Spanish Vs English Exploration Research Paper

When comparing and contrasting early Spanish exploration from 1492 through 1548 with early English exploration from 1584 through 1648, there were several similarities and differences. One of the most noticeable similarities was that each country explored to obtain wealth and foreign riches like gold and silver. One of the major differences between the two exploration styles was that the Spanish conquistadors enslaved the natives, while the English attacked, invaded, and killed the local inhibitors in early settlements. While the motives for early Spanish and English explorations had differences, economics and religion played a big part of both.

The Spanish sailed into the Atlantic in hopes of finding an easier passage to Asia, where they

The main force behind exploration was to obtain the foreign spices and other commodities from the Asian continent. With these commodities they could gain wealth. “Long before the sixteenth century the Crusades had introduced European people to the goods and luxuries of the East. Some goods, such as spices, became necessities, but they were becoming increasingly costly.” They thought that there was an easier way to get to Asia by a Northwest Passage. While exploring for this Northwestern passage to Asia the Americas were discovered. It was learned that the Americas held riches of their own, riches like gold and silver. “But until Queen Elizabeth’s reign, the English showed little interest in exploration, being preoccupied with their European trade and establishing control over the British Isles. By the mid-sixteenth century, however, England had recognized the advantages of trade with the East, and in 1560 English merchants enlisted Martin Frobisher to search for a northwest passage to India. Between 1576 and 1578 Frobisher as well as John Davis explored along the Atlantic coast.” Explorers looking to colonize the Americas were interested in the riches that this New World had to

“The centuries-long effort to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from North African Muslim invaders known as the reconquista ended in 1492 with the fall of the last Moorish stronghold, the city of Granada. In the same year, Fernando of Aragon and Isabel of Castile, known as the Catholic Kings for their service to Christendom, embarked on the transatlantic venture that would bring the crusading spirit and sense of providential entitlement of the reconquista to the New World. From the outset, the spread of Roman Catholicism was an immediate and pressing concern. The faith provided not only an identity for the budding Spanish Empire, but a legal and moral justification for the conquest and colonization of what was generally referred to as Las Indias (the Indies). There, being Spaniard was synonymous with being Christian, and no expedition set forth without at least one priest, whose task it was to minister to the troops and convert the natives. Saying that the sword went hand in hand with the cross has become a truism.” Spanish exploration into Asia was an attempt to retake Jerusalem from Muslim invaders, according to Christopher Columbus’ journal. “The purpose behind the enterprise was, Jerusalem! The 26 December 1942 entry into his journal of the first voyage, hereafter referred to as the Diario, written in the Caribbean, leaves little doubt. He says he wanted to find