European powers were looking for new opportunities to increase wealth and economy through new trade and land. In the search for new trade lanes to Asia, European countries such as Spain and Portugal sailed to Africa and across the Atlantic, successively discovering the Americas. Discovering the Americas was never the intentions of Christopher Columbus. Columbus never realized he would find a “New World.” Spanish colonialism forever altered the New World. In the process of their exploration they began destroying the societies and dynasties of the New World.
With the discovery of the Americas came land, wealth, and the opportunity to Christianize “savage” people. Spaniards had gunpowder and steel, something the indigenous Tanios and Aztecs had never seen before. Along with advance warfare, the Spaniards brought devastating diseases such as smallpox, typhus, and cholera. The natives of the Americas had no immunity to such diseases and the population suffered a…show more content… The Spanish gained access to America’s precious metals through the Atlantic system and found it extremely valuable in foreign trade, especially with Asia. This lead to many European merchants becoming extremely powerful and began to dominate trade in Asia. This also led to the spread of Christianity throughout Europe.
With Spanish colonialism also came the Columbian exchange. The Colombian exchange describes the interchange of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old World and the Americas following Columbus's arrival. The Columbian exchange massively benefited the people of Europe and its colonies as well as the Native Americans. The Spanish learned about new crops such as corn and potatoes and brought with them horses, wheat, grapevines, and sugarcane to trade with the New World. This exchange changed the environment and economy of both the New World and