USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Gold and silver began to connect European nations through trade, and the Spanish money supply ballooned, which signified the beginning of the economic system known as capitalism.

Detailed explanation-2: -Motivations for colonization: Spain’s colonization goals were to extract gold and silver from the Americas, to stimulate the Spanish economy and make Spain a more powerful country. Spain also aimed to convert Native Americans to Christianity.

Detailed explanation-3: -Conquistadors. Soon after Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492, the Spanish began to hear stories of civilizations with immense riches. Hoping to claim this wealth and territory for Spain and themselves, conquistadors, or “conquerors, ” sailed across the Atlantic Ocean.

Detailed explanation-4: -After subjugating the Aztec and Inca Empires, the Spanish began mining the ample gold and silver in Mexico, Central America, and South America. Over the next 300 years, Spain’s wealth grew as they plundered the resources of the Americas, transporting the goods back to Europe to fuel a global economy of trade.

Detailed explanation-5: -In 1493, during his second voyage, Columbus founded Isabela, the first permanent Spanish settlement in the New World, on Hispaniola. After finding gold in recoverable quantities nearby, the Spanish quickly overran the island and spread to Puerto Rico in 1508, to Jamaica in 1509, and to Cuba in 1511.