ABSTRACT
The colonial period of Latin America began when Columbus sailed across the Atlantic from Spain in 1492 and claimed the lands he touched on for Spain. The colonial history of Spanish America, having begun in 1492 with Columbus, ended in the years 1810–1825. This was the period in which the various Spanish colonies in the Americas, with two small exceptions, fought for and gained their independence. Colonial Spanish America was much larger than Portuguese America. The Spanish home government saw that it would have to delegate a great deal of responsibility to administrators in the colonies, because it would be simply impossible to make all the necessary decisions in Spain. In view of the work burden placed on the native Americans by the conquerors and the many very clear cases of harsh treatment, it might seem contradictory to say that Roman Catholic evangelism was one of the two main motives for the conquest and settlement of Latin America.
