Introduction
The discovery of America by Columbus and the subsequent conquest of the West-Indian Islands, Mexico, Peru, and other parts of the New World presented great political, juridical, moral, and religious problems for the Spanish monarchy. The Spanish explorers had a great impact on the New World and its further history. The paper aims to examine and analyze the motivations and aims of the Spanish explorers, the impact of the Spanish monarchy, and its rules on the colonization. The evaluation of the subject will be based on careful analysis of the political and economic reasons, their impact on the plans of colonizers. The main reasons for the Spanish explorers to colonize America was a shortage of lands, desire to spread Christianity and Pope’s power, competition with France.
The aim of the Spanish explorers
The shortage of lands and importance of new territories was the main reason for the Spanish explorers to colonize America. The first task of the Spanish rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella, was to secure legal title to the lands just discovered and to be discovered in the future, to the exclusion of any rival nation (Levack 23). Columbus’ connections with Portugal, France, and England contained in themselves possible dangers to Spanish claims. The words from A Bill of Demarcation “after they have been discovered and found by your envoys” (Chaves et al 34) could be construed as a limitation of Spanish rights to only those lands discovered for the Spanish crown and leaving the other discoveries open to other nations Spain’s rights were not based on recognized moral principles but on arbitrary, scholastic theories, easily questioned by other nations. This very lack of justice of the Spanish claims and her cruel dealings with the Indians constituted a future menace to the Spanish empire. Nice. The Spaniards maintained their position that the entire North American coast belonged to Spain, though it was not occupied by them, nor every part of the coast visited by Spanish vessels (Chaves et al 19).
The Spanish explorers aimed to spread Christianity and Pope’s power around the world. At the end of the fifteenth century, the temporal power of the pope had long since lost much of its force, but Rome was still considered an international court of justice to which appeals could be made. The days of Boniface VIII and his bull Unam Sanctam claiming the supremacy of the spiritual power over the temporal had gone, yet the principle of papal supremacy over worldly kingdoms was not forgotten. Spain used this very principle to legalize the conquest of America. It became the legal foundation of Spanish claims to the “West Indies, the Islands and mainlands of the Ocean Sea” (Chaves 48). Papal sanctions of conquests were nothing new in the days of Columbus. The omission of the exclusive right to all future discoveries for Spain might explain the issuance of a new papal bull, under the same name and antedated by several weeks. By this new bull, dated May 4, 1493, and expedited in June of the same year, Spanish sovereignty was no longer limited to the lands discovered for the Spanish monarchs. Bull of Alexander VI states all “islands or mainlands… to be found… and to be discovered” were now forbidden to all who had not previously obtained a “special permit” from the Spanish crown (Chaves 65). Even the discovery of new lands, never before touched by Spaniards, became now a Spanish monopoly. This conquest, under the guise of Christianizing the Indians, gave the Spaniards a great advantage over France and England. Many Indians were baptized before being executed and this eased considerably the sixteenth-century conscience of the Spaniards. The competition for new lands and the desire to obtain a leading position in the world forced the Spanish monarchy to explore these lands (Fontana 927).
The discovery and exploitation of new lands had a great impact on the native population changing their lifestyle, economic and political system. On the one hand, Spanish colonizers established a new political rule on these lands and subjugated native populations. The colonies were surrounded by hostile tribes they tried to conquer and even annihilate. Spaniards limited the political and economic freedom of native tribes exploiting their natural resources and human resources. Competition for the land raged at all levels, from individual settlers to national governments. The issue of how to acquire it from the Indians, either by force or negotiation, and the contest for their alliance fueled antagonism between opposing social and political groups and brought the Republic to the brink of fragmentation. The Spanish explorers brought cultural changes and new values to American Indians (Chaves et al 26). For instance, alcoholism became the main cause of depopulation and degradation of American Indians. Those who survived the devastation of disease and deprivation did so by a process of progressive cultural adjustment that enabled them to maintain the harmony necessary for their cultural and economic well-being. Indian politics during this period was dominated by the need to preserve their lands and maintain a supply of European goods (Fontana 927). Personal and political autonomy were extensions of the belief that the source of all power resided in nonhuman spirits; submission to any other authority was therefore incongruous. The disasters that befell the Native Americans in the wake of European contact were interpreted by some as a loss of that spiritual power, caused by lack of observance of the correct rituals and by the move away from traditional culture (Chaves et al 26).
Summary
In sum, the motivations and aims of the Spanish explorers were caused by political and religious factors, primarily competition with France and the importance of new lands, expansion of Christianity, and the Pope’s power. The years during which Spain’s claim was respected by these two nations gave Spanish imperialism a stronghold on Central and South America which lasted for almost three centuries. New consumption culture and European lifestyles ruined the national identity and uniqueness of many tribes. The life of most groups was deeply disrupted.
References
Chaves, Th. et al Quest for Quivira: Spanish Explorers on the Great Plains, 1540-1821. Western National Parks Association, 1992.
Fontana, B.L., Pictorial Images of Spanish North America. Journal of the Southwest 42 (4), (2000): 927.
Levack, B. et al The West Encounters & Transformation. Longman; Concise edition, 2006.