Colonialism in Latin America

In 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on the shores of the Caribbean and claimed the new land in the name of Spain and God. From then on the world was changed forever in the sense that there was a whole New World to conquer. Conquistadors like Cortez and Pizarro then followed and claimed entire new lands and people in the name of gold and wealth. These men started a revolution that changed an entire continent; it was transformed from a free race of people at one with the land to one of slavery and oppression in which man was bound to the land. This was the beginning of colonialism in the New World. The newly founded colonialism changed everything about the land, its inhabitants, culture, religion and even created new races of people, of which we still do not know everything about.

With the curiosity of European countries piqued and rumors of cities made of gold, the Old World decided that there were no boundaries established within the New World and the land was for the taking. Spain had no regard for the natives found nor the great civilizations that were built there. Everything within view was to be claimed in the name of the Old World. Unfortunately for the indigenous people they did not have the technological advan

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The indoctrination of the natives was of up most priority to the Church because it gave another form of control to the ruling parties.

With the demise of the native people of America there also came a large interbreeding between the Europeans and the Indians in the area. When Cortez first arrived on Mexico's shores, and got off of his ship in shining armor on horses, along with him being a white man, lead the native Aztecs to believe he was the messiah returning to their tribe and welcomed him as a god.

In light of all this plight that the Europeans brought with them to the New World it did not stop them one bit in raping the land of all of its resources, and most importantly its people. If you did not convert you were killed and sometimes even if you did convert, you were also killed.

As for the natives of the Americas, whether they were the Aztecs or Incas, from the beginning they made the mistake of trusting the Europeans and welcoming them into the bosom of their civilizations. They gave the natives a new God to praise and caused a great change in the cultures of the indigenous tribes. Very similar to the same effect that occurred with the colonization of North America by the British. The conquistadors along with stealing gold, also took away all the history of great civilizations to which we credit great mathematical ideas and theories, like the number 0 from the Aztecs, to suspected space travel from the Incas in Macchu Picchu. The Indian people did not have the same immunities, biologically speaking, as the conquistadors and their crew, and succumbed to death even before they had a chance to become enslaved or converted. This gave Europe the upper hand in controlling the land and the boundaries they established in the Americas. So when Columbus landed in Hispanola, he did not just claim the land with a sword but also with a cross. Whether this colonization was a proper direction for history to go is not my place to say, but all one can do is look at the facts presented and objectively decide how one wants to view Christopher Columbus, as a great explorer or great exploiter. The Europeans did not only manage to enslave the people physically but also mentally. This is probably the greatest loss concurred with the colonization of the New World.

Approximate Word count = 903
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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