Spain
By: Richard Paul, Chase Cole, Jediah Arnobit ;)
Spain and its Explorers
- The main explorer that we all know from Spain is Christopher Columbus. He discovered the New World for Spain in the year 1492,
- Ferdinand Magellan is also an important explorer. He was the first person to circumnavigate the globe.
- Hernan Cortez is a famous conquistador. He is famous because he conquered the Aztecs.
- Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who, while leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, was the first European documented to have crossed the Mississippi River. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto
Reasons for Exploration
Spanish explorers explored for three reasons. They explored for gold, glory, and god.
- Gold - the desire for new sources of wealth was one of the main reasons for European Exploration.
- Glory - Exploration presented Spaniards the opportunity to rise from poverty and gain fame, fortune, and status.
- God - Explorers were encouraged to spread Christianity or bring missionaries who would focus only on conversions.
- Another reason for exploration is to find a trade route to Asia to get spices.
- One reason for exploration is to expand the empire. The king of Spain wanted to claim as much land as possible.
Some of The Greatest Spanish Explorers
Christopher Colombus
Discovered the new world for Spain in 1492
Ferdenand Mallegan
1st person to circumnavigate the globe
Hernan Cortez
conquered the Aztecs.
Spanish Exploration Map
Spain Major Religion
The major Religion in Spain was Christianity. Spanish Christians, especially catholics, wanted to stop the spread of Islam & convert non-Christians to the faith.
How the exploration hurt Spain
Spain was permanently put into decline by the so-called “general crisis” of the seventeenth century. The Catalonian revolt, the Portuguese insurrection of 1640, and the revolt of the Spanish territories in Italy in 1647 made it increasingly difficult for Spain to defend its far-flung empire against other European powers.
http://bigsiteofhistory.com/the-impact-of-expansion-european-exploration-and-expansion
How Spain benefited from exploration
Spain benefited through silver, trade and war spoils in the exploration and conquest of the Americas both North and South.