Students should think about what primarily motivated European expansion to the New World

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANSWER: Was it principally for economic gain or religious conversion? Students should point out that both were involved, but better students will argue that the economic motive was perhaps stronger. With regard to the Spanish, consider the establishment of encomiendas and the linkage of available labor to extract mineral wealth from areas like Mexico and Peru. Besides exploiting Indians, African slaves were imported by all the colonial powers to produce wealth. The English used profit-seeking companies to try to establish colonies, while the French and Dutch focused on trade with Indians to make profits. When combining religious and economic motives, better students will relate the story of de las Casas and his appeal to the Spanish court that was well aware of an Indian demographic collapse and its connection with the potential to extract mineral wealth from Spanish colonies. The Spanish success in the New World inter-twined with European power rivalries as other nations attempted to challenge Spain both in the old and new worlds. England, France, and the former Spanish colony, the Netherlands, all competed for power through expansion of colonial empires linked to the mother country in Europe and promoting a trans-Atlantic rivalry and culture.