The Ways in Which the Encounter with the New World Broaden Early Modern European Horizons
by The New World had been discovered by accident as Christopher Columbus had been hoping to sail to the East Indies and China by sailing westwards from Spain. Although Christopher Columbus was initially disappointed to have only reached the West Indies, further explorations by him and others showed that the New World had a great deal could broaden the early modern European horizon. The first Europeans that reached the New World were primarily after treasures that would make them wealthy, as well as the glory and prestige of conquering new empires. However, as the following will amply demonstrate there was much more than silver and gold that had the affect of broadening the early modern European horizon that came from the New World.
The Spanish were the first Europeans to reach the New World in any kind of numbers, yet the size of these expeditionary forces was surprisingly small considering the amount of territory that they managed to conquer. The Spanish Conquistadors were genuinely amazed at the things that they found in the New World. Exotic new fruits, old cities, and unusual wildlife were almost as attractive for potential explorers as the great amounts of silver and gold. The people that Christopher Columbus had originally come into contact with on the island of Hispaniola did not have cultures as well developed as those that were subsequently encountered in Central and Latin America. Christopher Columbus regarded these people as little better than savages and his brutal treatment of them drastically reduced the size of their population. The voyages of Christopher Columbus acted of course as the catalyst for the expeditions of the Conquistadors. The voyages of Columbus firstly broadened the early modern European horizon by showing to everybody that there was a New World out there that was ready to be conquered and exploited by the Europeans themselves.
The main objectives of the Conquistadors who claimed Central and Latin America for Spain and Portugal was to seize territory, convert the native populations to Christianity, and to make as much money as possible. The latter two objectives sometimes proved contradictory, with greed usually been given the priority over converting the conquered peoples. However, it was what they discovered, described and sent back to Spain and Portugal, whilst in the process of conquests, as well as grabbing treasure that contributed to the broadening of the early modern European horizon. Men like Hernan Cortes were attracted by the prospects of the New World; they could have much land and wealth as possible as long as the territory they took control of was claimed for Spain (with only Brazil belonging to Portugal). Many of the men that went with Hernan Cortes went seeking fame as much as fortune, whilst the idea of owning large estates in the New World was certainly an appealing one. The Spanish and the Portuguese that first came to the New World noted the vastness of their territories which were ideal for settlement by colonists that could make a great deal of money from the new crops discovered there, such as sugar, coffee and tobacco.
The Conquistadors and the colonists were confident that these crops could be sold back in Europe for a great deal of profit. The vast plantations in Central and Latin America required a large number of workers. However, the Europeans who conquered and then colonised the region had to import African slaves to work on their plantations. The native populations were dramatically reduced as much by the diseases like small pox and measles brought about by the Spanish and the Portuguese, and also as a consequence of war, not to mention the brutality of the new colonial rulers towards people they regarded as being inferiors. The colonial administrations were supposed to treat what was left of the indigenous population with respect yet the Spanish government was not able to control the behaviour of its officials and soldiers from the other side of the Atlantic.
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