The Spanish had a long history of conquering in the name of God. From the reconquista to the conquistadores to the settlement of the New World, Spain justified its conquests as a mission to save the souls of heathens while putting them to work in subhuman conditions. Explore this paradox of conquering and killing in the name of saving. Remember to think about what else was going on in the world at that time with regard to the Protestant Reformation and the Inquisition.

 

Answer:

In their journey to conquer the new land, the Spanish used various methods of doing this among them being religion.

Step-by-step explanation

In their journey to conquer the new land, the Spanish used various methods of doing this among them being religion. This started when Pope Alexander VI issued a declaration or rather a permit for the Spanish to possess the new found lands. The Pope's action was attributed as a donation to Spain for helping in converting the natives to believing in God and the Catholic denomination (Donnelly, 2019).

The missionaries were to teach the natives about Christianity while the governors of the colonies were to ensure that the natives were well treated. All this was in exchange of gold, other goods and labor to avoid idleness of the natives too. The conquistadors who had explored other Caribbean islands were however, harsh and violent to the Indians. As a result, they were still awarded by Columbus for helping in colonizing the Indies.

The main purpose of inquisition was to punish those who went against the doctrines of the church such as heresy. The Jews and Muslims also underwent the torturous inquisition due to their believes. While this was a common practice in the world by then, inquisition seemed to be more powerful and effective in Spain better known as the Spanish Inquisition (Pierson, 2019).

Reference

Donnelly, M. R. (2019). The sacrifice of God's glory for the sake of gold: bringing Christianity & humanity to the New World.

Pierson, P. (2019). The history of Spain. ABC-CLIO.