What was the main goal of establishing missions in what is now the southwestern united states and mexico?
a) to claim new land for the spanish explorers
b) to convert native americans to the christian religion
c) to protect the spanish explorers from native americans
d) to create trade centers for spanish and native americans

Spanish missions in the Americas. The Spanish missions in the Americas were Catholic missions established by the Spanish Empire during the 16th to 19th centuries in areas extending from Mexico and southwestern portions of current-day United States to as far south as Argentina and Chile .

Explanation:

classical republicanism, also known as civic humanism, is a form of republicanism  developed in the renaissance inspired by the governmental forms and writings of  classical  antiquity, especially such  classical  writers as aristotle, polybius, and cicero.

manifest functions are the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern, while latent functions are those unrecognized and unintended consequences. to analyze the manifest functions of any social institution, we have to study its contribution to the continuation of a group, community, or society.