Spanish and Portuguese: Comparing Places, Goals, and Means

The Spanish and the Portuguese were both Maritime superpowers who left their mark on history between the fourteenth and sixteenth century. Spain and Portugal shared a common location on the Iberian Peninsula, and both had free access to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. This gave them an advantage in developing Maritime interests and establishing new trade routes. Many geographical discoveries and conquests as well as a lot of bloodshed can be traced back to these two once-colonial empires. While the Spanish and Portuguese both had the intentions of Maritime conquest, they were focused on different areas, but they had common reasons to expand and used similar methods to achieve their goals.

One difference between the Spanish and the Portuguese is their location of conquest. The Spanish moved westwards and, other than their colonies in the Philippines, mostly focused on expanding into the Americas. For example, in 1521, Spain officially took control of the Aztec Empire, and in 1533, they conquered the Incas. Both empires were located in South America.

On the other hand, Portugal went eastward and mostly stuck to the Indian Ocean Basin. Portugal seized Ceuta on the Moroccan coast of North Africa in 1415. Also, in 1484, Portugal captured the region of Angola as their colony, and they claimed Brazil by the 1500’s. While both Spain and Portugal wanted to expand their lands, they focused on conquering different areas, which was beneficial to both nations because it helped them avoid conflict.

Spain and Portugal, even though they conquered different parts of the world, had similar reasons for conquest. They each wanted glory, wealth, and to proselytise. Both nations were initially motivated by the desire to find an alternate route to India and to gain control from the Muslims in order to expand their influence. They both developed their navy and sponsored several voyages that led to the discovery of the New World. This brought along national glory to the countries as well as personal fame to the individual explorers. Between 1450 and 1500, Portuguese expeditions lead by Dias and later Da Gama sailed around the coast of Africa to India. The Spanish sponsored the four voyages of Christopher Columbus from 1492 to 1504. This opened the door to colonizing and conquering Caribbean islands and territories in South America. Following these voyages, they not only discovered but also conquered new territories and established colonies. These new territories and colonies were exploited to generate wealth. Examples of wealth generated by conquest for the Portuguese include slave trade from Africa and plantations and mines found in Brazil. The Spanish wealth came from the Potosi mine in upper Peru and plantations in the Caribbean. In their colonies, both Spain and Portugal imposed their culture and religion on the native people. This influence has persisted to this day in many areas of the world.

Another important similarity Spain and Portugal share is their methods of conquest. They both managed to take over new territories using the methods of violence, more advanced technologies, and bringing diseases that killed the natives because of their lack of immunity. One example of how the Portuguese used violence is in an expedition lead by Cabral in the 1500s. During the expedition, the town of Cochin, India was bombarded and 400 to 500 people were killed and a lot of property was destroyed. The Spanish showed violence when conquering the Aztecs and the Incas. The Spanish massacred many Aztec leaders and killed the Inca leader Atahualpa, despite having been paid a ransom. Both the Spanish and Portuguese used new technologies including ships and weapons to defeat the natives and take over their land. For example, during the conquer of the Aztec and Incan Empire the Spanish had guns while the natives used bows and arrows. The Portuguese introduced firearms when they began trading in the Indian Ocean. Both Spain and Portugal, perhaps due to their close proximity from one another, used similar methods when conquering other nations.

Although the Spanish and the Portuguese shared a lot of similarities including their methods and intentions of Maritime conquest, they also differed in their location of conquest. The Spanish settled Westward while the Portuguese settled in the East. They both used violence, new technologies such as guns, and diseases that the natives were not immune to. They were also both interested in glory, wealth, and to proselytise. Coming from the same area of the world, sharing similar goals in their exploits and some differences, the Spanish and the Portuguese dominated the Maritime trade at about the same time.