World. I think that different countries each had different expectations of what they could achieve from colonizing in the Americas. Glory, however; impacted all of the countries that came to the New World. Spain took lead in the exploration of the Americas, the Spanish empire spread from Europe to the Americas and Asia (pg.24). Spanish explorer Cortez conquered the Aztec City (pg. 23) and Pizarro conquered the Inca kingdom which caused a multitude of riches to be able to go over to Spain. Which, of course, made Spain seem glorious. When the French and Dutch noticed the way Spain was expanding and gaining wealth, they hoped to do the same. Neither the French or the Dutch wanted land, nonetheless, they had a desire to take part in trade. The trade would not only enhance the wealth of …show more content…

The pope even required Spain and Portugal to spread Catholicism to the Native Americans (pg. 28). Many of the spanish colonizers saw Catholicism as the superior religion and thought that without it the Indians were “uncivilized heathens” (pg.28). Furthermore, if the Spanish colonizers turned the “uncivilized heathens” into obedient, Christians, then the Spanish empire would be seen as superior. While religion was important in most Spanish peoples’ lives I believe that the thought of gaining wealth for themselves and their country was a greater motivation for colonizing the Americas. I also believe that religion was used to defend the way the Spanish conquered the Americas. However, the French and the Dutch did not use religion to impact what they wanted from the Americas. They were more focused and the trade and wealth that could arise from the New

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