1. Chapter 19: Early Latin America

2. Spanish Emergence: Reconquista to Conquest
1492: Spanish Reconquista
Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile carried out a program of religious unification in Spain.
Last Muslim kingdom (Granada) fell to Catholic Spain
Jews and Muslims ordered to leave Spain if they would not convert
Isabella and Ferdinand used Columbus’ voyages Westward to expand Christianity.
Conquistadors:
1/5th of all treasure went to the crown
Conquistadors kept remaining wealth.
Very few were professional soldiers. Most simply saw an opportunity for a fresh start and potential wealth.
Horses, firearms, and steel weapons gave them an advantage

3. Europeans in the New World (#1)
Iberian Europeans (Spanish and Portuguese) who came to the Americas came almost completely for economic reasons.
The Americas had gold and silver deposits that motivated many miners and conquistadors to leave Europe behind and start a new life in the New World.
Many also came for the purposes of land ownership. Spanish conquest of Native American lands opened up enormous amounts of territory that needed to be farmed, settled, and assimilated into Spanish culture.
There were also a number of Catholic priests and missionaries that came to spread Christianity.
Overall, the New World offered new opportunities for many who did not have wealth or status back in Spain.

4. HERNÁN CORTÉS & MEXICO Arrived in Mexico in 1519
Led 600 men to Mexico with Spanish weaponry
Reached Tenochtitlán and captured Moctezuma II
Aided by: 1) Indian allies (peoples who had been conquered by Aztecs).
Moctezuma II was killed the next year.
Spread smallpox
1521: Tenochtitlán burned to ground; Mexico City constructed
Most of central Mexico became New Spain

5. Spanish Conquest in South America
1535: Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incan Empire with 200 men.
Inca had suffered from civil war, and smallpox…before any European ever arrived.
Spanish replaced capital Cuzco with Lima
By 1570: 192 Spanish cities throughout the Americas
European migration to the New World is one of the longest continuous migrations in history

6. New World Slavery (#2)
To benefit from their control of the land and extraction of resources, the Spanish turned toward slavery in the New World. There were three common forms of slavery employed by Spaniards in the Americas:
1) Encomienda System
Grants from Spanish crown that gave land and natives to Europeans
Europeans (encomenderos) were responsible for the natives, were to Christianize them, and could use them for labor
REALITY: Natives were abused, not paid, and died in huge numbers; encomenderos gained huge amounts of native slaves and tracts of land
Father Bartolomé de las Casas protested mistreatment of Indians in encomienda system; suggests African slaves are used instead. Later in life he called for an end to all forms of slavery.
2) African slaves
Brought over in large numbers to work on the plantations that grew cash crops like sugar and coffee. (#4)
3) Mita System
Particular to Peru; old Inca system of conscription labor
Spanish version: mandatory labor with small salaries, usually in silver mines
Required adult male Amerindians to work 2-4 months a year for Spanish

7. Model of Colonization (#3 and 5)
Establish colonies (declare land part of European mother country, aka New Spain)
Desirable areas included: coast, rivers, lakes, farm land, mines
Form encomiendas to organize labor and land
Land and labor supply rewarded to conquistador (the encomendero)
Native Americans were used as laborers Unintended consequence was decimated native populations due to European disease
Form cities within colonies
Based upon Roman grid system
Centered around central plazas with churches and town halls
Gradually remove conquistadors from positions of governmental power and replace them with professional bureaucrats such as lawyers, judges, and church officials
As Iberian European women began to arrive in the New World, it was proof that Spanish and Portuguese meant to settle in the region for generations to come.

8. Bartolome de Las Casas (#6)
As treatment of Native Americans increasingly worsened, de Las Casas became a spokesperson for better treatment of the natives.
He was a conquistador turned priest who argued that Christianity and its spread were not compatible with current treatment of the native population.
Instead, he argued for the importation of African slaves. Eventually, he will condemn all forms of slavery as inhumane.
P.411 (#7)

9. Agriculture and mining (#8)
Agriculture and mining were the basis of the Spanish colonial economy.
80% of the indigenous population lived and worked on the land.
Agriculture
Haciendas (rural estates) became the basis of wealth and power  self-sufficient for basic goods
Almost no exports produced, but mainly just supplied goods for local consumption.
Sugar became major crop in Brazil
Mining
Gold found in Brazil, Caribbean, Columbia, Chile
Silver discoveries made in Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia between
Bullion (solid bars): made from melting silver, gold shipped back to Spain and Portugal. Turned into silver and gold coins and then shipped to destinations around the globe for commodities.

10. Silver mining in New Spain (#11)
Potosi (Bolivia) was largest silver mine of the era.
80% of Spanish silver came from this mine!
Required native forced labor.
Output increased tremendously with the mercury amalgamation process (Read on p.418)
The silver brought from this mountain helped bankroll the European northern Renaissance movement.
Over the course of the Spanish empire’s ownership of this mine it is estimated that millions of native laborers died at Potosi.
It comes to to be known as Cerro Rico (rich mountain) to the Spanish and “the mountain that eats men” to the locals and workers.
Spanish galleons carried silver bullion to Spain
Causes inflation in Spanish economy (explained in chapter 17)
Pirates were a constant threat. (Like Pirates of the Caribbean)
Less than ½ of silver mined stayed in Spain.
Most was kept in New World.
Most of what went to Spain financed wars, paid off debt, and was spent on luxury goods from other regions.

11. Brazil: The First Plantation Colony (#13)
1532: Portugal officially claims and settles Brazil
Sugar plantations using Indian labor are set up on Brazilian coast.
Sugar plantations required tremendous amounts of labor
Slaves arrive from Africa to support plantations.
By 1700, Brazil had 150,000 slaves; half of Brazil’s total population.
7,000 slaves imported a year.
The more sugar being produced in the Americas, the greater the demand for slaves.

12. Dutch, French, and English colonies are established in the Caribbean to grow sugar, which threatens Brazilian monopoly.
Then, in 1695, gold is discovered in Brazilian interior. A mining town, Minas Gerais (General Mines), is established.
Gold rush began, later diamonds
Stimulated economy and opened interior for settlement.
Need for slaves  by 1775, ½ of Brazilian pop. were gold mining slaves
1735 – 1760: Brazilians mined 3 tons of gold a year
Brazil was greatest source of gold in West.
Rio de Janiero emerged as important port because it was closest to the gold mines.
Received African slaves for mines.
1763: Capital of Brazilian colony
Gold Mining in Brazil

13. Multiracial Societies (#14)
All across Latin America, new ethnic groups emerged as different races began having children (miscegenation).
Few European women lived in Latin America, which led to mixed marriages and sexual exploitation.
Europeans - conquerors and migrants
Indians - conquered, indigenous peoples
Africans – slaves
A social hierarchy developed, named Sociedad de Castas
Peninsulares: Colonists born in Europe
Creoles: Colonists born in Americas of European parents
Mestizos: European + indigenous
Mulattos: European + African
Indians
Zambos: indigenous + African
African slaves

14. People to Know Terms to know
Cortes
Pizarro
Bartolome de las Casas
Conquistador
Encomienda
Mita
Potosi
Huancavelica
Bullion
Minas Gerais
Rio de Janeiro
Sociedad de Castas