Atlas of Hispanic-American History

otro mundo, or “other world.” Even so he

died still convinced that the New World

he had landed in was very close to or per-

haps even connected to Asia, and that

with a little more sailing, he might have

reached his original goal.

Rival Expeditions

Even while Columbus was still exploring,

Spain acted quickly to solidify its claims

in the New World. As Catholic sover-

eigns, Ferdinand and Isabella believed

the pope had the responsibility to author-

ize monarchs to evangelize the pagan

peoples in newly discovered territories

and, for this purpose, to grant temporal

sovereignty to monarchs over those terri-

tories. They appealed to Pope Alexander

VI, who was Spanish himself, to grant

them this sovereignty in the New World,

and this he did in a series of bulls in 1493

that established what has become known

as the Papal Line of Demarcation. The

precise terms of the arrangement dissatis-

fied Portugal, which managed to get

them modified in the Treaty of

Tordesillas of 1494. Under the revised

arrangement, Portugal was given title to

all lands east of a line of demarcation 370

leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands,

while Spain won title to all lands west of

the line.

The agreement was meant to protect

Spain’s interest in the New World and

Portugal’s interest in Africa, but it had an

unintended consequence. When eastern

Brazil, which lay east of the line of

demarcation, was reached by Portuguese

explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral (ca.

1468–1520) in April 1500, it gave

Portugal a claim to vast territory that

would become Brazil. This claim was

26 ATLAS OF HISPANIC-AMERICAN HISTORY

“In [Hispaniola], there are

mountains of great size and

beauty, vast plains, groves,

and very fruitful fields,

admirably adapted for

tillage, pasture and

habitation...”

— Christopher Columbus,
March, 1493

Columbus in Hispaniola (Library of Congress)