They enslaved the local populations and forced them to mine it. They treated them horribly including pouring molten lead down their throats to make examples of them.
The Spanish brutality was exceptional in world history, and perhaps not rivaled by any but the Muslims or the Nazis.
They murdered millions, many by simply working them to death. They whipped, beat and executed any of them who couldn't work or refused to work.
Every bit of that Spanish gold is soaked in blood on a scale modern Americans can scarcely comprehend.
Other Freepers who know more about this, tell me if i'm wrong.
You are not wrong at all in my opinion-my ancestors came from Spain before 1600-but I have no illusions about them-they were horrible people for the most part-Spanish inquisition, invented brand new methods of torture/murder, were greedy, etc-and the way they raped women, pillaged, murdered, enslaved survivors and stole everybody’s stuff when they sacked a place made the Vikings look almost kind. Like most Hispanics, I have some Native American DNA-the Natives were not nice people either, but they were not as greedy or creative in their cruelty as the Spanish were...