In one of his speeches to his men, Cortez spoke of the great rewards that will come to them for their services. Without disguising it at all Cortez tells his men that they will be "the richest of all men who have crossed the seas," "engaging in a war which will bring [them] fame," and "Almighty God, in whose name and faith [war] will be waged." All in the same speech, Cortez has his men, as well as all scholars to come, understand their reasoning for being in the Americas. Gold, Glory and God. Not a century after Columbus" voyage to "Indies," the Spaniards were left without any exotic spices, flowers, etc. So they made the best of the situation and used the virgin New World to catapult their wealth, create a name for themselves and spread the word of the Catholic Church. The way in which they carried out these goals directly contributed to the reaction they had with the natives.
Possibly simultaneously the best and worst aspects of Spanish culture from the Indians standpoint were their intense devotion to the Catholic Church and the inability to comprehend the idea that the Indians didn't understand Spanish. However that didn't stop them from trying, and if the Indians didn't want to accept their path in life, the Spanish were more than happy to offer the consolation. "But if you do not do this . we shall take you and your wives and your children and shall make slaves of them," spoken to the Indians, in Spanish. These ideas weren't really supported by the church who said, "The Indians are by no means to be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property even though they be outside the faith of Jesus Christ," but that didn't really stop them anyway. The conquistadors and their followers were still driven by their leaders Ferdinand and Isabella who said, "The Indians are to be persuaded to abandon their ancient evil ways." This was reason enough for them to continue to slaughter Indians that didn't covert, or make their lives more Christian.
