The history of the West from 1500 forward is the story of the rise and decline of the empires. The British, French, Portuguese, Dutch, and Russians all developed vast empires, often at the expense of other imperial powers. They challenged as well by non-western empires including the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire and the Empire of Japan (Suyin). These are the words that were stated by Han. In looking at history, it can be observed that his words had some truth to it. This can be observed from the Spanish empire. It is considered that the Spanish empire was one of the foremost global power that had dominated the European battlefields and oceans. The Empire had vast territories in South and North America. This fact caused them to increase their economy tremendously thus bringing about the rise of the Spanish empire.
The Spanish empire rise began in the 16th century and eventually collapsed in the 18th century. During the time of its rise, it saw economic gains and superiority over all the European nations. This all began when the Spanish Empire discovered America when Christopher Columbus arrived in the country in 1492. Columbus was able to get the backing of the monarchy to take a voyage that landed them to discover the New World. It is claimed that after the discovery of the New World Spain was able to control a large area in South America (Maltby). Other parts that it was able to control are Italy, Netherlands, and Austria. While conquering the New World the Spanish were able to subdue the Inca Civilization located in Peru. They moved further to the Central America where they were able to conquer Aztecs. The Maya civilization that is based at Yucatan was also able to be captured by the Spaniards. In Americas, it is observed that the first settlements that were established by the Spanish empire were in the Caribbean’s. The settlement of St. Augustine was put in place to ensure that the French Huguenots were not welcomed in that area. This settlement was to prove their control over the area. It is also claimed that the empire was able to gain control over the present-day British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington.
Ideology
One of the biggest motivation for the Spanish to expand their colonies was so that they could spread Christianity. When the New World was discovered, they realized that most of the people were indigenous people who did not know anything to do with Christianity. This prompted them to educate people about Christianity most especially Catholicism. The warrior explores also called as the Conquistadors were the ones who were used to conquer the New World and with them they brought priests who would preach to the Indians and convert them to Christianity.
Economy
According to history, it can be observed that the Spanish empire based their economy on the exploitation of the labors who were Indians and land (Maltby). When Americas was discovered the Spanish settlers organized what is called the encomienda system. This system ensured that the Spanish people were given titles to the Americas land thereby claiming ownership. In the land, they were free to explore and search for minerals. Minerals such as gold were the one that was being mined by the settlers. This fact boosted the economy of Spain. The Indians living in the new world were given quotas of gold, which had to be paid to the Spanish settlers as rent. When they failed to do so, they often faced terrible punishments. However, it is claimed that in 1545 the demand for gold slowly died down because of the discovery of silver in Potosi located on the mountaintop of Bolivia. It is claimed that the silver was in large abundance in that it made Spanish empire the only country in Europe to contain this large amount of minerals. The discovery of this minerals made the Spanish empire concentrate on the discovery of more minerals in Americas. One of the things that brought about the fall of Spanish empire was the falling prices for silver in the 18th century.
The other thing that was boosting the economy of Spain was the transatlantic trade. The Spanish settlers who were living in the New World always shipped all the materials they needed such as weapons, paper, and food. All these goods were usually paid off with silvers and gold. However, things started to change because of the large numbers of Spanish settlers in Lima, Veracruz, and Mexico. These people began to produce most of the things that were being brought to the New World. This fact did not go well with the Spanish empire monarchy who always wanted to maintain the colonies status. The empire also prohibited the making of paper in Americas (Merriman). This means that the people had to get the paper from Spain because the government depended on paper. Nevertheless, even as the empire put a lot of sanctions for the New World it continued to grow own its own thereby, reducing the economy of Spain.
During the 16th century onwards slave trade was very common even for the Spanish empire (Merriman). Therefore, this means that they gained some of their wealth through slavery. In the early years when Spanish Empire discovered the New World, many Indians were killed since they rebelled while others died of chicken pox and other diseases. This fact caused the number of Indians to reduce thus implying that there was a shortage of workers. Consequently, the Spanish settlers began to import African slaves to work on the mines and the sugar plantation. They traded the slaves with gold and silver as well as other goods such as sugar and rum. These kinds of business dominated the American trade for years before the fall of the empire.
In conclusion, according to Hans’s words, it can be observed that in the 1500s it saw the rise of the Spanish empire (Suyin). This was due to the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus. The Indians occupied the New World but the Spanish settlers were able to take control. The Indians were used as labors for the sugar plantation and mining of gold. Since the numbers of the Indians was down it caused the Spanish empire to start transporting slaves. Other minerals that were discovered was silver. Gold and silver boosted the economy of the Spanish empire. This made them superior to other European nations. One of the ideologies that they had about the new world was to spread Catholicism.
Work cited
Maltby, William S. The Rise and Fall of the Spanish Empire. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Print
Merriman, Roger Bigelow. The Rise of the Spanish Empire in the Old World and in the New - The Middle Ages, Volume 1. Read Books Design, 2009. Print
Suyin, Han. The Crippled Tree (China : Autobiography, History, Book 1). Putnam, 1965. Print
