The Main Motivation

I believe that the main motivating factor of the Spanish that Stern presents in his book is greed. Greed the desire for wealth through materialism. In the first half of his book, Stern points out the many material goods that the Spanish wanted from the Americas:

-          Gold, silver, mercury and copper from the mines and once Potosi was discovered, the Spanish claimed that as well (much of it going back to Spain, but a portion of it staying in the Americas in the form of church altars and decorations)

-          Cattle, sheep and other work animals

-          Textiles (wool, cotton, embroidered cloths) and uncommon dyes (indigo and cochineal)

-          Agricultural pursuits (sugar, coca) and vineyards

Much of the Spanish Conquest was fueled by a greedy desire to find the “City of Gold.” Once that reality was out of the picture, the Spanish needed, or wanted, something else to fill that empty desire. The mountain at Potosi filled the desire for precious metals, but after that the Spanish extracted everything else that they could from the lands.

Perhaps we could talk about another of the deadly sins here – sloth. Although the Spanish sought and got much of this material wealth, they didn’t do much of the work with their own hands. Also in the early chapters of his book, Stern points out the many ways that the Spanish extracted their wealth:

-          Through the work of ecomiendas

-          Through the work of yanaconas

-          Through the mita labor system

-          Through wage labor

-          Also through African slave labor

In the point of view of Stern’s book, the Spanish went to the Americas because they were greedy, lazy men, wanting much wealth but unwilling to lift a finger to get said wealth. Sloth fueled by greed.