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What If...

Let us imagine that Spain in the early era of the discovery of the Western World was not so successful in its conquests in Central and South America, let us change history for a moment for the purpose of analyzing current geography. Have you ever looked at a map of the Western Hemisphere and noticed the languages spoken by each country? Save for Brasil, the Guyanas and a few Caribbean Islands the South is Generally Spanish and the North is English. What if England had conquered more of the South, would there be a Southern Power to equal that of North America? Are Spanish countries inherently 'worst' off because of a language barrier? Now this topic can go into many areas, but I am more interested in the 'what if' scenario - all speculation of course, but good discussion never the less.

If What

This is actually something I have thought about a bit. I love "alternate history" style fiction. However, this particular situation is not one I have explored.

However...

When considering HOW Latin America became split the way it was, through a decision from the Vatican, it would have been necessary for the Catholic Church to NOT have been involved. However, the explorers of that region were all Spanish and Portuguese, it would have taken a huge difference, very early to significantly changed things.

Now, as to the differences in culture, I think it comes mostly from the type of culture that was in existence at the time of the conquistadors. Spain, and to some extent, Portugal, were in an overwhelming "revival" of the Roman Catholic faith. The Jews were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula, the missionaries that went to the Americas were harsh and carried a very intolerant view of all other cultures. I think that these things, combined with the fact that most of the explorers and conquerors that went to Latin America were searching for quick riches (the gold of the Incas, etc.) led to the types of cultures that now span most of Central and South America.

Even now, 500 years later, neither Spain nor Portugal are known for their innovation or industry. I, personally believe that this has something to do with the fact that Spain expelled the Jews (from a religious point of view). However, an alternate explanation can be made from the fact that the Jews were the teachers and wise men of Spain, while the Spanish men were part of an arrogant and feudal culture that cared more about machismo than learning - which seems to a large extent to carry on into today's Latin American cultures (from my point of view).

So, if the Northern Europeans, including the British had been more successful in extending their influence into the Southern Hemisphere, I do think that things would have been very different. I believe that the innovation and industry that has made the US so powerful comes mostly from the fact that the English settled areas welcomed the poor and desperate from everywhere, while the Spanish colonies continued the Spanish attitudes of feudal oppression for a very long time.

Edited: Nighthawk on 18th Jul, 2005 - 10:30pm