Beginning of Exploration and Settlement
Motivations for Exploration and Settlement
Spanish motives for exploration and colonization were varied and complex. Although Columbus did not find a new trade route to the Far East, voyages of discovery continued. Later explorers primarily sought gold. The Spanish monarchy wished to bring Christianity to the Native peoples, expand its empire, and gain power and wealth.
World map, 1482
This map reflects the European view of the world before 1492, when Christopher Columbus set out on his first voyage of exploration. He believed he could sail west and come upon China and Japan. He did not know that North and South America
stood in the way.
In [Donnus Nicolaus Germanus] Cosmographia, Claudius Ptolemaeus Ulm, 1482; Library of Congress Rare Book Division
Sebastian Münster’s 1540 map of the western hemisphere
Library of Congress Rare Book Division
Ferdinand and Isabella
Pope Alexander VI ordered the Catholic monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, to oversee the Indigenous peoples’ conversion to Christianity.
Wedding portrait of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile
Early Encounters with Native People
Columbus established a settlement, La Isabela, on Hispaniola in 1494, and conflict quickly arose between Spaniards and the native Taíno people. The Taíno were forced to provide food and labor for the Spaniards. They were told to accept Catholicism and submit to the authority of the Spanish monarchy.
Depopulation
The Taíno were uprooted from their villages and required to work in gold mines and on farms and ranches. Already weakened by back-breaking work, many of them perished from lack of food and contact with diseases such as smallpox. In a few decades after contact, the Native population had decreased significantly.
Columbus Encounters the Taíno People
Because Columbus believed he had landed in the Indies, the Native people he encountered became known as Indians.
From a 1494 engraving; Library of Congress Rare Book Division
Bartolomé de las Casas
Bartolomé de las Casas was a Dominican friar who publicly criticized the poor treatment of Native people. His activism and writings led to a 1542 decree, called the New Laws, which outlawed the abuse and enslavement of the Native people.
Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida
