Latin America:Colonization
and Urbanization
1450-1750
Pre-Invasion
• Describe what life was like for Mesoamerica
• Describe life in the Andean Highlands
1492
• The end of the Reconquista
• The Moors expelled (and the Jews)
• Cristobal Colombo
Columbus Voyage, 1492
What was effect back in Europe?
• New commodities
• New land
• New ideas
• New groups of immigrants
Who went to the New World?
• In Latin America:– The Spanish and Portuguese commoners:
• Merchant class• Non-nobles, seeking nobility
– Conquistadores
And they did what?• Tried to establish fiefs• Created plantation
economy• 3 phases:
1.) 1492-1570colonial administration (Indian discrimination/slavery)2.) 1570-1700Colonial society & economy reached maturity3.) 1700sreform in American colonies
The Spanish CaribbeanIndigenous peoples were the Taino
- Lived in small villages under authority of chiefs– Showed little resistance to
European visitors• Columbus built the fort of Santo
Domingo, capital of the Spanish Caribbean – Taino conscripted to mine gold – Encomiendas: land grants to
Spanish settlers with total control over local people
– Brutal abuses plus smallpox brought decline of Taino populations
Cortes• Aztec and Inca societies
wealthier, more complex than Caribbean societies
• 1519-1521 (450 men)• Brought down the Aztec empire
– Advanced weapons:• Steel• Gunpowder• Horses
– Alliances with indigenous people• Tribal resentment against the
Mexica – Diseases (smallpox)
The Road the Ancient Mexicas Travelled
Pizarro
• 1532-1533• Defeated the Inca at
the capital, Cuzco• Looted gold, silver,
other precious metals, jewels from Incan buildings, dead bodies, etc.
How could Pizarro’s tiny force do it? (>600)
• Many subjects of Incan rule despised the Inca b/c of role as overlord and tax collector
• Epidemic disease
1570
• End of Age of Conquest• 192 Spanish cities and towns in the New
World• Colonial American society
– European-style society in cities, indigenous culture persisted in rural areas
– More exploitation of New World than settlement– Still, many Iberian migrants settled in the Americas,
1500-1800
Impact on Native Indian Populations
• Population decline• Rise of mestizos• Indian Slavery• Econmiendas• Mita• Flee to the cities
Plaza de Recocijo de Potosi (1830, oil painting)
Colonial Government
• Based on coerced labor• Hacienda
– Similar to what?
• All reported back to the crown– Viceroys (Mexico and Peru)– Then Audiencias (judicial
regions)– Then magistrates (town/village)
Brazil, model plantation colony
• With two people (groups of 3), create an outline of what people need to know about Brazil. Write this like a 1-pager (picture, thesis, CD, etc.)
• Share with the class.
Multi-racial Societies
• Indigenous Americans, Europeans, and Africans brought together in the Americas
• As conquerors, Europeans “superior”• People of mixed-parentage in the middle• Slaves at bottom• Disparity as to who was more elite: whites from
the Americas (creoles) or from Europe (peninsulares)
• Patriarchal culture
Reforms in the 18th Century• Spain lost its European
dominance • Other European countries took
control of Caribbean• Latin America became better
able to provide manufactured goods
• War of Spanish Succession ended with French Bourbon on throne
• Spain had to open trade to British
• No more Spanish monopoly!
The Bourbons• Increased viceroyalties• Exposed corrupt
rulers/removed from office
• Improved military readiness of colonies
• Colonized California
The Bourbons
• Created monopolies/improved economy• Weakened Latin American position (created
dependency)• Alienated Creole leadership
So, kill the tyrant!
• The Creole leadership lead to revolts against the crown
• New Granada
• Peru
• But, social/racial disparity prevented widespread & unified revolt
So, where does that leave us?
• Widespread social unrest
• Widespread racial unrest
• Widespread economic disparity