As human population was increasing, so was Spain. In 1492, Columbus had claimed an island in the Caribbean Sea called San Salvador and Cortes established Mexico as a Spanish colony. Also, from the voyages of Columbus and Cortes, large amounts of gold and wealth were being brought into Spain. The Columbian Exchange and Spain’s new colonies generated huge amounts of wealth. From her colonies, Spain was able to buy cheap raw goods which were then made into finished products by slaves and sold in the colonies for a high price. Cortes collected incredible amounts of wealth from Tenochtitlan, the city of gold, as well as expensive jewels. In 1521, Cortes and his men had destroyed the Aztec Empire and build Mexico on the ruins of Tenochtitlan.
In the past, people had thought that the world was flat and it was possible to fall off the edge of the world. Columbus believed that the world was round and that it was possible to reach Asia by sailing west. Through the voyages of Columbus, trade winds were discovered and explorers later on in history used this information during their voyages when navigating and sailing. Another huge understanding about the world was its size. Columbus had predicted the world to be much smaller than it actually was but after the voyage, he was badly mistaken. It was much easier to go out at sea knowing that they would not fall off the edge and the approximate size of the world. Another motivation for further exploration was for wealth and fame. By the end of his expedition, Cortes was very rich and well known throughout Spain.
One of the main goals of Columbus and Cortes was to spread Christianity. They took steps in forcing the Natives and Aztecs to convert to Catholicism. For example, residential schools were put into place, Aztec idol structures were smashed and replaced with a Christian altar, and those who didn’t convert were tortured or killed. This drastic change affected their religion, traditions, values and beliefs. The Aztecs believed in gods and human sacrifice but Cortes and Catholic missionaries strongly disapproved of this. The Aztecs were banned from their spiritual dances and some of their religious practices and forced to take the ways of the Europeans and follow the Bible and Jesus Christ.
Although there were numerous positive turning points, there were certainly some negative ones as well. Diseases swept wildly through the New World and back in Europe due to the Columbian Exchange. When Columbus had travelled to the New World, he had brought along smallpox and measles to the New World for the first time. The natives had no immunity to these diseases, causing tremendous amounts of deaths. When Cortes returned in 1921 to besiege Tenochtitlan, smallpox had killed approximately one third of the Aztec population. When Columbus returned back to Spain in 1493, he brought back a disease called syphilis which spread very quickly in Europe and throughout the world. Diseases were used to the advantage of the Europeans during war because it weakened, if not, completely wiped out their enemies.
The Columbian Exchange also encouraged the slave trade, and at the same time, strengthened European ethnocentrism. Slaves were brought back to Europe and sold, beaten and forced to do work. Europeans viewed these slaves as “things”, thinking that they were better than them and that the natives needed assistance. Europeans thought of the natives as savages whose souls could only be saved by the mighty Europeans. This led to forced assimilation of the natives and millions of deaths.
The voyages of Columbus and Cortes had greatly changed Europe and the New World, mainly due to the Columbian Exchange, greed for land and wealth, and religion.
Works Cited
“Spanish Treasure Fleet.” Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopaedia. Internet. Date accessed: November 1, 2011. © 2011 Wikipedia. Available online: <<>>
“The Conquests of the Aztec Empire: Hernan Cortes.” The European Voyages of Exploration. Internet. Date accessed: November 1, 2011. ©1997, The Applied History Research Group. Available online: <<>>
Notes and packages from class… <--- not sure how I would cite that…