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Spanish Conquistadors

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In the years between 1519 and 1540, conquistadores invaded the Americas and ruined the lives of many, if not all, Native Americans who lived in the New World during that time period. According to “Makers of America: The Spanish Conquistadores”, a conquistador is someone from Spain who traveled to the New World in search of God, gold, and glory (18-19). The name conquistadores translates into “conquerors” in Spanish. The conquistadores claimed all the land from Colorado to Argentina in only a mere fifty years after Columbus’s discovery of the New World (Makers of America: The Spanish Conquistadores 18-19). Although others may argue that conquistadores should be named heroes for exploring the New World, it is important to remember that conquistadores …show more content…
In Figure 1.2 of “The American Pageant” a graph shows all the diseases that came to the Americas from the Old World through the Columbian Exchange. These deadly Old World diseases include the following: smallpox, measles, bubonic plague, influenza, typhus, diphtheria, and scarlet fever (Cengage Learning 15). The Spanish have been living with these diseases for years and have built up and immunization to them. However, the Native Americans have never been exposed to these diseases and were unable to build up an immunity like the Spanish (Cohen Kennedy 15). This lack of immunity resulted in deaths of the native people of America due to diseases. Another factor that diminished the Native American population was violence. Due to the encomienda system and the violent conquering of civilizations, Native Americans were dying because they were being killed by the conquistadores. If conquistadores were truly heroes, they wouldn’t be the cause of all this …show more content…
According the former President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, freedom of worship is a basic human right that everyone should be able to have (“The Four Freedoms”). The conquistadores took away this basic human right from the Native Americans when they tried to convert them all to Christianity. The Spanish used the encomienda system to try and convert the Native Americans to Christianity (Cohen Kennedy 16). The encomienda system didn’t allow the Native Americans to keep their own spiritual beliefs. Spanish missionaries in New Mexico also forced the Christian religion onto the native people by repressing their native traditions and beliefs (Cohen Kennedy 21). The conquistadores took away basic human freedoms which is not something a hero would do; therefore, conquistadores are

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