The Conquests of the Spanish Conquistadors: For the Greater Good?

The Conquests of the Spanish Conquistadors: For the Greater Good?

In 1492, the renowned explorer, Christopher Columbus, reached the sandy shore of Hispaniola and kick-started the great Era of Exploration encouraging more Spanish explorers to voyage to the Americas. These explorers, dubbed conquistadors, journeyed to four parts of the Americas: the Caribbean Islands, Central America, the Mainland, and finally, northwestern South America. Although they weren’t always the kindest conquerors, their accomplishments were commonly for the greater good. First, the Spanish routes to the Americas first directed the conquistadors to the Caribbean Islands. The conquistadors, like Columbus, had many reasons to travel there, such as for the attainment of gold, slaves, and fame, and the mere call of curiosity. All of these hopes were achieved, and the settlements they established were the beginning of settlements soon to cover half of the Americas. Although their colonization of these islands was very important for later colonization, millions of natives were killed through direct murder, starvation, and excessive labor. After the Carribean Islands were settled, conquistadors moved on to Central America, especially the modern country of Mexico. The conquistador Cortés and a few hundred other soldiers illegally traveled to the Aztec capital of Mexico and succeeded in overtaking the entire Aztec empire through means of direct murdering, enslavement, and disease. They also succeeded in acquiring huge sums of gold and other riches. While at first glance the destruction of the Aztec Empire may seem terrible and savage, the Aztec Empire was already enjoying a cruel rule in which they murdered thousands of their own people for delight and sacrifice, so the conquistadors were not entirely wrongdoing. Also, some conquistadors journeyed to the mainland for hopes of finding mythic cities of gold and a “fountain of youth”. While they didn’t exactly discovery these legends, conquistadors like Ponce de Léon and Coronado established settlements in Florida and the Southwest, the first settlements in the Mainland, and gained many native converts. Although they killed many other natives along the way, they were successful in encouraging the spread of Christianity in the Americas. Finally, the conquering Pizarro brothers journeyed to northwest South America and captured the Incan Empire. They journeyed in search of gold and definitely got what they hoped for, like by achieving the largest ransom in world history for the Incan leader Atahualpa, who they later killed. Although they caused the destruction of a reigning empire, they encouraged European settlement in South American countries like Perú. The conquistadors may have had questionable motives and destroyed the lives of millions of natives, but they did encourage the spread of Christianity and European settlement in the Americas.