Spanish Religion In The 17th Century

In the 17th century politics and religion were strings in the same cloth. Different religions dictated certain goals, ways of life, and cultures. In the 17th century, the Catholicism of Spanish settlers in the southwest and the Puritan piety of English settlers in the northeast of America directly influenced their extremely different political and social atmospheres. Spain’s goals centered around proliferation of their religion and their wealth, while New England’s centered around family life. These religious divergences led to more indirect differences between the cultures. The Spanish settlers had two goals in mind: to spread religion and to gain wealth for their homeland. The Spanish religion, Catholicism, was centered around converting …show more content…
However, a huge similarity was their conviction in their religion. Both regions felt that they were following their god’s will, even if the results were very different. For instance, the family-oriented English settlers came to New England in families who wanted to escape England and settle down, while the Spanish coming to the New World were often single men looking for an opportunity to make money and seek fame. This led to an interesting difference, with intermarriages between settlers and native women being fairly common in the Spanish settlements, while being almost nonexistent in the northeast. Another difference is with relationships with the Native Americans. While New England’s connection to the natives in the 17th century ranged from hostile to mutually beneficial and even friendly, the Spanish’s treatment of Native Americans led to outright rebellion. Po’pay’s Rebellion was the most famous, and was quite nearly successful at driving the Spanish out of America. The reactions were largely due to the fact that New England directed itself politically and religiously inward, while Spanish settlements directed themselves outward. Religion dictated every difference between the Spanish and English settlers of the New World. Spanish and English settlers certainly had similarities. They were both highly religious and both looking for new opportunities in the New World. However, in everything else they different. They sought different opportunities, had different religions, and different political systems. In the end the English were more successful in the New World, in no small part due to the differences they held from the Spanish. However, the English also led their colony to rebel. It is important to recognize both strengths and weaknesses in history, and the things that caused