What does history tell us about the motivations of God, gold, and glory?

The answer to this question is largely a matter of opinion.  It is very difficult to tell, 500 years later, why Europeans went out to explore.  This is partly because the evidence from history is very ambiguous.  Let us examine some possible answers to this question.

One possible answer is that history tells us that the Spanish were much more motivated by God than the English were.  When the Spanish conquered, they took priests with them.  It was priests who established the first Spanish outposts in places like Texas and California.  The Spanish converted all the natives with whom they came in contact.  By contrast, the English did not do this.  When the English came to North America, they did not make a strong effort to convert the natives.  They did not send religious people out to set up missions among the Indians.  They were much more likely to simply push the Indians off the land.  This, we can argue, is proof that “God” meant much more to the Spanish than it did to the English, who only cared abut “gold” and “glory.”

Another answer is that none of the European countries really cared about “God.”  They really wanted “gold” and “glory” and used “God” as a pretext.  As discussed above, we do not have to take the idea that the English cared about “God” seriously.  Let us look, then, at Spain.  We can argue that Spain really just used God as a means of social control.  In this view, Spain was not truly interested in the spiritual welfare of the Native Americans.  What Spain actually wanted was another way of making sure that the natives did what the Spanish wanted.  By converting them, the Spanish did this.  The natives could now be told that they should obey the Spanish not because the Spanish were powerful, but because that was what God wanted.  Converting the natives would also make sure that they were not loyal to priests or other religious leaders who might be anti-Spanish.  While it is certainly possible to make this argument, it is also impossible to actually prove whether the argument is accurate.

What is clearly true is that European countries were strongly motivated by gold and glory.  They worked hard to conquer new territories and they extracted all the wealth they could from those territories.  They tried to maintain large empires because those empires made it seem as if they were important and powerful countries.  There is nothing in the historical record to suggest that any country was interested only in “God” and not at all interested in “gold” or “glory.”

So, what history tells us is that European countries were clearly motivated by two parts of this triad.  However, it is more ambiguous as to whether they were actually motivated by “God.”  It seems clear that England was not motivated by God to any great extent, but it is difficult to determine whether other countries like Spain actually did care about spreading religion for its own sake.