Spanish Colonization of the Americas: 16th-18th Centuries
Spanish Conquest and Colonization of the Americas
1. Carlos I
Culminating the process initiated by Columbus, which was to establish a route from the West to Asia, it became necessary to find a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. An expedition led by Magellan and Elcano was organized between 1519 and 1522. This marked the first circumnavigation of the world, proving that the Earth was round and that Columbus’s project was economically unviable.
- 1519-1521: Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire and founded, in 1532, the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
- 1531-1542: Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire and founded Lima, which became the capital of the new Viceroyalty of Peru. He incorporated the lands of Chile, explored by Diego Almagro, and Rio de la Plata, where Buenos Aires was founded by Pedro de Mendoza.
2. Felipe II
Felipe II encouraged the exploration of the Pacific. In the Philippines, Manila was founded, and for commercial exploitation, an organization called the Manila Galleon was established.
3. Organization of the Colonies
Since 1502, political domination and economic exploitation of the new territories began to be organized. Initially, conquest was carried out by private expeditions in which the conquerors signed a capitulation with the Crown and the governors. Settlers from Andalusia, the Basque Country, and Extremadura were selected by the House of Trade and moved to the administrative organization, “Cities under the command of a Governor.”
The Council of the Indies (1524) was an advisory body concerning matters of the Indies based in Castile. The Viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru were established, each headed by a viceroy appointed by the Crown.
4. Implications for Indigenous Peoples
The colonization resulted in a strong demographic decline among indigenous populations and the destruction of their traditional lifestyles, social organization, and spiritual beliefs. The defeat led to a sense of pessimism and loss of vitality.
5. Labor Systems
The American Indian was considered a subject of the Crown and thus a free man. This involved the payment of a tax or personal service to the representatives of the Spanish monarchy in America.
Types of Exploitation:
Forced Labor (Mita): Indians residing near a Spanish settlement were required to provide a quota of workers for agricultural, urban, or mining labor in exchange for low wages. This system was based on the pre-Columbian Mita system.
Encomienda: One of the methods adopted for the exploitation of American territories after their discovery. The monarchy granted Castilian settlers the tutelage of a number of Indians, giving them the authority and power to receive from them a set of taxes, either in labor or in kind. In return, the encomendero was obligated to instruct and evangelize the Indians. It became a disguised form of exploitation similar to slavery. Established on December 20, 1503, it mirrored the system used during the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula. The encomendero had an obligation to evangelize the Indians, receiving taxes and benefits from them. The Indians were known as “mandated” and were required to deliver an annual tribute to the encomendero and work for him. The system entered a crisis in the late 17th century, having been regulated during its existence by the Laws of Burgos of 1512 and the New Laws of 1542, which reiterated the prohibition of subjecting Indians to slavery and limited the scope of the encomiendas, which were supposed to disappear upon the death of their holders. The encomiendas were abolished in 1791.
Concertaje: As the Crown was unable to provide encomiendas to all Spanish colonists, the concertaje system emerged in 1601. This involved a contract between workers and landowners, where workers agreed to work in exchange for a daily wage. The concertaje strengthened the large estates and eventually replaced the encomienda. The written contract typically lasted from six months to one year. The worker was entitled to a house and basic services and was supposed to be paid in cash, not in kind. These systems dominated much of Spanish America, especially from the end of the 16th century.
Slavery: Enslaved Africans were employed in plantation systems, gold mines, and domestic service.