T.R. Reid in "The United States of Europe" writes about the former imperialistic zeal of the European countries from around 1500 to 1900. He notes,
"A more cynical, and probably more accurate, summary of the imperial impulse can be found in the mnemoic device used by generations of freshman cramming for the final in European History 101: the colonists were driven by gold, God, and glory...The missionary impulse was also strong for most of the European colonists; there were few who doubted that spreading the one true faith to 'lesser breeds without the law' was an admirable calling."
I wonder how much of the thrust of imperialism was truly to spread the Gospel. I would bet it was more the other two, gold and glory, and not glory for God but for the Queen. Spreading Christianity was lucrative, what with the broadening of the tax base and with the church being tied to the state, this would have been a great moneymaker. It sickens me to think of those being tortured who would not convert to Christianity, definitely not the Gospel I am familiar with or the Bible I have read.