1. How were Spanish colonies organized?
Chapter 4, Section 3
How were Spanish colonies organized?

2. At the top of Latin American society were the peninsulares, Spanish and Portuguese officials born in Europe.
Below the peninsulares were the creoles, descendants of Europeans born in Latin America.

3. The offspring of Europeans and Native Americans became known as the mestizos. The offspring of Africans and Europeans—called mulattoes—became another social group
The peninsulares and creoles considered all multiethnic groups to be socially inferior.

4. One source of wealth for the Portuguese and Spanish came from resource extraction (gold and silver).
The abundant supply of those precious metals exported from Latin American colonies financed Spain’s wars and stimulated further colonization.

5. Colonial farming practices damaged the environment as a result of deforestation, overgrazing, and overcultivation of single export crops.

6. The Spanish used the encomienda system
The Spanish used the encomienda system. In this system, Spanish landowners forced Native Americans to pay taxes and provide labor.
The landowners were expected to protect them and ensure they were instructed in the Catholic faith.

7. Spain and Portugal regulated the trade of their colonies to keep other European nations out.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century, however, the British and French were too powerful to be kept out of these lucrative markets.

8. To rule his American empire, the Spanish king appointed viceroys.
Spaniards held all major government positions.

9. *Cultural Exchange: European Missionaries introduced Christianity to the Native Americans.

10. Spanish and Portuguese rulers were determined to Christianize the indigenous peoples in Latin America.
The Catholic Church had great influence upon the society and culture of the Americas.

11. To make their efforts easier, the missionaries brought Native Americans together into villages, or missions.
Missions enabled missionaries to control the lives of the Native Americans and make them docile subjects of the empire.

12. Bartoleme de Las Casas lamented the harsh conditions of Indian laborers, that were a result of the encomienda system.
Some historians suggest that his reforms led Spanish leaders to look to Africa to meet their labor needs.