Spanish Conquest of the Americas in the Sixteenth Century (Research Paper Sample)

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Spanish Conquest of the Americas in the Sixteenth Century
Introduction
Columbus's exploration allowed the discovery of new regions such as America initiating the Spanish invasion. One of the most important events in the annexation of America by Spain was the Spanish conquest that occurred during the years following 1519 to 1521. Ross Hassig and Steve stern provide a nice basis for these arguments. This essay seeks to justify the argument that alliances were key factors to Spanish conquest of the Americans during the 16th century, while refuting Crosby’s argument that the Spanish conquest of the Americas was as a result of the diseases inflicted upon the inhabitants. This will be achieved by supporting Ross Hassig's arguments and Steve Stern's arguments that Spanish conquest of the Americas was as a result of various political tussles and collaboration from some of the natives.
In his study, paradigms of conquest, Steve Stern offers numerous explanations and perceptions of the European invasion and seizure of the Americas in the 16th century. According to Steve Stern, during the Spanish conquest, the entire process considerably depended on labor delivery systems identified as traditionally indigenous (Stern 4). The historian offers three key purposes or ideals of the Spanish conquistadors. The initial intent was their hunger for wealth (in form of gold among other treasures), while the second mission was to spread Christianity. The last objective was the notion of social precedence comprising of “turning away from stifling subservience and restriction in an ancient society, embrace command and authority over human dependents and clients in a novel society, and attainment of a renowned claim to high honor or service that legitimated reward and social superiority” (Stern, 8). Stern indicates that the expertise and significance of conquest was different for each Spanish conqueror.
Stern mentions that the Christian mission utopia enabled the Spanish priests to uphold the colonizers’ interests by acting as ambassadors of conquest, alliance and conversion via the indigenous communities (Stern 11). In summary, Stern explains various representations of modern history of the ancient period. The scholar mentions the application of culture in denouncing persons for failure to overcome their opponents. The perception of ‘cultural contact’ nonetheless, upholds racial arguments that there are some cultures considered more superior compared to others. Disparities in comprehending the illustrating conquest emanate from both personal affiliation and obtainability of sources and the capacity to research critically. The historian indicates that the Spanish intention of social prudence motivated the conquistadors to make use of the native communities to grant “rights to homage, labour, and economic compensation in theoretical unification with the duty to run social order, conversion into Christianity and well-being as an approach of channeling their benefits into varied commercial investments” (Stem, 10). Stern holds the perception that a conquest was a political tussle involving the outlining of positions of collaboration, coexistence, and incongruity among these ideas and how they associated with the European Church and Crown (Stern 10).