How Did The Spanish Influence Political And Economic Power

Most countries have come about by the exploration or conquering of another nation. Due to successes and failures, both the early Spanish and English explorations led to the influence of political and economic power in the nations they conquered. During early exploration the English and Spanish were both motivated by the search for the Northwest Passage and while the English had other motivations of colonizing as much as possible to add to their empire and the Spanish were more motivated by the search for mineral wealth and the spreading of Christianity they both had a great influence on the nations they conquered. During the years 1584-1648 England led the world in influence and power, especially, when it came to their military. England

While the English were mostly motivated by wealth and conquest the Spanish were motivated by the spreading of Christianity as well as wealth and land. In 1492 Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus discovered America while attempting to find a passage to the Indies for spices and Christianity. Other explorations included Mexico, the Philippines, Peru, and Panama. The Spanish had a violent approach to the process of acquiring new land. They treated the people of the conquered lands very poorly through the murdering of natives and the theft of their gold and other precious metals in the name of Christianity. For example Tenochtitlan of the Aztec empire was shattered by Hernan Cortes. The Spanish erected a government to rule over the Aztecs after the conquered them. This government controlled all details. They forced the colonies to be modeled after Spanish traditions. Some exploration achievements of Spain came about through Vasco Núñez de Balboa, and Ferdinand Magellan. Vasco Núñez de Balboa found his way to Panama which he crossed and discovered the Pacific Ocean. Ferdinand Magellan found a sea route around South America making his way to the Philippines and eventually back to