Essay Sample: Spanish Colonization Of North America

When Spaniards started colonizing the Americas, their goal was to spread Catholicism to every person they encountered, especially the Indigenous people of the Americas. They were so intent on spreading this religion, that their primary purpose at first was to “induce them [Natives] to become Christians” (3, Letter of Columbus). This quickly went array as they became greedy and careless. However, they still used religion as their primary justification for their actions as they saw these kingdoms were “granted and entrusted by God and His Church to the Spanish Crown so they might be properly ruled and governed and converted to the Faith” (6, Destruction of the Indies). Using religion, the Spaniards rationalized their imposition of government, advancement of occupied territory and treasures, and ultimately the dehumanization of the indigenous people of the Americas.

When Spain entered the Americas, they viewed themselves as a savior the Indigenous people had been waiting for. As Columbus’s crew was exploring, he noted that “they found countless small communities of people, but with no kind of government” (1, Letter of Columbus). But how would these people have functioned before the America’s were discovered if they had no type of governmental system? The truth is they would not have. The Indigenous people had their own set of cultural customs, governmental system, and language. And even though it was new to the Spaniards, it was still a system. The Spaniards saw as their duty to enforce a government and rule over these people, as they saw them helpless and longing for structure. In actuality, the Spaniards were rationalizing their presence in an already inhabited territory.

The Spaniards quickly realized they could benefit from the Indigenous people, and spreading Catholicism was the perfect façade to their underlying intentions. As this spark ignited in the Spaniards, gaining territory became the forefront of their mission. They were instructed to “settle if they dared and if the land was suitable for settlement” (27, The Expedition of Juan De Grijalva). However, this land they were instructed to settle was occupied by people who had been prospering there for years. They acted as though they were spreading Catholicism, and this is to why they had the right to remove these Native peoples. Spreading their religion was not the cause of these actions but a means to a way. In actuality, the Spaniards “set out to line their pockets with gold and to amass private fortunes as quickly as possible” (13, Destruction of the Indies). All of this was at the expense of the Natives. Greed was at the forefront of the Spaniards mission, heedless of the tricking effects it would have on the Native Americans for years and years to follow.

Of all the undertakings the Spaniards organized in the name of spreading religion, the dehumanizing of an entire group of people is by far the most atrocious. They treated the Native Americans as animals, “slicing open their bellies with swords as though they were so many shepherded into a pen” (15, Destruction of the Indies). The greed and need to govern these people led to such atrocities, and it was all justified because they were only trying to spread Catholicism. It was much like a war setting, except the Indigenous people did not have the manpower or weapons that the Spaniards possessed, thus making it an uneven fight. The Spaniards simply, “forced their way into native settlements, slaughtering everyone found there, including small children, old men, pregnant women, and even women who had just given birth” (15, Destruction of the Indies). These events demonstrated the lack of value these men placed on any human life other than their own. The Spaniards greed for power and money is what ultimately led to these appalling depictions of thousands of Native American deaths’.

The complete disregard for the Native Americans, their land, belongings, and ultimately their lives was all done in the name of spreading religion. The Spaniards instantly became greedy for territory, riches, and power when they saw all they could obtain from the Indigenous people. And all of this was at the cost of thousands of human lives. This did not only affect the Natives during this time in history, but for decades following as well. Religion was the mission the Spaniards used to support their travels to the Americas, but, this was not once their mission when they arrived.