Final answer:
The Spanish justified their conquest of the Americas by claiming a divine right and the duty to bring Catholicism to the indigenous populations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Spanish invented various explanations to justify their conquest and colonization of the Americas. One of these explanations was the belief that they had a divine right to the land and its people. They saw native peoples as inferior and viewed themselves as superior beings with the duty to bring Catholicism to the indigenous populations. This allowed them to exploit native labor and impose their own beliefs in the name of conquest.