Which of the following inferences best explains the reason the King and Queen of Castile and Aragon insisted on Spanish control of territory west of the demarcation line?

(A) The Spanish desired to convert the Barbary states to Catholicism. (B) The Spanish believed Portugal did not know about their discovery of the New World. (C) The Spanish wanted to preserve the independence of Native states in the New World as a buffer against Portuguese expansion. (D) The Spanish thought India would be harder to conquer than the New World.Explanation: The Spanish were interested in preserving their stranglehold over the whole of the New World. Eliminate (A) because the Barbary States would actually be east of the line. Eliminate (C), as the Spanish conquistadores ended up conquering the natives who were in their way. Eliminate (D) because the relative ease of conquest played very little role in the diplomatic negotiations for the Treaty of Tordesillas. You’re left with (B), which is the answer.