Christopher Columbus' Religious Campaign. The Use of Christianity to Seize Land From the Natives of the New World

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject History - Basics, grade: A, Georgia State University, language: English, abstract: In the late 1400s, commerce and religion linked many nations. The Ottoman Empire blocked direct contact between Europe and Asia, which caused oceanic trade to become a major undertaking for nations wanting to continue to exchange commodities. As Christianity grew in Europe, the upper class made it their duty to spread the faith to other nations. Certain monarchs used it to conquer and control other nations. Spain, the poster child for the Christian religion relied heavily on it as a warfare tactic. In 1492 Queen Isabella 1, also known as Isabel 'The Catholic' reclaimed Granada from the Moors, sent Christopher Columbus to India to spread Christianity and began the process of exiling the Jews from Spain. Her passion for Christianity was so strong that in 1974 the Catholic Church of Rome granted the title 'Servant of God'. Isabel funded the voyage of sea captain, Christopher Columbus to sail to India and convert them from Islam to Christianity. My paper will prove that religion was the motive for Columbus' voyage west and present evidence that he used Christianity to conquer the Americas and dispossess the Indians of their land. This thesis is important because it is different from other studies of Columbus Voyage that historically claim was to prove the earth round, to find a different trade rate or search for gold. Proving that Columbus was motivated by Christianity shows how powerful religious influence is in order to maintain a heightened awareness of future religious movements that could possibly be detrimental to society.