The Age of Exploration was a period from fifteenth century to sixteenth century, during which European explorations thrived. Technological innovations and sailing techniques made expansion easier for the Europeans. The Europeans settled and conquered many lands. The Spanish and the Portuguese started the first wave of exploration. Traveling around the tip of Africa, the Portuguese established trade with countries in the Middle East and broke the Arab and Muslim hold on the market. After Columbus discovered the Americas, the other Spanish conquistadors eagerly led their way with conquest to the New World. And, they claimed most of the lands in Central America, New Castile, and some lands in the southern and western part of the United States. …show more content…
The Spanish took advantages of the Indians and seized valuable goods from them. As in The Broken Spears by Leon-Portila (Doc 4), it was mentioned that the Spanish interrogated Montezuma and demanded gold. After putting all of the gold into a pile, the Spanish burned everything else that had no value for them. Then, they molded the gold into ingots. The Spanish were apathetic about the lives of the Native Americans. In order to collect a profit, the Spanish forced the Indians to work. The Spanish not only stole treasures from the Indians but also benefitted from the Indians labor. In A Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies by Bartolome de las Casas (Doc 8), it described how the Spanish enslaved the native people in order to get more wealth. Also, in document 8, it compared the Spanish to wolves because they were very aggressive. On the other hand, it compared the Indians to sheep as they were the weak. The Indians owned little, but they had no wish for more. In addition, they did not like fighting with others. The Spanish viewed the Indians as inferior. Thus they believed they could take advantage of the Natives. Moreover, in the Letter to King Philip by Huaman Poma (Doc1), the Spaniards benefitted the Indian labor and were not paying the Natives Americans. The Spaniards came to get riches from the Indians, and they also profitted from exploiting them. One of many motives of the Spanish was to seize riches and wealth from the Indians in the New