Spanish and Portuguese Colonies in the Americas By: Manoela Reis

Spanish settlers and missionaries came behind the conquistadors to the Americas. Wherever they reached they established colonies, and claimed the land and its people for their king and Church. When there was resistance, the Spanish imposed their will by force.

Ruling the Spanish Empire: Governing the Provinces Spain’s empire went from California to South America by the mid-1500s. These lands were divided into 4 provinces, including New Spain (Mexico) and Peru. To maintain strict control over its empire, the king set up the Council of the Indies to pass laws for the colonies. He also had representatives called viceroys, who ruled in his name in each province. Officials and advisory councils of Spain settlers, helped the viceroy rule. Those officials were watched by the Council of the Indies so that they would not assume too much authority.

Spread of Christianity The Catholic Church worked with Spain’s government to convert the Native Americans. Franciscans, Jesuits and other missionaries built churches and worked to make the new members of the church loyal to Spain’s king. European clothing, Spanish language and new crafts were introduced to the Natives by the missionaries.

Controlling Trade Spain watched closely its economic activities. The colonists could only export raw silver and gold to Spain. And by law Spanish colonies could only buy Spanish manufactured goods. Sugar cane was introduced into the West Indies and else where. It quickly became a profitable resources. The cane was refined into sugar, molasses and rum. However the plantations needed a lot of space and workers to be profitable.

Enconmienda The Spanish monarchs granted the conquistadors the right to demand labor or tribute from Natives in a particular area. This right was called the enconmienda. Conquistadors used the enconmiendas to force the Native Americans to work under brutal conditions, if the workers resisted they were hunted down and killed. Like Bartolomé de Las Casas some priests condemned the evils of the enconmienda system. In 1542 laws forbade enslavement and abuse of Native Americans, but no changes actually happened, and the slaves became peons.

Bringing Workers From Africa To fill the places of the natives, Las Casas told the colonists to import African workers. But he soon regretted that because it furthered brutal African slave trade. Within a few generations, Africans and their American- born descendants outnumbered European settlers in the Americas. In the cities some enslaved Africans earned enough money to buy their freedom, other resisted slavery by rebelling or running away.

Colonial Society and Culture Spanish culture was dominant in the cities, the blending of diverse traditions changed people’s lives throughout the Americas. Europeans learned Native American styles of building, ate their foods, and traveled in Indian-style canoes. Indians were taught the European’s religion, and they were introduced to animals like horses. Africans contributed with their farming methods, cooking, crops and arts. In Cuba, Haiti and other countries, Africans blended African and Christian beliefs, and created new religions.

A layered Society The Spanish colonial society was made up of different social classes Peninsulares were at the top, they were the people that were born in Spain. Creoles were after them, they were American-born descendants of Spanish settlers. Mestizos and Mulattoes were lower social groups. Mestizos were Native American and Europeans descent, and mulattoes were African and European descent. Native Americans and Africans descent formed the lowest social class. Peninsulares Creoles Mestizos Mulattoes Natives and A Africans

Lively Towns and Cities Colonial cities were centers of government, commerce and European culture. The cities had a center plaza, or square, and around it, stood government buildings and a Spanish-style church. Broad avenues and monuments symbolized European power and wealth. Architecture and paintings, as well as poetry and exchange of ideas, flourished in Spanish cities in the Americas.

Emphasizing Education To meet the Church’s needs of educated priests, the colonies built universities. Before Harvard as the first college in the 13 English colonies, a dozen Spanish Americans universities were already founded. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a woman who wished to attend a university, but she couldn’t because she was a woman. Juana had to enter a convent so she could study. There she used her time to study and write poetry, today she is considered one of the greatest poets ever to write in Spanish.

Beyond the Spanish Empire: Settling Brazil As the Native Americans in the Spanish Empire, the natives who lived in Brazil (Tupian Indians) were wiped out by diseases. In the 1530’s Portuguese nobles had been given grants of land in Brazil. They agreed to develop the land and share profits with the Portuguese crown. Unlike Spain’s American colonies, Brazil offered no instant wealth from silver or gold. However settlers exported brazilwood, which was used to produce valuable dye. Soon settlers turned to agriculture and raising cattle. Like the Spanish they used Native and African slaves to clean plantations.

Challenging Portugal and Spain The wealth of the Americas in the 1500’s helped make Spain and Portugal the most powerful countries in Europe. To get around England, Netherlands and France’s jealousy of Portugal and Spain, that prohibited trade, smugglers traded illegally with Portuguese and Spanish colonists. Dutch, English and French pirates preyed on treasure ships from the Americas, some of those pirates operated with approval of European governments.