Motives For European Colonization Essay, Research Paper

Christopher Columbus, considered one of the greatest explorers

of all time. Like every other explorer, Columbus had many reasons for

his exploration. However, it is made obvious by studying the history

of Columbus’ explorations that his main motive for exploration was

greed. Columbus had the same desires as many explorers both before and

after him. He yearned for gold. He wanted land. He wanted power. The

whole purpose for his first voyage to what he thought was India, but

turned out to be Central America, was to gain land for Spain. It took

quite a bit of sweet talking from Columbus to get the money and ships

needed for this voyage from Spain’s Queen Isabella. But in the end,

Columbus had the chance to reach a goal brought on by greed: to gain

riches. Queen Isabella had the same motive. She wanted land for Spain,

and that is the only reason that she ever gave him the money and ships

to make his voyage.

The English, like other countries, voyaged to the Americas in

search of riches. It wasn’t until they got there that they realized

that people already lived there. It was at that point that greed took

over the English. The English did something, that by today’s standards

would be considered inhuman. They used a method of mass murder called

extermination. They used whatever it took to kill the most Native

Americans possible in the smallest amount of time. The English would

not have done this had it not been for extreme greed. They wanted the

land that the Native Americans had and they wanted it as soon as

possible. This greed among the English did accomplish their task of

taking land quickly, but it also accomplished the murder of thousands

of Native Americans.

Although it doesn’t seem obvious at first thought, new laws in

Europe helped with the effort in nation building. With the new laws

were the guidelines as to were the laws were in effect. Often, a new

law included a new area of land. This meant that with each new law a

king put forth, theoretically, he could gain more land. A newer set of

laws that were not made law by the king, took power from the king and

said that he did not have total control. This set of laws, the Magna

Carta, is perhaps the most famous set of written laws ever.

With the decline of feudalism came the development of

monarchies. A monarchy, form of government in which one person has

the hereditary right to rule as head of state during his or her

lifetime, usually presents the chance for nation building. A greedy

king or queen can, if they have the forces needed, build their nation

quickly and effectively. Just like everyone and everything else, the

monarch always had a reason for nation building. Nine times out of

ten, that reason was greed. The king wanted more people to tax. The

king wanted more land. The king wanted more trade routes to tax. All

of these are a part of greed. The king (or queen) wanted something

that they didn’t need and they were willing to do almost anything to

get it. Fight a war. Kill a thousand people. The phrase ‘Whatever it

takes’ meant the world to a monarch.

Greed. Whether it was colonization, as with Queen Isabella and

Christopher, or it was nation building, greed was the motive behind it

nine times out of ten. Christopher Columbus tried for years to make a

voyage to what he thought was India, and he was so diligent because he

was greedy. The English murdered thousands upon thousands of people

because they wanted the land belonging to the Native Americans all to

themselves. These are two very good examples of greed within

colonization. A king wants more land, but he doesn’t want a war. How

does he get it? Why, he just thinks of some new ridiculous law that

will have no effect other than to give him more land. The end of

feudalism : not only the end of a great period of history, but also

the beginning to the major development of one of the most influential

types of government ever: the monarchy. The monarchy would prove to be

a major force behind the building of many nations for decades. Greed

among rulers was the strongest relationship between colonization and

nation building. Is this fact? No, but I would like to see someone

effectively argue against it.