Consequences of the conquest of America

The most relevant events in history are those whose consequences change the historical panorama, causing a contextual change that modifies the planet forever. One of these important events was the conquest of America, since the discovery of this continent caused the passage from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age. To talk about how this affected the world, in this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to talk about consequences of the conquest of America.

Index

1. What was the conquest of America?
2. Consequences of the conquest of America in Europe
3. Consequences of the conquest in America

Behind the Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, the Spanish and Portuguese began numerous trips to the new continent whose objective main was the conquest and total evangelization of the many territories that were inhabited by pre-Columbian cultures.

During the conquest, some of the oldest and most powerful peoples in the American region were

The successive wars and diseases carried by the Europeans from which the Americans could not defend themselves, turned the conquest into a massacre in which the Europeans quickly dominated the Americans, bringing this numerous and important consequences.

The consequences of the conquest they can be looked at in two ways, since they were not the same for the American territory as for the European and Spanish. The American influence was vital for the following decades of the Europeans, and that is why it is important to know these consequences, since the world after the conquest was never the same. Some main consequences for Europe and Spain were the following:

• New agricultural products originating from America came to the Old World. Foods such as potatoes or tomatoes became the basis of European diets over time.
• The rise of America caused the search for maritime improvements, creating as a consequence greater trade and greater production to compete in a new, much broader and more competitive market.
• A primitive capitalism that with the passing of the centuries would end up originating the current economic system.
• Europeans began large collections of raw materials, especially gold and silver, being vital to conquer part of America to achieve an evolution as a power.
• The European worldview evolvedSince the discovery of a new world made one think that the planet was much larger, the number of trips around the world increased.
• Many Spaniards, especially Castilians, they emigrated to America looking for a better life in this world that seemed so unique and special, being the antecedent of the so-called American Dream.
• The new American economic sources caused a greater influence of the bourgeoisie that little by little they took over the economic power of the new American zones.
• The discovery of the new cultures caused a both cultural and scientific evolution, existing numerous philosophical and scientific currents born from it.
• Christianity became the predominant religion As he also dominated the American continent, the influence of the Pope grew, although this really only lasted a few decades.

Image: History

To conclude this lesson on consequences of the conquest of America, we must talk about the important changes caused in the American continent after the conquest of the region by the Europeans. Some of these important consequences are as follows:

• Native Americans and Spaniards had offspring, thus originating the so-called mestizo population. All of this ended over the years in a wide and complex caste system which is considered one of the greatest examples of racist inequality in history.
• Europe brought some of its advances to the American population, some of them being the use of horse, gunpowder or iron. Being many of these elements used for the conquest, which is why they were one of the main reasons for the European victory over the indigenous one.
• European and American cultures mixed but european dominance made its influence greater, disappearing many of the key elements of pre-Columbian cultures.
• The american languages little by little they were lost, Spanish gaining more relevance as the official language of the state, many of the colonial ones disappearing but many others remain for centuries, as is the case of some Aztec languages.
• The imposition of christianity, ending the American polytheistic religions, and turns any non-believer into a second-class citizen.
• The own schools of Europe, where among other things Spanish and Christianity were taught.
• Some foods typical of Europe were added to the American diet, mixing the diet of both areas.
• Mixing the war and disease Spaniards caused a huge American population decline.
• A new society was created, in which the peninsulares and creoles were above the rest.
• The African slaves They were taken to America to extract the raw materials from the area, bringing slavery that would take years to disappear. The extraction of natural resources was enormous, and it was the main economic base of Europeans for years.

If you want to read more articles similar to Consequences of the conquest of America, we recommend that you enter our category of Story.