What Is Columbus's Attitude To The Conquistadors

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The personal satisfaction in being the most dominant and powerful group of people inspired the Spaniards to persevere through the colonization. The Europeans considered themselves an advanced population, individually, and collectively. They were confident in their European superiority over other indigenous cultures. During colonization, the European people encountered a wide range of communities of people, yet “with very few exceptions, Europeans felt powerfully superior to virtually all of the people they encountered, even those like the Aztecs who had technological and organizational skills the Europeans could recognize and greatly admire”(Greenblatt 9). This attitude of dominance made it easy for the Europeans to justify their brutality …show more content…

Columbus’ goal was supposedly “…to propagate His holy name and His Gospel throughout the universe”, but as Todorov reveals, spiritual expansion is tied to material conquest. (Todorov pp.10,44). The Catholic Church had begun issuing papal bulls in 1452, which granted rights and privileges in order to promote missionary activity. In the eyes of the conquistadors, the Papal Bull was a justification to conquer the indigenous people and exploit them. Todorov then argues “Some priests were more interested in gaining treasure on earth than in heaven” giving the example of the lack of baptism of the Aztec Emperor Motezuma, due to the fact the conquistadors were too busy collecting gold from the Aztecs (Todorov). While the spreading of the Christian faith was said to be a motivator of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the historian Fernández de Oviedo claimed the majority of conquistadors were, “the sort of men who have no intention of converting the Indians or of settling and remaining in this land. They come only to get some gold or wealth in whatever form they can obtain it”(Thomas 137). The desire for Catholicism to dominate religion on a global level was said to be a basis for the Spanish conquest, yet many individuals didn’t actively pursue this goal because motivators such as gold, power, and glory produced greater