SPANISH EXPEDITIONS: CARIBBEAN, TENOCHTITLÁN, TAHUANTINSUYO, PACIFIC - HISTORY - 2025

The Spanish expeditions were the numerous trips made by explorers, scientists, ecclesiastics and humanists between the 15th and 18th centuries. The objective was to find new routes in order to know the true dimension of the globe.

At the beginning of the Renaissance period, the earth was considered to be made up of three continents, which were European, African and Asian, the latter being the largest. This view came from Claudius Ptolemy's (100-170 AD) hypotheses on cartography.

The Spanish expeditions were the many trips made by explorers, scientists, ecclesiastics and humanists between the 15th and 18th centuries. Source: pixabay.com

Following the theories and the map of this Greek geographer, the first explorations to the western lands began, where it was expected to find the territory of Cathay and the island of Spice.

These places were described in the stories of Marco Polo, who stated that in those eastern spaces there were infinite fortunes and disconcerting beings inhabited. Motivated by this testimony, the travelers organized their companies to conquer the country of wealth.

This project resulted in the expansion of the world through the Age of Discovery, cultural unification through language and religion, as well as the centralization of reason.

Causes

For the explorers, the main cause of travel was to find different routes that connected the different regions. However, for the Catholic kings the fundamental thing was to extend their geographical dominions, that is why they sponsored the first excursion of Christopher Columbus.

The search for new routes of navigation was essential for the commerce to progress. Due to the constant conflict between Portugal and Spain, the first country referred to did not allow the Hispanic monarchy to use the African sea lanes to reach other territories.

In addition, the aristocratic inhabitants requested that the Spanish crown provide them with products of oriental origin such as fabrics and spices. Therefore, the economic increase was a primary factor in supporting the expeditions.

The idea was that the discovered lands had gold minerals, such as the Portuguese empire in Nigeria had. It was also intended to locate the Spanish population in other areas to avoid overpopulation.

From the seventeenth century scientific interests arose. Once the continent was found and named, many researchers decided to visit the American territories to examine the fauna, flora, aborigines, customs and traditions, whose purpose was to elaborate their historiographical works.

Consequences

The first consequence of the expeditions was that the enmity between Spain and Portugal increased, since the Iberian nation refused to expose the location of the lands found. That is why the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) was created.

This decree was signed by both the Hispanic and Portuguese kings, where they agreed to share the navigation areas of the Atlantic Ocean and the New World. The dividing line was located west of Cape Verde in Africa.

The purpose was to prevent war on the so-called ancient continent. This happened because the Spanish empire wanted to appropriate all the gold, silver and pearl deposits. Likewise, it ensured that natural resources such as coffee and cocoa were only for the development of the crown.

This event caused the death of thousands of indigenous people and Africans due to fatigue and starvation, since the colonizers exploited the natives and slaves in order to enrich the European territory, without investing in American lands.

It should be mentioned that the Spanish introduced - consciously or unconsciously - various diseases during colonization. Smallpox, tuberculosis and malaria were some of the ills that affected and killed the natives, who had no cures for these ailments.

Caribbean

On April 17, 1492, Isabel de Castilla and Fernando de Aragón sealed the Capitulations of Santa Fe; Treaties authorizing the voyage of Christopher Columbus, a navigator who, inspired by Marco Polo's narrative, planned to find the island of Cipango.

However, the Catholic monarchs gave him the mission to find a route to India. After several months, accompanied by the Pinzón brothers and a dozen adventurers, they landed in isolated and unknown lands.

First trip

On October 12, 1492, Columbus reached a block in the Bahamas that was called San Salvador and later Guanahani. It was at this time that the discovery of the New World took place.

In the course of the following weeks they crossed with the territories of Santa María de la Concepción, Fernandina, Isabela, Hispaniola and Tortuga Island. The admiral and the few companions who survived returned to Spain on March 15, 1493.

Second trip

The second expedition began on September 25, 1493 and the objectives were to establish a Castilian presence in the conquered lands, evangelize the natives and preach the Catholic faith. In addition, they found the islands of La Deseada and Maire-Galante in the Antilles.

The first week of November they arrived at the deltas of Guadalupe, San Juan Bautista and Eleven Thousand Virgins, now the Virgin Islands. In 1494 they built the city of Isabella, where they gave the title of mayor to Antonio Torres. The first town hall was founded, directed by Diego Colón.

Third travel

This company started in 1498 with the objective of verifying that there was a continent under the line of Ecuador. However, Columbus ended up arriving on the island of Trinidad and toured the territories of Tobago, Granada, Margarita and Cubagua.

Fourth trip

This trip was fundamental because the boats distanced themselves from the Caribbean lands and descended for the first time in Central America around 1502, specifically in the Guanaja reef.

This encounter caused that the conquerors changed the concept that they had on the Native Americans.

On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus found the American lands. Source: pixabay.com

Tenochtitlan

Three expeditions reached the Mesoamerican regions. The first was led by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba in 1517, a conqueror who had the purpose of transferring slaves from Yucatán to Cuba. The end of this navigator was commercial.

The second trip was made in 1518 by Juan de Grijalva, an explorer who wanted to look for gold mines to sell gold material. To achieve his purpose, Grijalva found and explored the regions of Cozumel, Champotón and located in the north of Veracruz.

In the north of Veracruz he communicated with a group of indigenous people, who told him that there were numerous gold caves in the city of Teotihuacán. That message was transmitted to Diego de Velásquez, governor who asked Hernán Cortés to direct the company that would disembark in Tenochtitlán.

Hernán Cortés expedition

On November 8, 1519, Cortés's crew arrived in Tenochtitlán thinking they had located the golden kingdom of Teotihuacán. After establishing their alliances with the Aztecs, the conquerors made a pact with the ethnic groups subjugated by the Empire of the Mexica.

The aim was for the underprivileged castes to rebel. For that reason, the Totonac tribe spoke out against the tax system. The Mexica instantly understood that the insurrection was planned by the Hispanics, which is why they assassinated Juan de Escalante.

Cortés announced the request for vengeance and from that moment began the Battle of Otumba. In this confrontation the Iberians and their allies won in 1520. The result of the expedition was the devastation of the Aztec people and the conquest of the lands of Mesoamerica.

Tahuantinsuyo

Francisco Pizarro undertook three trips to find the Inca Empire. In 1524 he left Panama with two ships; but this excursion did not present extensive advances since they ran out of supplies and the ships were diverted from the path by the arrows of some aborigines.

At the end of 1527 expedition number two embarked. This trip was relevant because a line was drawn which indicated the routes that led to the territories that are now known as Panama and Peru. Likewise, they built the city of Nueva Valencia near the Tumbes river.

However, the most important aspect was that Pizarro claimed to have found the town of Tahuantinsuyo. That is why he scheduled the third company for January 1531.

Expedition to the Inca Empire

In mid-1531, Pizarro and his companions reached the island of Puná, where the chieftain Tumbalá told them that the Inca Empire was in the middle of a civil war between the followers of Huáscar and the supporters of Atahualpa.

The Spanish continued their exploration, traveling through the valleys of Tumbes, Poechos and Chira. In that last region, Pizarro forged the metropolis of San Miguel, leaving sixty men to guard it.

In 1532 he descended on Cajamarca and invited Atahualpa to dinner. In such a way they overthrew the Inca chief and seized his properties; but the conquerors achieved total control of the lands in 1533. In that year they besieged Cusco and destroyed the Empire.

Pacific and Philippines

For the Spanish crown it was vital not only to have power over the American territory, but over the eastern Pacific. Before the New World was conquered, the goal was to find some path that led directly to Asia.

This fact materialized in 1493 when Vasco de Gama managed to reach India after crossing the Cape of Good Hope. From that moment on, explorations to the east increased, an event that led to the discovery of the Philippine archipelago.

In addition, the islands of Micronesia, the lands of Polynesia and Melanesia, as well as the regions of New Guinea, Hawaii and Australia were found.

These zones were located thanks to the expeditions of Fernando de Magallanes and Juan Elcano in November 1520; García Jofre de Loaísa in 1525 and Hernando de Grijalva in 1537; but the most transcendental trips were made by López de Villalobos and López de Legazpi.

López de Villalobos expedition

Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza organized the trip of Ruy López de Villalobos, a nobleman who set sail in 1542. Despite the difficulties, this explorer discovered the deltas of Volcano and Benin, located in Japan and restructured the north coast of New Guinea.

The most relevant contribution was that it achieved the turnaround linking the west with the east. That is to say, it detected the route that went from India to Mexico, an event that produced the mercantile growth of Spain with the crafts of the Far East.

López de Legazpi expedition

The crew led by Miguel López de Legazpi set out in 1564. This expedition was essential because they conquered the islands of Barbudos, Placeres, Pájaros, Jardines and Los Corrales. They also managed to colonize the Philippines by establishing two Spanish centers in Cebu and Luzón.

The Cebu region was declared the capital of the Governorate, while in Luzon the Captaincy General of the Philippines was established. Institutions that depended on the Hispanic kings.

Last expeditions

Throughout the seventeenth century, various Spanish expeditions were carried out in order to find other ways and evangelize the populations that were considered barbarians. Among those trips, those of Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1602 and that of the Jesuit Pedro Páez in 1618 stood out.

However - at the beginning of 1700 - Spain began to lose the power it had over the waters of the eastern Pacific, which passed to the domain of Dutch or English companies. To this aspect was added the disappointment and fatigue of the explorers.

Due to the lack of economic resources, supplies, dispersed routes and unexpected climatic changes in America, many men refused to start new excursions. That is why the few trips of the 18th century were characterized by having a scientific character.

An example can be the tour made by José de Iturriaga, a politician who focused on analyzing the limits exposed in the South American territories. It is worth highlighting the expedition undertaken by Domingo de Boenechea to Tahiti.

Expedition to Tahiti

On September 26, 1772 Domingo de Boenechea embarked on this expedition, arriving on November 12 in a valley that was named Amat Island by Boenechea. Days later, the navigators settled in a town on the Taiarapu peninsula that they called Santísima Cruz.

The objective of the Iberians was to interact with the natives, study the fauna, flora and climatology, as well as civilize the territory of Tahiti, Moorea and Easter Island before the English troops.

References

1. Cassanova, A. (2002). Spain and the Pacific: Spanish explorations. Retrieved on November 11, 2019 from the National Academy of History: anhvenezuela.org.ve
2. Griffin, B. (2016). Discoveries of the spaniards at sea. Retrieved on November 11, 2019 from Academia: academia.edu
3. Higueras, R. (2005). America and Europe: five centuries of history. Retrieved on November 12, 2019 from the Historical Bulletin: latinoamericanarevistas.org
4. Fernández, N. (2017). Spanish expeditions to the South Sea. Retrieved on November 12, 2019 from National Geographic: nationalgeographic.com
5. Mellen, C. (2014). News about maritime expeditions. Retrieved on November 11, 2019 from Institute for History: universiteitleiden.nl
6. Puig, M. (2011). Scientific trips of the Spanish. Retrieved on November 11, 2019 from the Magazine of the Alicantino Institute of Culture: iacjuangillabert.com
7. Ruiz, E. (2008). Delimitation of spaces and opening of horizons. Retrieved on November 13, 2019 from the Complutense University of Madrid: ucm.es
8. Scott, D. (2013). Expeditions spanish to the pacific. Retrieved on November 11, 2019 from Department of Geography: cam.ac.uk
9. Talbot, J. (2014). Spanish presence in America and Asia. Retrieved on November 13, 2019 from Faculty of History: history.ox.