Spanish Castilian Empire

A detailed Summary of Spanish Castilian Empire

Why was it considered necessary for the Spanish Crown to justify and legitimise the conquest of the Americas and what arguments and means did it employ for this purpose?

Every colonial country needs an idea to base its conquest and Spain was no different. The ideology behind the Spanish conquest of the Americas was the spread of Catholicism. This belief in the conversion of the Indians is what drove the Spanish to conquer, settle and govern the New World.

The Castilians modeled their Catholic empire on the Holy Roman Empire of old. They viewed themselves as successors to the Romans. The Castilians regarded themselves as the superior race, who were on a divine mission to achieve a universal Catholic empire.

The Castilians felt obligated to extend the faith and conveniently this proved to justify their colonisation of the Americas. They understood that by giving the natives the protection of the crown, they would lead a better life. This better life would also arise due to the absence of slavery and the spiritual guidance provided for those 'ignorant of Christianity'.

If the spreading of the faith was the sole reason for the conquest of the Americas then we must understand how religion was spread. The devout Castilia

In theory this sounds fantastic for the natives but underneath all of this lies the Castilians true reasons for conquest. Their main priority was to exploit the large mines of gold and silver, which was immediately transported back to Spain. They also took large quantities of maize, beans and peppers which were foreign to Spain. Unfortunately, the Spanish also gave the natives many European illnesses including the flu and smallpox for which the Amerindians had no immunisation. This is a contributing factor to the massive decline in population in America due to disease, colonial savagery and war

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Approximate Word count = 1369
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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Spanish Castilian Empire

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