5. Connect Europe & the Americas
• Write a paragraph elaborating on these topics
from before the break:
– Protestant Reformation & Counter-Reformation
– Mercantilism
• Write a short paragraph summarizing Aztec
and Incan SPICE
12. Life in the Spanish Americas
• Conquistadors as independent men vs.
colonial bureaucracy
• Mercantilism based on encomiendas,
haciendas, and mining
• Racially mixed society
• Catholic Church as Unifier
18. • Born in
Spain;
governors &
above.
Peninsulares
• Wealthiest;
born in
Americas
Creole
• Mulatto (half-Spanish; half-black)
• Mestizo (half-Spanish; half-Indian)
Mixed
(50/50)
• Racial terms not meant to
be entirely negative (still
not…)
Other mixed
races
• Worked on farms; conversion meant
not enslaving them
Native
American
• Manumission common
• By 18th- century
majority were free
African
23. Bartolome de las Casas, A Short
Account of the Destruction of the Indies
As we have said, the island of Hispaniola was the first to witness the
arrival of Europeans and the first to suffer the wholesale slaughter of
its people and the devastation and depopulation of the land. It all
began with the Europeans taking native women and children both as
servants and to satisfy their own base appetites; then, not content with
what the local people offered them of their own free will…they started
taking for themselves the food the natives contrived to produce by the
sweat of their brows, which was in all honesty little enough…
They forced their way into native settlements, slaughtering everyone
they found there, including small children, old men, pregnant women,
and even women who had just given birth. They hacked them to
pieces, slicing open their bellies with their swords…They even laid
wagers on whether they could manage to slice a man in two at a stroke,
or cut an individual's head from his body, or disembowel him with a
single blow of their axes.
24. …[men] work in perpetual darkness, with no idea of when it is
day or night; and as these are places never visited by the sun, not
only is there perpetual darkness but it is also extremely cold,
with a very heavy atmosphere unfit for man’s nature; and so it
happens that those who enter the mine for the first time feel
weak and dizzy, as happened to me, experiencing nausea and
cramps in the stomach.
The miners always work by candlelight…Each man has a fifty-
pound load in a blanket tied over his breast, with the ore it
contains at his back…They climb by catching hold with both
hands, and in this way ascend the great distances I have
described, often more than 150 estados, a horrible thing about
which it is frightening even to think….Such is the power of
money, for the sake of which men do and suffer so much.
José de Acosta, Natural and Moral History of the Indies,
1590
27. “The missionary has to be like the father of a
family; for the Indian, whatever his age, is like a
child in needing to be trained and punished for
his own good.” (Jesuit missionary)
28.
29. Mission: Success Story…but at a
price?
• Missions as a place for education
– ….museums do not show whipping posts
• Disease
• Poor mental health
• YET were missions a place of refuge in a
world where economic alternatives were
few?
32. cf. ‘Black Legend’ Article
• Summarize Cerio’s reassessment of the
Black Legend in one sentence and then rank
his evidence. What is his strongest evidence
and weakest evidence and why?
• To what extent do the Spanish deserve the
reputation as having a cruel empire in its
American colonies?
• In criticizing the “Black Legend” do we
fabricate a “White Legend” in its place?
Editor's Notes
Virgin Mary with all of the explorers, because they all sailed from Seville. She’s blessing them (the river was so wide at that point). Situated in Salon del Almirante (Admiral’s Salon) which Isabel had put into the palace in 1503 as an office where personnel could be hired to man expeditions to the new world – many of the early voyages were planned in this room (Columbus, Balboa [Pacific], Vincente Pinzon [Amazon], and other conquistadors)
We’ve discussed the changes Europe underwent internally in Unit 4: now we’ll see what happened when they began to colonize Western Hemisphere. To organize your notes, we’ll warm-up with review of the 15th century world and then spend the rest of today discussing the Spanish Colonies. We’ll end class looking toward comparing Spanish colonies with French and British colonies up north, and then discuss the global impact of the African slave trade next week.
Dutch woodblock print from 16th century shows conquistador behavior
WRITE ON BOARD: 15th century
Great Man theory suggests that explorations stemmed from the daring and vision of exceptional individuals: Vasco de Gama, Cortes, Henry the Navigator, Ferdinand & Isabella
Cultural/economic causation: Southernization and Renaissance – missionary drive & Crusading spirit (Henry and Columbus); Europe had gotten used to goods imported from Asia (spices, perfumes)
Political causation: rivalries between European kingdoms to prosper in trade when land routes are cut off by Ottomans
Reminder in last class we discussed what CCOT for Europe from 1450 to 1750.
½ of class works on one, other ½ on the other
Defining our geography and thinking in terms of REGIONS. Handout blank map: Let’s get our geography straight: what can we label?
North America
South America
Mesoamerica
Andes region
Caribbean
Defining our terms
Who had the most by 1700? (We want to go from 1450 to 1750! Exploration to Empires and a changed Europe!)
Can you fill in the legend of your map?
Spaniards in America: 120,000 in 1570 vs. 400,000 by 1650. More than doubled in less than 100 years!
We’ll discuss these 3 empires in the next class, for today we’ll focus on:
The legacy is obvious in terms of language: where were the Spanish? Line this map with…
Spain no longer controls these territories, but legacy is cultural: language and religion is successful. Catholic Reformation succeeds – tells us that for the Spanish, those they conquered became Spanish
Conquistadors were adventurers (like Columbus!) seeking independent wealth. Spanish crown created a bureaucracy to keep their behavior in check, particularly to keep $ flowing home
Money driven by the resources found in New World. Mercantilism as a zero-sum system: wealth is measured in physical resources, so the land of the New World was exploited, particularly in 3 industries: encomiendas, ranches, mining
The mixed society that was created is important to understanding Spanish Americas, and to compare with English colonies
Catholic Church (remember Reformations of Europe?!) seeking to save the people they find
Conquistadors: how should we describe them? See previous DBQ
Judge Cortes for yourself. After Columbus’ voyages became known in Spain, the king and queen gave their blessings for more explorations to take place and settlements to begin. Cortes was from Seville, where the voyages had been setting off, and the New World for some young men was a place of opportunities. When Cuba was conquered by the Spanish, his exploits were noted and he asked and was given 600 soldiers and 20 horses to explore Mexico. But then enmity between the governor of Cuba and Cortes meant his expedition was recalled…
So some of his soldiers, loyal to Velázquez, wanted to return to Cuba. Cortés needed total commitment to his expedition, so he scuttled his ships by smashing holes in them and abandoning them on the beach. From then on, victory was the only option for his troops.
At one point Cortes was also given a female Indian interpreter, who is traditionally known as La Malinche, and with her help he was able to form alliances with many of the Mexica’s neighbors and enemies. Without them he would not have been able to defeat the Aztecs. She and Cortes had a son together – the first MESTIZO of the new world. To what extent Malinche cooperated is lost to us: we know many women were raped and abused in the process of conquest, but without her the conquest would not have happened.
Cortes’ disobedience against Velazquez was rewarded by Spanish crown upon conquest of Tenochtitlan
Metaphor: The Cathedral was constructed on part of the former Aztec sacred site in Tenochtitlán next to the Aztec twin pyramid; the Spanish conquistadores razed the Aztec pyramid and used the stones to build the Cathedral
Compare with other empires: to what extent is CULTURE imposed on the conquered? Hellenistic period = syncretism; Romanization in Western Europe; tribute system of China; Islamic empires. All of these were for the most part VOLUNTARY adaptations over time. Sense of superiority of the imperialists: yes. But systematic interest in imposing culture? Perhaps not.
Bringing in European forms: Cusco’s holiest temple (with walls built without mortar) was partially destroyed and made into a Catholic monastary with European architecture.
POWER SCHEME
Creoles thought to have connxns at home that made them suspect
Amazing that Creoles accepted being wealthier than peninsulares but without political power. But this was good for monarchy to maintain control.
Economic situation: Creoles owned the land – this is what made them wealthy.
All of the races involved led to some interesting social phenomena:
Racial terms weren’t negative (mi negrita = my sweetheart). This society acknowledged extra-marital and inter-racial relationships. Children inherited free status of their parent (compare Thomas Jefferson!) and by 1700s mulattos could be parish priest.
Castizos: 3/4 Caucasian, 1/4 Native Cholos (or Coyotes): 1/4 Caucasian, 3/4 Native Mestizos: Native and Caucasian Mulattos (or Pardos): Caucasian and Black African Zambos: Black Africans mixed with Natives
Compare the power scheme with demographics: By 1550s, much of the native population of the Americas were killed by diseases
How bad was
Encomendar: to entrust
Spanish gov’t entrusts colonizers with authority to gather natives into villages where they are responsible for teaching them Spanish and Xty. In return for small plots of land and this instruction, the Amerindians had to pay tribute and work in fields, mines, and construction projects. In some ways this continued the mita system of Incans in Peru, but you can probably guess what kind of abuses could happen with a system like this. Also kind of resembles FEUDAL system of Europe, which makes sense since Spanish king had that mentality.
The provision of labourers for the silver mines was a matter of debate for both Spanish administrators and missionaries because of the extremely harsh conditions in which miners had to work. Most Spanish officials argued that that the indigenous people’s work was the contribution they had to pay in exchange for the ‘gift’ of being evangelised (converted to Christianity). Although Acosta did not fully oppose such views, he sharply criticised his compatriots. At the same time, it is also clear that there was wealth in Potosi and much contact with the outside world.
Hacienda: plantations growing sugar. Develop LARGE LAND owning communities, not small farmers. Use slaves and tenant farmers (they live on the land they work on). This is why Columbian Exchange is important to know – it explains why people behaved the way they did
In all of this, Catholicism reigns supreme. Remember we talked about that with Crusades, Inquisition, & Catholic Reformation
Analyze this painting of a missionary: what’s the tone?
Indians were believed to be incapable of choosing what was best for them. Missionaries concluded that the New World "noble savages" had to be resettled into communities centered upon the church, and there immersed in Christianity until they agreed to embrace it
Map: missions are built in a straight line to be one day’s journey apart.
Missions were a way to civilize and convert Indians, according to religious orders (esp. Jesuits – Counter Reformation!). This meant secluding Native Americans onto separate land.
Poor Mental Health:
New concept of ‘time’ & work (but only for self-sufficiency)
Physical punishment
Language
Depression, desertion, & suicide
SYNCRETISM! Day of the Dead is based on indigenous practices (syncretism – local practices moved to saint’s days). Mesoamericans believed death was not the end – there were days set aside to celebrate & honor the deceased. Some days they are even reborn. Use of skulls and offerings to the dead are given on the “day of the dead”. The degree to which this holiday is celebrated relates to the extent to which indigenous culture is celebrated.
COMPARE POPE SPREADING CATHOLICISM TO NORTHERN EUROPE IN UNIT 3.
More subtle syncretism: guinea pig at the Last Supper in Cusco.
