Analyze the quotation below in the context of european exploration in the americas. as you read the quote, think about what it says about columbus's motivations to explore. was he interested in gaining knowledge, wealth, or both? how did his motivations influence how he treated the people already living in the americas? i did not try to examine them in detail, because it could not be done in 50 years. for my desire is to see and discover as much as i can before returning to your highnesses, our lord willing, in april. it is true that in the event of finding places where there is gold or spices in quantity i should stop until i had collected as much as i could. i, therefore, proceed in the hope of coming across such places.

1. both

Columbus was an explorer by nature, so naturally, one of his prime motivations for having expeditions was to gain more knowledge of the world, to discover new places, and gain a good status because of it. Apart from that, Columbus was also interest in the wealth of the new places he would discover, and that is not surprising considering that there was a race for resources and wealth going on between the Western European countries. Columbus managed to achieve both to a particular point. While he managed to explore new territories, he was actually not aware that those were undiscovered territories. He managed to get some wealth back to the crown, but not in the amount that he and crown wanted.

2. The treatment of the people that Columbus and his men encountered in the New World was not the best. Because of his goals, but also the demands from the crown, his attitude toward the native population was terrible. After arriving, Columbus immediately imposed as superior to the native people, considering them as primitive and backward people. That led to treating the natives as people that might be used as a labor force if needed, but also he tried to force them to accept the crown, give up on their culture, and accept his culture and religion. That led to conflict, and lot of people were slaughtered because of those reasons.

c.) the country needed a stronger central government.

the allies' desire to seek retribution for germany's actions