Chapter 19 Early Latin America Essay

Ch. 19: Early Latin America
Introduction
-During the 15th+16th centuries, Spain and Portugal colonized the Americas
• Colonies were dependent (unlike Russia’s expansion)
-Created economic dependency on W w/ lasing effects
• Colonies maintained special contact w/ W (like Russia)
-But Russia could decide what to borrow; colonies had W forms imposed
• Superior tech., horses, and disease allowed conquerors to dominate natives
• Social hierarchy changed by intermarriage of natives+Europeans and African slaves
• Both Europeans and natives tried to maintain original way of life
• European exploitation-plantations worked/precious metals mined through forced labor

Spaniards and Portuguese: From Reconquest to Conquest
-The Spaniards and
Portuguese came from societies long in contact w/ other ppls
• Many inhabitants during history; frontier between Christianity and Islam
-Conflictstrong tradition of military conquest+rule over culturally diff. ppls
• Christian kingdoms by 15th century-Portugal on coast, Aragon in E Spain, Castile in center
-Political and religious unification under Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille
• Fall of Granada (last Muslims kingdom) in 1492Christian control of Iberian Peninsula
-Isabella ordered Jews to convert/leaveJews leftdisrupted Castilian economy
-Isabella and Ferdinand also supported Christopher Columbus
-Iberian Society and Tradition
• Spanish and Portuguese forms exported to the Americas
-Spanish and Portuguese are very urbanurban setting exported to New World
-Commoners who came to America tried to become new nobility w/ Indian serfs
-Patriarchal household trait imposed on plantations -Large estates+encomiendas (grants of laborers)economic dominance by Europeans
-Use of African slaves (unlike most of Europe) brought to Americas
-Bureaucracy+church served as foundations of Iberian politics; also brought over
-Portuguese merchants est. extensive colonies in Atlantic islandsmore slave trade; same thing in Brazil
-The Chronology of Conquest
• Spanish and Portuguese conquest+colonization of Americas in 3 periods
-1st-Conquest from 1492-~1570-Main administration+economy est.
-2nd-Consolidation from~1570-~1700-Colonial institutions and societies became defined
-3rd-Reform during 18th century intensified colonial dependence; eventually led to revolt
• Period from 1492 to~1570/1600 was very destructive/constructinve
-Large amts. of territory and ppl brought under European control
-Bases of economic system of dependency est.; flow of immigration+commerce
-Destruction/transformations of Indian societies; introduction of African slaves
-Mexico+Peru became focus of initial colonization
-The Caribbean Crucible
• After Christopher Columbus’s voyage in 1492…
-1493-Expedition est.
colony of Santo Dominigo (Hispaniola)
-Expeditions from Santo DominigoPuerto Rico (1508), Cuba (1511),
-Settlements in Panama and N coast of S America by 1513
-Similar stuff in Brazil under the Portuguese
• Taino Indians provided enough labor to be distributed to individual Spaniards in grants
-Gold hunting, slaving, and European diseasesdepopulation of Caribbean
-Major ports in Caribbean, but it became colonial backwater until sugar and slaves allowed resurgence
• Caribbean served Spain as a testing ground for colonization
-Iberian-style cities had to be adapted to Americas; Spanish cities set-up according to a grid plan
-Royal administration-Bureaucracy and law code developed based on Spain’s+American exp.
-Church missionaries came and spread Roman Catholicism
-Merchants regulated provisions and commerce
• Immigration+importation of slavesshift from conquest to settlement
-Early gold-hunting attempts replaced by est. of plantations
-Settlementdepopulation of Indiansimportation of slaves for labor
-Destruction of Indians expeditions went further toward mainland from island to
island
-Mistreatment of natives attempts to help from priests+admins
• By time of conquest of Mexico and Peru, colonial system was in place -The Paths of Conquest
• Conquest of Americas=/=unified movement; =series of indie initiatives w/ gov’t approval
• 1519-Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico, est. base at Veracruz
-Fought some battles vs. subjects of Aztecs; able to ally w/ Indians
-Reached Tenochtitlan; Aztec emperor Moctezuma II captured+killedforced to retreat
-W/ allies, cut off+besieged Tenochtitlan; victory in 1521
-Mexico City built on top of Tenochtitlan
-By 1535, most of C Mexico under Spanish control as New Spain
• 2nd main conquest moved from Caribbean to Panama and then S into Inca Empire
-1533-Francisco Pizarro conquered Inca capital of Cuzcol; by 1540, most of Peru under Spanish control
• Spanish expeditions went N and S from Mexico and Peru
-Francisco Vasquez de Coronado penetrated into SW US as far as Kansas
-Pedro de Valdivia conquered the Araucanian Indians of C Chile and set up Santiago in 1541
-Other expeditions went into the Amazon basin; others went into rainforests of C and S America
-By 1570, 192 Spanish cities/towns were in the Americas
-The Conquerors
• General contract-conqueror gets authority of area, Spanish crown gets share of whatever
• Forces recruited through grants of shares of booty+profits; unequal distributiondissatisfaction
• Few conquerors were pro soldiers; usually just ppl who wanted “gold, God, and glory”
-Came to see selves as nobility w/ power over Indians despite humble beginnings
• Advanced tech., horses, and disease helped Europeans defeat Indians
• Internal strife in Indian empires reduced ability to fight back
• By 1570, age of conquest was ending as the colonial system took hold;
-Conquerors replaced by bureaucrats, merchants, and colonists
-Conquest and Morality
• Conquests involved violence, domination, and theftmoral dilemma
-1548-Juan Gines de Sepulbeda argued (a la Aristotle) that conquest was justified
-1550-Spanish king suspended conquests and called for arguments for/against
-Father Bartolome de Las Casas argued for the Indians
-The crown backed Las Casas, but not much really changed

The Destruction and Transformation of Indian Societies
-The Indians ppls responded in many ways to the European conquest/rule
• All suffered severe decline in population from disease, conquest, slaving, and mistreatment
• Spanish seized abandoned land+used encomienda to tax/work the natives
• Demographic decline made it hard to retain social and economic structures
• European livestock flourished while Indian populations declined
-Exploitation of the Indians
• Indian nobility maintained for tax collection/imposition of labor for the Spanish
• Enslavement prohibited, but labor/taxation was imposed
-Encomiendas given to ppl who could use their Indians for labor/taxes
-As Indian population declined, the value of encomiendas did, too
-Spanish crown began ending the institution in the 1540s; encomiendas pretty much gone by 1620s
-Colonists began trying to get grants of land instead of Indians
• Colonial gov’t labor/tax demands on natives increased
-Adopted the Inca mita system; Natives required to send groups of laborers to work
-Indians were paid, but Europeans abused the system
• Indians left villages to avoid labor/tax obligationsgrowth of wage labor system
-Worked for wages for Spanish land owners on mines/farms or in the cities
• Despite European disruption, some aspects of Native American culture retained
-Managed to adapt to European institutions-natives staffed local councils and learned to use courts/law
-Many cultural aspects remained; Indians were selective in adopting European foods, tech., and culture

Colonial Economies and Governments
-Spanish America was an agrarian society
• 80% of the population lived and worked on the land
-Colonial commercial system based on mining, though
-The Silver Heart of Empire
• Major silver discoveries in Mexico and Peru; large mining towns developed
-Potosi in Upper Peru was largest mine; Mexico’s Zacatecas was also a large mining center
-Labor provided by Indian slaves and encomienda workers; replaced by mita system
• Most mining methods were European. Though native methods were used initially
-Silver mining depended on amalgamation w/ mercury to extract silver from ores
-Discovery of mercury mountain at Huancavelica in Peru increased silver production
• Individuals owned the mines and processing plants, but were required to pay 20% to the crown
• Mining stimulated other aspects of the economy like farming and transportation
-Haciendas and Villages
• Spanish America was still an agrarian economy
-Indian communal agriculture of traditional crops continued
-Spanish ranches and farms developed as Indian population declined
-Rural estates (haciendas) developed; most of the labor came from Indians and mestizos
-Haciendas became symbol of wealth and power for the local aristocracy
-Most agriculture was meant for colonial consumption; only a small portion was exported
-Indian communal farming competed w/ haciendas
-Industry and Commerce
• Sheep raisingdevelopment of textile industry in the Americas
-America became self-sufficient for basic needs; looked to Europe only for luxury goods
• Spanish commercial system organized around mining industry
• Only Spain was allowed to trade w/ Spanish colonies; tight trade restrictions on colonies
-American trade w/ Spain went through the Casa de Contratacion (Board of Trade) in Seville/Cadiz
-Merchant guilds (consulado) controlled goods and handled silver; tight control allowed prices to be kept high
• To discourage pirates, the Spanish set up a convoy system composed of galleons (large, heavily-armed ships)
-Trade from Spain passed trough fortified ports w/ coast guard fleets taking out potential raiders
• Supply of American silver was continuous; seemed worth it
-Used for wars, debts, and manufactured goods; only about ½ stayed in Spain
-Influx of silverinflation in W Europe during the 16th century
-Spain’s state revenues depended more on taxes than American silver
-Spanish rulers built up lots of debts b/c of silver
-Ruling an Empire: State and Church
• Spanish control of its colonies based on the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
-The treaty between Castile and Portugal drew a N-S line through the Americas
-Portugal got everything E of the line; Spain got everything W of the line
• The Spanish colonies had a bureaucracy based on a judicial core
-University-trained lawyers (letrados) from Spain staffed the bureaucracy
-Division of power not clear; judicial officers also had legislative and administrative authority
-The Recopilacion (1681) codified laws into the basis of colonial gov’t
• The king ruled through the Council of the Indies in Spain
-Spain created 2 viceroyalties, one based in Mexico City and the other based in Lima
-Viceroys were direct representatives of the king in charge of the colonies
-The viceroyalties were subdivided into 10 judicial divisions controlled by courts (audiencias)
-At the local level, appointed magistrates enforced laws, collected taxes, and assigned work, etc.
-Under the magistrates were a bunch of other bureaucrats
• The clergy was kinda another branch of the bureaucracy
-Catholic religious orders carried out widespread conversions of the Indians
-Missionaries also defended Indian rights and respected their culture
-Missionary church eventually replaced by more formal structure of parishes and bishoprics
-Bishops were state-appointedclergy tended to be supporters/influencers of state policy
• The Catholic church influenced cultural and intellectual life in the colonies
-Construction of churches stimulated the work of architects and artists
-Printing presses produced a lot of religious books and some other stuff
-Schools and universities were set up by the clergy to educate ppl
-The Inquisition set up colonial offices to control orthodoxy; executed religious dissenters, etc.

Brazil: The First Plantation Colony
-The Portuguese created the 1st great plantation colony of the Americas in Brazil
• Portuguese Pedro Albares Cabral reached Brazilian shore in 1500
-There wasn’t much to attract European interest at first other than dyewood trees along the coast
-Pressure from the FrenchMilitary action to clear French from Brazil; new system of settlement est. in 1532
• Portuguese nobles given strips of land (capitaincies) along the coast
-Many nobles lacked capital+had problems w/ local Indian population
-In some places, towns were est.+colonized and Indian relations were peaceful
-Sugar plantations were est. initially using Indians and then African slaves
• 1549-Governor general+other officials arrived to create capital at Salvador; missionaries, too
-Indian resistance broken by 1600 through military action, missionary activity, or disease
-String of settlements extended along the coast based on port cities served sugar plantations
-Sugar and Slavery
• Brazil became the world’s leading sugar producer
-Labor came from African slaves who made up 50% of the population by the end of the 1600s
-Served as model for later European plantation colonies in the Caribbean
• Even after later economic diversity, Brazil’s social hierarchy reflected plantation origins
-White planter families, merchants, and bureaucrats were at the top; slaves were at the bottom
-Ppl of mixed origins from miscegenation (mixed marriage) served as free laborers, farmers, and artisans
• Portugal created bureaucratic structure to govern Brazil
-Governor general ruled from Salvador, but governors in ea. captaincy were pretty independent
-Missionary orders constructed churches, schools, and a network of missions
-Royal officials trained in law formed the core of the bureaucracy
-Unlike Spain (exception: Philippines), Portugal had colonies/outposts in Asia, Africa, and Brazil
-Brazil had no printing presses or universities, so intellectual life was an extension of Portugal’s
-So…Brazil’s more dependent intellectually while Latin America’s more dependent economically
-Brazil’s Age of Gold
• American colonies affected by European political change
• By the 1680s, the Dutch, English, and French est. plantation colonies in the Caribbean
-Competitionrising slave prices and falling sugar pricesproblems for Brazil
• Brazil lost sugar domination, but Paulistas had been exploring interior
-Led to larger claims; 1695-Discovery of gold at Minas Gerais (General Mines)
• Gold rush began; ppl left coastal towns and plantations+lots of immigrants
-Labor in the mines came from slavesslave population increased a lot
-Portuguese gov’t est. administration and police to bring order
-Brazil became the greatest source of gold in the Western world
• Discovery of gold was a mixed blessing
-Further discovery of goldopened interior to settlementbad for Indians
-Disruption of coastal agriculture overcome by gov’t control of slave trade; cash crops were still important
-Miningnew areas open to agriculture to supply food to mining areas
-Rio de Janiero grew in importance and became capital in 1763
-Local wealth used to build churches, which stimulated artists, architects, and composers
-Mining zones still had the social hierarchy of the plantations
• Gold allowed Portugal to continue economic policies harmful in the long run
-Portugal used gold to buy manufactured goods b/c Portuguese industry=/=well developed
-Treaty signed w/ England in 1703 to ensure trademost Portuguese gold went to England
-Supply of gold dwindling after 1760; another difficult position (economic dependency on England)

Multiracial Societies
-The conquest and settlement of Latin Americalarge multiethnic societies
• Africans, Indians, and Europeanshierarchy of European dominance
• By the 18th century, the castas (ppl of mixed origins) were a large segment of the population
• Some preconquest Indian social organization preserved to serve goals of Spanish gov’t
-The Society of Castas
• European social organization existed, but social hierarchies were altered by miscegenation
-The sociedad de castas (caste society) had social hierarchy that reflected racial origins
-Mixed marriages were commonLarge groups of ppl of mixed background (mestizos)
-Mestizos < Europeans, but > Indians; similar stuff in Brazil (Europeans+Africans=mulattos)
-Ppl of mixed origins (castas) made up large percentage of the population
-Movement “between races” was possible; phys. characteristics only one part of social status
• Distinctions developed among whites; peninsulares=born in Spain, Creoles=born in New World
-Peninsulares were the highest social group, but Creoles dominated local economies
-Growing sense of self-ID from the peninsularesmovements for independence later on
• Racial hierarch+traditional Iberian distinctions of gender, age, and class
-Children remained under legal authority of father until age of 25
-Women were subordinate, but had rights in dowry and inheritance
-Widows often had power in family; lower-class women had some control in commerce

The 18th-Century Reforms
-The 18th century had lots of intellectual activity in Spain+Portugal and their colonies
• In Spain+colonies, small groups (amigos del pais-friends of the country) met to discuss reforms
• In Portugal, foreign influencesa group of progressive thinkers and bureaucrats
• Expansion of population and economy+higher demand for American products+warsnew importance of colonies
• Changes strengthened the Spanish and Portuguese Empires, but also created social unrestindependence movements
-The Shifting Balance of Politics and Trade
• By the 18th century, the Spanish colonial system and control over its colonies was weak
-Problems-weak rulers, foreign wars, increasing debt, declining population, and revolts
-France, England, and Holland used piracy and raids vs. Spain; seized Caribbean islands to use as plantations
-Failure of colonial system-silver payments declined, non-Spanish exports, self-sufficient colonies, corrupt colonial gov’t
-Despite Spanish decline, the Indies still attracted European interest
• 1701-Spanish king Charles II died w/o heir
-European nations backed claimants hoping to get control of Spain and its colonies
-Philip of Anjou, a Bourbon *, was declared the successorWar of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713)
-Treaty of Utrecht (1713)-branch of Bourbons=rulers, French and English merchants can trade w/ Spain+colonies
-Spain’s commercial monopoly ended***
-The Bourbon Reforms
• The new Bourbon dynasty in Spain tried to reform the internal and colonial gov’ts
-Enlightened despots like Charles III wanted to reform gov’t, economy, and military
-Opposition to reforms was suppressed; ex: the Jesuit order was kicked out in 1767
• Reforms were aimed at material improvements, not social/political upheaval
-French bureaucratic models were introduced; the tax system was reformed
-The navy was reformed and new ships were built; the convoy system was abandoned
-1778-policy of commercio libre opened more ports in Spain and America
• In the Indies, the Bourbons implemented broad reforms
-New viceroyalties-New Granada (1739) and Rio de la Plata (1778); better administration of these regions
-Royal investigators (ex: Jose de Galvez) sent to Indies revealed corruptionCreoles removed from gov’t
-Corregidores (local magistrates) replaced by intendants (provincial governors) based on French gov’t
-Measures improved taxation and gov’t, but angered Creoles whose political power declined
• Spain allied w/ France during 18th century; English threatSpanish colonial defense improved
-Regular Spanish troops sent+militia units led by Creoles created
-Colonization renewed; unoccupied/loosely controlled places settled (ex: California)
• During Bourbon reforms, the gov’t took an active role in the economy
-State monopolies est. for essential items; new areas opened up for development
-Monopoly companies given exclusive rights to areas in return for developing them
-Monopolies stimulated economy, but control of import pricescomplaints+rebellion
-Caribbean commerce expanded greatly under more open trading policies
-Buenos Aires in Rio de la Plata expanded and prospered
-New mining techniques and reforms+discovery of new veins expanded mining, esp. in Mexico
-The major centers of Spanish America grew rapidly in the 2nd half of the 1700s
• The Bourbon reforms revived the Spanish Empire, but…
-European imports became cheaper, so local goods couldn’t compete
-Links to int’l trade tightened while economic diversity in the colonies decreased
-Exclusion of Creoles from gov’t+increasing dependencysocial tensions
-Pombal and Brazil
• The Bourbon reforms in Spain were paralleled by the Pombal reforms in Portugal
-The Marquis of Pombal wanted to reform Portugal to break England’s hold
-Opposition to reforms also suppressed; ex: Jesuits expelled in 1759
-1778 treaty w/ Spain est. frontier between Brazil and Spanish colonies
• Pombal’s reforms focused on Brazil
-Eliminated contraband, gold smuggling, and tax evasion; administrators sent to enforce changes
-Monopoly companies created and new crops introduced to stimulate agriculture
• New regions in Brazil began to flourish
-Rio de Janiero and its hinterland became the center of agricultural growth
-A monopoly company was created to develop the Amazonian region
-Cotton and cacao plantations grew in the Amazon basin
-The southern plains of Brazil were colonized and grew wheat and cattle
• Social reforms also made
-Pombal abolished slavery in Portugal to ensure steady supply to Brazil
-Freed Indians from missionary control+encouraged intermarrying w/ them
• Although new policies were instituted, not that much changed
-Brazil was still dependent on slavery
-Trade imbalance w/ England reduced, but Brazil was still a raw materials producer
-Pombal’s policieseconomic boom in Brazil that set the stage for Brazilian independence
-Reforms, Reactions, and Revolts
• In the 18th century, the populations and economies of the Spanish/Portuguese American colonies grew rapidly
• Reforms disrupted older patterns of power and influencemore serious revolts
-1781-Comunero Revolt in New Granada almost succeeded in ending Spanish control
~ the same time-Indian uprising under Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui (Tupac Amaru) in Peru
-1788-Planned uprising for independence in Brazil discovered and stopped before it began
• Social and ethnic divisions in the colonies prevented unified revolts

-credits to ben huang