Final answer:
Spain established its empire in the Americas primarily through military conquest and colonization, fostering a trade system benefiting the mother country and asserting dominance through settler and exploitation colonialism.
Step-by-step explanation:
Spain established its empire in the Americas through military conquest and colonization. This process began soon after Christopher Columbus's discovery of the Americas in 1492, when the Spanish rapidly expanded their influence throughout the Caribbean, Mesoamerica, and the Andes. The combination of conquistadors and colonization efforts led to a powerful hemispheric empire. However, the Spanish also faced significant challenges due to the distance between the colony and the mother country, which impeded communication and affected colonial governance and imperial control.
To fortify their empire, the Spanish structured the colonial economy to ensure profitability, enforcing a system where colonies could only export raw materials to Spain and import finished goods exclusively from Spain. Competition for trade routes and territories saw other European nations like the French, Dutch, and English join in colonial endeavors, often engaging in settler colonialism and exploitation of natural resources. Throughout this period, the Spanish colonization also introduced missionaries who played a role in spreading Catholicism, albeit their primary expansion was not through peaceful means but through exerting military force.