American land used to be constantly invaded by Spaniards and Portuguese; however, eventually, Spain finally conquered America. Consequently, such an important chronological event led to numerous alterations to American life. To be more exact, the conquest influenced politics, economy, culture, and even the nation’s religion. Overall, the colonizations yielded fruitful benefits not only to the Spanish people, considering that the territory’s residents thrived with new changes as well.
To begin with, the colonization of Latin America brought Spain great recognition around the world. Furthermore, they controlled the land and had access to the countries’ resources and wealth. Another critical point is that Spain thrived due to new foods and dishes’ appearance with the help of Spaniard-controlled trade. However, the locals were still not pleased with the invasion and struggled with Spanish political plans considerably. Europeans who came to the new Spanish colony were highly valued and could impact Americans by alternating crucial aspects of their lives.
Naturally, the Portuguese and Spanish desired to establish their authority and become genuinely wealthy. Nevertheless, the Crown of Castile was focused on administrating Spanish and reducing their control over the territory, “it had named officials to oversee its political and financial interests, provide justice to settlers and natives” (Burkholder et al., 2018, p. 56). In addition, the Crown sought to protects its residents and the national accomplishments and values, so they decided to “supervise the allocation of resources—primarily native labor, land, mines, and offices” (Burkholder et al., 2018, p. 56). Spanish wanted to create a democratic government; however, the local opposition resulted in a completely different outcome (Burkholder et al., 2018). To be more particular, the society became undemocratic, and it included members of distinct races. Consequently, the community was focused not on the government of law but a government by an individual (Burkholder et al., 2018). By and whole, the political organizations organized by the Spanish were established by individual leaders.
As for the economy, Spain and America had a great exchange in the products and animals. For instance, the Spanish brought to the land various fruits, vegetables, spices, rice, and even “oats, rye, lentils, and hemp” (Burkholder et al., 2018, p. 52). In addition, Europeans introduced to Americans different types of plants, such as indigo, cacao, and tobacco. As a matter of fact, newly-introduced products had more success on the American land since “their climates allowed the desired plants and animals to thrive” (Burkholder et al., 2018, p. 52). Most of the year, residents had access to the fresh produce, and “from the combination of American and European foods came a diverse and nutritionally sound diet” (Burkholder et al., 2018, p. 52). Overall, this development resulted in the advancement of international trade and decreased the need for imports.
The Spanish assisted information of the proper education through introducing the benefits of higher educational degrees. As a result, trained lawyers of the royal administration provoked a considerable increase in positions in America. Furthermore, the Spanish contributed to the higher numbers of locals who learned a written language, “knowledge of alphabetic writing and appreciation of its importance … extended beyond the indigenous ruling class” (Burkholder et al., 2018, p. 94). It can be concluded that Spaniards brought numerous benefits to Americans in terms of culture and, especially in education and language.
To sum up, following the conquest, Europeans had a noticeable impact on numerous aspects of American life, whether positive or negative. On the one hand, the political aspect of the territory was severely damaged due to the Spanish desire to establish a government of law. On the other hand, they contributed to a thrive in the American economy and considerably advanced the nation’s education and language.
Bibliography
Burkholder, Mark A, Monica Rankin, and Lyman L Johnson. 2018. Exploitation, Inequality, And Resistance. New York: Oxford University Press.