Christopher Columbus In 1492 Research Paper

Patrick Richman Priovolos B Block May 22, 2024 Spanish Rule in the Americas In 1492, Christopher Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, in the hope of finding a faster route to Asia by heading westward. A few months later, in October of 1492, his ship reached an island in the Bahamas, named Guanahani where he was greeted by local natives. As he and the passengers of his crew explored the land, they discovered new goods such as gold, silver, tobacco, and numerous types of plants. He also gained knowledge on the natives' culture, and spiritual beliefs. 5 months later, in March of 1493 he voyaged back to Spain, where he reported his findings to the King and Queen of Spain. After hearing about Columbus discoveries, the king and queen
The need for gold, and a greater Christian population, caused the Spanish king and queen to order missionaries and conquistadors in 1493 to the Americas, where they conquered territory with military force, and captured natives, overall challenging the authority of the existing empires across the land. The Spanish King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella continued to send missionaries and explorers to the Americas in the hope of obtaining more gold and converting many natives to Christianity. Once Christopher Columbus had returned from his voyages to the Americas, he informed the King and Queen of Spain of the opportunities in the Americas. Columbus’ first goal, when he met the indigenous people, was to assess them and further look for value in them, whether they were slaves or working for the Europeans. He noticed they were kind and willing to help him acquire new goods. Columbus recorded in his journal, “For I knew that they were a people who could be more easily freed and converted to our holy faith by love than by force” (Columbus). Columbus was looking to benefit from the natives, and he recognized it was possible without physical
The Spanish conquered empires for a total of 197 years, ending with the Itza kingdom. The Spanish used the people they captured as slaves on their new plantations or mines. They further forced their religion on them, making them convert to Christianity while introducing them to Spanish culture and language. This is how the Spanish were able to quickly destroy their competition and expand their empire across the Americas. Afterward, the Spanish were able to set up new colonies and send over more people from Europe to live there. They continued to enslave the people they captured and they also imported slaves from Africa. Roughly 1,500,000 slaves were working in the Americas and came from other continents. The Spanish continued to get richer and richer every day, as they found new gold mines. They were most productive in Hispaniola. The river known as “The River of Gold” was their main source of gold as they sifted through large amounts each day. The Spanish continued to raid old indigenous colonies where they found gold jewelry; a more efficient source of gold than mining for