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US History
Unit: Period 1: 1491-1607
European exploration in the Americas
Read the passage below and answer the question.
"Wherefore ... you have purposed with the favor of divine clemency to bring under your sway
the said mainlands and islands with their residents and inhabitants and to bring them to the
Catholic faith. Hence... [we) give, grant, and assign to you and your heirs and successors, kings
of Castile and Leon ... all islands and mainlands found and to be found, discovered and to be
discovered towards the west and south, by drawing and establishing a line from the Arctic pole,
namely the north, to the Antarctic pole, namely the south..."
-Source: Pope Alexander VI's Demarcation Bull, May 4, 1493
What was Pope Alexander's purpose in establishing the demarcation line he describes in this passage?