Effeciency of Spanish Conquest essays

Effeciency of Spanish Conquest essays In order to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of Spanish American governance, it is necessary to examine Spains record as an imperial power in the period between 1500 and 1650 when the Spanish empire came under threat from the Northern Europeans. The first few discoveries of new territories for the Spanish crown were credited to Christopher Columbus. Columbuss voyage to the Americas and the Caribbean however was not entirely intentional due to the fact that he was at that time actually searching for a westward sea route to the Far East to gain access to their many treasures. This however, proved to his and Spains advantage as they now had access to an area that had yet to be claimed by other European nations. The result of this was that Queen Isabella of Spain requested that the pope give Spain the sole right to colonize and claim lands they discovered in the new world. This division was made in two halves, the western half (hemisphere) was given to Spain while the eastern half was given to Portugal, who already had a well established trade route and trade agreements in and with the Africans. In addition to these things, the Spaniards also brought with them, new crops and livestock, which were used to cultivate the land and provide food for the colonists. The Spaniards also inadvertently brought with them, diseases that were largely responsible for the wipe out of the Native Americans and Amerindians who had no form of immunity against those diseases. The attraction to the Americas was their potential to increase the wealth of Spain through gold and other treasures, crops and slavery. The Spaniards brought with them into the new world, a new system of governance, new religious beliefs, a new type of economy and economic power and new types of weaponry and machinery, the likes of which were never seen in that part of the world at that time. Over the period 1500-1650, the Spaniards in...