European Politics in the 16th and 17th Centuries Essay

European Politics in the 16th and 17th Centuries - Essay Example From the Spanish point of view, any resistance that the natives demonstrated to the conversion was a work of none other than the Satan. The Spanish presented the natives with an ultimatum to both adopt Christianity and then swear allegiance to the Spanish crown of Castile. Those who would refuse to do that would then face military action. This occurred as one of the immediate and unfortunate effect of the reformation. The intolerance that developed expressed itself in religious wars and persecution. Albeit the main motive should have been to generate the true spirit of Christ or the fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man, the reformation made millions of people to suffer on the account of religion. The main subjects of the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese monarchs were deliberately forced to remain catholic. Those who refused to convert to catholic suffered death or imprisonment. The main aim behind ‘a Short account of the Destruction of the Indies’ was to inform the King of Spain regarding the gold hoarding and the murders that were occurring in the New World. The reason of the expeditions was chiefly to convert the natives to Christianity and as a result protect them from the eternal damnation. In contrast to this, the Spaniards that were sent did not follow the rules that were given to them. Instead they targeted and killed millions of natives for their gold. A minor percentage of the gold that was hoarded was allocated for the Spanish purse. At this time, Christian missionaries such as Las Casas tried their best in order to bring justice to the land.