Final answer:
Spanish conquistadors valued natural resources as commodities for exploitation, primarily gold and silver, using the encomienda system to enforce labor from native populations for their personal and Spain's wealth, with little concern for the consequences on the local people and environment.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Spanish conquistadors were primarily motivated by a quest for wealth and the assertion of their power over the New World. Upon their arrival in the Americas, they regarded natural resources, especially gold and silver, as opportunities to enrich themselves and the Spanish monarchs. The labor system they imposed on Indigenous peoples, known as the encomienda, was geared towards maximizing the extraction of these resources. Native populations were seen as a workforce to exploit, and natural resources as commodities to be taken with little concern for the lasting impact on the land or its original inhabitants.
The encomienda system was designed to reward conquistadors for their role in expanding the empire. Indigenous peoples were expected to work for the Spanish in return for exposure to Catholicism. However, the system led to ruthless exploitation, with little of the profit from natural resources ending up in the hands of most of the local population. This aggressive approach to colonization and the disregard for both the people and the land have left enduring impacts that continue to echo in contemporary political agendas.