How do you explain the rapid conquest of the Americas by the Spanish in the period
The rapid expansion of the Americas by the Spanish in the period 1492 – 1560 can be explained by looking at the period in light of indigenous disparity and the Spanish adherence for aggressive ‘material’ expansion. The Spanish intrinsically linked conquest with the need to loot the lands for profit and gains. ... Inevitably, the will that drove the ‘campanas’ of Spain to the conquest of the New World was bred out of a need to source trade and loot booty for their own ends and for the Castilian crown. This instinctively ‘aggressive’ will for conquest and expansion was helped by wide ranging problems faced by the indigenous peoples of the Americas to provide a ‘united’ force against the aggressors. ... The first thing we need to examine is the psychological will of the Spanish to extend their empire. ... In the early parts of the period from about 1493 – 1519 the profits for the voyages hardly justified the outlay for them. ... This would prove to be a major turning point in Spanish attitudes towards aggressive expansionism of the New World. The conquest of the ancient city of Tenochtitlan of the Aztecs brought untold riches and proved all the rumours of rich and populous kingdoms lying behind the coastal jungles of the mainland. The news of this bonanza spread like fire back in Spain and through the Indies and accelerated the influx of Spanish explorers and immigrants to the New World. ... Tenochtitlan brought a new thinking to the Spanish explorers in that conquest was now an extremely profitable business. ... All this lead to an accelerated timescale for the Spanish expansion in the Americas. The situation reached a frenzy when in 1533 the Spanish discovered and conquered the Inca capital of Cuzco. More wealth and manpower was derived from here and another base was established for further conquest. ... ” This first set of reasonings for the rapid expansion of the Americas must now be incorporated in an examination into the problems faced by the indigenous population when faced with the Spanish to fully resolve this question.