Since the beginning of times, curiosity has been a trait portrayed by both ancient and modern peoples. One barrier that didn't allow the early men and women of ancient society to exhaust their curiosity was an efficient and effective means of transportation. During the early fifteenth century, improved means of transportation such as ships, and new innovations such as the astrolabe, allowed for a new era known as the Age of Exploration. With this new technology of the fifteenth century, European nations began to colonize quickly with intentions of becoming a global empire. One European nation that began to take advantage of the technological advancement was Spain. In the year of 1492, Spain decided to begin its age of exploration by sending
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When the Spanish arrived at the destination of the supposed "gold", they were devastated at the fact that there was no gold to be found. One may ask him- or herself why the Spanish continued to search New Mexico for gold after the previous expedition had failed. The only possible answer to this question is that the Spanish were determined to find the "fabled cities of gold" (Roberts, 29). While the Spanish continued to explore New Mexico for any signs of wealth, they had other plans such as converting the natives of the north from a polytheistic religion into a monotheistic religion, in this case, Christianity. In chapter two of Robert's, New Mexico, it states, "... the Spaniards were to Christianize the Indians they met, not slaughter them" (28). Because the Spanish imposed harsh systems on the Indians and succeeded in stripping away their religion, "On August 10, 1680, the Pueblo Indians rose up to drive their Spanish conquerors from New Mexico" (Etulain, 19). All of these events, except for the Pueblo Revolt, must have been glorious for the Spanish. They had conquered the Aztec Empire, were the "... first Europeans to see what are known today as the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon" (Roberts, 29), and let's not forget their greatest achievement of being the first Europeans to dominate most of New Mexico, which had been unprecedented at the
When the Spanish arrived at the destination of the supposed "gold", they were devastated at the fact that there was no gold to be found. One may ask him- or herself why the Spanish continued to search New Mexico for gold after the previous expedition had failed. The only possible answer to this question is that the Spanish were determined to find the "fabled cities of gold" (Roberts, 29). While the Spanish continued to explore New Mexico for any signs of wealth, they had other plans such as converting the natives of the north from a polytheistic religion into a monotheistic religion, in this case, Christianity. In chapter two of Robert's, New Mexico, it states, "... the Spaniards were to Christianize the Indians they met, not slaughter them" (28). Because the Spanish imposed harsh systems on the Indians and succeeded in stripping away their religion, "On August 10, 1680, the Pueblo Indians rose up to drive their Spanish conquerors from New Mexico" (Etulain, 19). All of these events, except for the Pueblo Revolt, must have been glorious for the Spanish. They had conquered the Aztec Empire, were the "... first Europeans to see what are known today as the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon" (Roberts, 29), and let's not forget their greatest achievement of being the first Europeans to dominate most of New Mexico, which had been unprecedented at the