Spanish Colonies

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Spanish Colonies EARLY ENCOUNTERS, 1492-1734 Spanish Colonies Content Warning: This resource addresses sexual assault and physical violence. Resource: Life in Encomienda Background The spread of Catholicism was the stated goal of the Spanish conquest of the New World, but the Spanish also wanted to profit from their new territories. Once the treasure of Native civilizations was looted, colonists turned to mining and plantation farming, and needed to find cheap labor to maximize their profits. In her early instructions for the governance of the colonies, Queen Isabella I of Spain required all Native people to pay tribute to the crown or its representatives. Out of this directive, the encomienda system was born. In this system, encomenderos were awarded the control of all of the Native people who lived in a defined territory, usually in recognition of special services to the crown. For example, conquistador Hernán Cortés was awarded an encomienda territory that included 115,000 Native inhabitants. Cortés’s power over his people was absolute. He could demand tribute in the form of crops or currency. He could force them to construct forts and towns, or work the mines or plantations. He could sexually exploit the women, and even sell the people who worked for him to other encomenderos. In time, the horrors of life on the encomiendas would spark outrage back in Spain. About the Image Bartholomé de las Casas arrived in the New World in 1502 as part of one of the first waves of the Spanish invasion of the Americas. He was rewarded with an encomienda for his services to the crown. Over time, he grew horrified by the outrageous abuse suffered by Native people under the encomienda system, and in 1515, he gave up his own encomienda and began a campaign to end the system. This illustration comes © Women and the American Story 2021 Page 1 of 3 EARLY ENCOUNTERS, 1492-1734 Spanish Colonies from a book he published in 1542. A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies is de las Casas’s firsthand account of the abuses he witnessed, and the illustrations that accompanied the text were intended to horrify readers. This particular illustration centers the suffering of women and children, and hints at the sexual exploitation Native women experienced at the hands of their oppressors. Bartholomé de las Casas’s work outraged readers back in Spain and prompted the Spanish government to pass the New Laws in 1542. The New Laws aimed to free all Native people from the encomienda system within a generation. This was not a definitive end to the exploitation of Native people in the Spanish colonies, but it was an important step in addressing their oppression. Vocabulary • conquistador: The name for the Spanish or Portuguese military leaders who conquered Central and South America in the 1500s. • encomenderos: The name for people who controlled encomiendas. • encomienda: A grant by the Spanish king or queen that allowed a person to demand tribute and forced labor from the Native people in a defined territory. • tribute: Payment made to a ruler. © Women and the American Story 2021 Page 2 of 3 EARLY ENCOUNTERS, 1492-1734 Spanish Colonies Discussion Questions • What does this image reveal about the lives of Native people under the encomienda system? • In what ways were women uniquely vulnerable to the abuses of the encomienda system? • Why were images like this circulated in Spain? What was the outcome of the campaign to end the encomienda system? © Women and the American Story 2021 Page 3 of 3.
Recommended publications
  • The English Invasion of Spanish Florida, 1700-1706
    Florida Historical Quarterly Volume 41 Number 1 Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol 41, Article 7 Issue 1 1962 The English Invasion of Spanish Florida, 1700-1706 Charles W. Arnade Part of the American Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Article is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Florida Historical Quarterly by an authorized editor of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Arnade, Charles W. (1962) "The English Invasion of Spanish Florida, 1700-1706," Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 41 : No. 1 , Article 7. Available at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol41/iss1/7 Arnade: The English Invasion of Spanish Florida, 1700-1706 THE ENGLISH INVASION OF SPANISH FLORIDA, 1700-1706 by CHARLES W. ARNADE HOUGH FLORIDA had been discovered by Ponce de Leon in T 1513, not until 1565 did it become a Spanish province in fact. In that year Pedro Menendez de Aviles was able to establish a permanent capital which he called St. Augustine. Menendez and successive executives had plans to make St. Augustine a thriving metropolis ruling over a vast Spanish colony that might possibly be elevated to a viceroyalty. Nothing of this sort happened. By 1599 Florida was in desperate straits: Indians had rebelled and butchered the Franciscan missionaries, fire and flood had made life in St. Augustine miserable, English pirates of such fame as Drake had ransacked the town, local jealousies made life unpleasant.
    [Show full text]
  • The New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians(1542) King Charles V
    The New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians (1542) King Charles V King Charles V. 1971. The New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians. New York: AMS Press Inc. The Spanish arrival in the Americas arguably posed as many challenges for the Iberian monarchy and its peoples as it did for their New World counterparts. In a very short time span, Spain grew from a loose confederation of kingdoms into a global empire. Even as Christopher Columbus was embarking upon his epic voyage to the West, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were struggling to consolidate their power over the Iberian peninsula. The more than 700-year effort to repel the Moorish invasion from North Africa had just ended in 1492, and the monarchs faced considerable obstacles. On the one hand, they had to contend with the question of how to assimilate peoples that geography, culture, and religion (the Moors, for instance, were Muslims) long had distanced from one another. On the other hand, and in the absence of a clearly defined common enemy, they had to find a means of maintaining and strengthening their hold over the sizeable population of nobles (hidalgos) who earlier had offered them their loyalty in exchange for the possibilities of material gain. With the fighting over, the monarchs could no longer offer the longstanding incentives of land, honor, and treasure as a means of reigning in the nobility. Ferdinand and Isabella sat atop a veritable powder keg. Columbus's arrival in the New World drew Spain's internal conflicts and challenges into the global arena where distance made them even more problematic.
    [Show full text]
  • California's Legal Heritage
    California’s Legal Heritage n the eve of California’s statehood, numerous Spanish Civil Law Tradition Odebates raged among the drafters of its consti- tution. One argument centered upon the proposed o understand the historic roots of the legal tradi- retention of civil law principles inherited from Spain Ttion that California brought with it to statehood and Mexico, which offered community property rights in 1850, we must go back to Visigothic Spain. The not conferred by the common law. Delegates for and Visigoths famously sacked Rome in 410 CE after years against the incorporation of civil law elements into of war, but then became allies of the Romans against California’s common law future used dramatic, fiery the Vandal and Suevian tribes. They were rewarded language to make their cases, with parties on both with the right to establish their kingdom in Roman sides taking opportunities to deride the “barbarous territories of Southern France (Gallia) and Spain (His- principles of the early ages.” Though invoked for dra- pania). By the late fifth century, the Visigoths achieved ma, such statements were surprisingly accurate. The complete independence from Rome, and King Euric civil law tradition in question was one that in fact de- established a code of law for the Visigothic nation. rived from the time when the Visigoths, one of the This was the first codification of Germanic customary so-called “barbarian” tribes, invaded and won Spanish law, but it also incorporated principles of Roman law. territory from a waning Roman Empire. This feat set Euric’s son and successor, Alaric, ordered a separate in motion a trajectory that would take the Spanish law code of law known as the Lex Romana Visigothorum from Europe to all parts of Spanish America, eventu- for the Hispanic Romans living under Visigothic rule.
    [Show full text]
  • Expedition Conquistador Brochure
    EXPEDITION CONQUISTADOR Traveling Exhibit Proposal The Palm Beach Museum of Natural History Minimum Requirements 500-3,500 sq. ft. (variable, based on available space) of display area 8-12 ft ceiling clearance Available for 6-8 week (or longer) periods Expedition Conquistador takes three to seven days to set up and take down Assistance by venue staff may be required to unload, set up and break down the exhibit Venue provides all set up/break down equipment, including pallet jacks, fork lift, etc. Structure of Exhibit Basic: Armored Conquistador Diorama – (3 foot soldiers or 1 mounted on horse, 120 sq. ft.) Maps and Maritime Navigation Display Weapons and Armor Display Trade in the New World Display Daily Life and Clothing Display American Indian Weaponry and material culture (contemporary 16th century) Optional: First Contact Diorama (explorers, foot soldiers, sailors, priests, American Indians) American Indian Habitation Diorama Living History Component Both the basic and optional versions of Expedition Conquistador can be adjusted via the modification of the number of displays to accommodate venues with limited exhibition space. We welcome your questions regarding “Expedition Conquistador” For additional information or to book reservations please contact Rudolph F. Pascucci The Palm Beach Museum of Natural History [email protected] (561) 729-4246 Expedition Conquistador Expedition Conquistador provides the The beginnings of European colonization in public with a vision of what life was like for the New World began a series of violent the earliest European explorers of the New changes. Cultures and technology both World as they battled to claim territory, clashed on a monumental basis.
    [Show full text]
  • The Spanish Conquistadores and Colonial Empire
    The Spanish Conquistadores and Colonial Empire Treaty of Tordesillas Columbus’s colonization of the Atlantic islands inaugurated an era of aggressive Spanish expansion across the Atlantic. Spanish colonization after Columbus accelerated the rivalry between Spain and Portugal to an unprecedented level. The two powers vied for domination through the acquisition of new lands. In the 1480s, Pope Sixtus IV had granted Portugal the right to all land south of the Cape Verde islands, leading the Portuguese king to claim that the lands discovered by Columbus belonged to Portugal, not Spain. But in 1493, Spanish-born Pope Alexander VI issued two papal decrees giving legitimacy to Spain’s Atlantic claims over the claims of Portugal. Hoping to salvage Portugal’s holdings, King João II negotiated a treaty with Spain. The Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 drew a north-to-south line through South America. Spain gained territory west of the line, while Portugal retained the lands east of the line, including the east coast of Brazil. Map of the land division determined by the Treaty of Tordesillas. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons Conquistadores and Spanish colonization Columbus’s discovery opened a floodgate of Spanish exploration. Inspired by tales of rivers of gold and timid, malleable native peoples, later Spanish explorers were relentless in their quest for land and gold. Spanish explorers with hopes of conquest in the New World were known as conquistadores. Hernán Cortés arrived on Hispaniola in 1504 and participated in the conquest of the Island. Cortés then led the exploration of the Yucatán Peninsula in hopes of attaining glory.
    [Show full text]
  • The LEGACY of CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS in the AMERICAS New Nations and a Transatlantic Discourse of Empire
    The LEGACY of CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS in the AMERICAS New Nations and a Transatlantic Discourse of Empire Elise Bartosik-Vélez The Legacy of Christopher Columbus in the Americas The LEGACY of CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS in the AMERICAS New Nations and a Transatlantic Discourse of Empire Elise Bartosik-Vélez Vanderbilt University Press NASHVILLE © 2014 by Vanderbilt University Press Nashville, Tennessee 37235 All rights reserved First printing 2014 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file LC control number 2013007832 LC classification number e112 .b294 2014 Dewey class number 970.01/5 isbn 978-0-8265-1953-5 (cloth) isbn 978-0-8265-1955-9 (ebook) For Bryan, Sam, and Sally Contents Acknowledgments ................................. ix Introduction .......................................1 chapter 1 Columbus’s Appropriation of Imperial Discourse ............................ 15 chapter 2 The Incorporation of Columbus into the Story of Western Empire ................. 44 chapter 3 Columbus and the Republican Empire of the United States ............................. 66 chapter 4 Colombia: Discourses of Empire in Spanish America ............................ 106 Conclusion: The Meaning of Empire in Nationalist Discourses of the United States and Spanish America ........................... 145 Notes ........................................... 153 Works Cited ..................................... 179 Index ........................................... 195 Acknowledgments any people helped me as I wrote this book. Michael Palencia-Roth has been an unfailing mentor and model of Methical, rigorous scholarship and human compassion. I am grate- ful for his generous help at many stages of writing this manu- script. I am also indebted to my friend Christopher Francese, of the Department of Classical Studies at Dickinson College, who has never hesitated to answer my queries about pretty much any- thing related to the classical world.
    [Show full text]
  • Spain's Empire in the Americas
    ahon11_sena_ch02_S2_s.fm Page 44 Friday, October 2, 2009 10:41 AM ahon09_sena_ch02_S2_s.fm Page 45 Friday, October 26, 2007 2:01 PM Section 2 About a year later, Cortés returned with a larger force, recaptured Step-by-Step Instruction Tenochtitlán, and then destroyed it. In its place he built Mexico City, The Indians Fear Us the capital of the Spanish colony of New Spain. Cortés used the same methods to subdue the Aztecs in Mexico SECTION SECTION The Indians of the coast, because of some fears “ that another conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, used in South America. of us, have abandoned all the country, so that for Review and Preview 2 Pizarro landed on the coast of Peru in 1531 to search for the Incas, thirty leagues not a man of them has halted. ” who were said to have much gold. In September 1532, he led about Students have learned about new 170 soldiers through the jungle into the heart of the Inca Empire. con­tacts between peoples of the Eastern —Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer and conqueror, report on Pizarro then took the Inca ruler Atahualpa (ah tuh WAHL puh) pris- and Western hemispheres during the expedition to Florida, 1539 oner. Although the Inca people paid a huge ransom to free their ruler, Age of Exploration. Now students will Pizarro executed him anyway. By November 1533, the Spanish had focus on Spain’s early success at estab- defeated the leaderless Incas and captured their capital city of Cuzco. lishing col­onies in the Americas. Why the Spanish Were Victorious How could a few � Hernando de Soto hundred Spanish soldiers defeat Native American armies many Vocabulary Builder times their size? Several factors explain the Spaniards’ success.
    [Show full text]
  • The Portuguese and Spanish in the Americas
    Name: ________________________________________________________________________ Date: _________________________ Class: _____ The Portuguese and Spanish in the Americas Multiple-Choice Quiz – ANSWER KEY Directions: Select the best answer from the given options. 1. Which of the following ships was not part of the 6. Native Americans were forced to work for the fleet of Christopher Columbus in 1492? Spanish under the _____ system. a. Ana Lucia a. encomienda b. Nina b. mercantilism c. Pinta c. patron d. Santa Maria d. socialist 2. What was the capital city of the Aztec? 7. A person of mixed Native American and Spanish a. Chichen Itza descent: b. Guadalajara a. Americano c. Los Angeles b. Indian d. Tenochtitlan c. mestizo d. mulatto 3. Modern Mexico, and a portion of modern Guatemala, were once known as _____. 8. El Camino Real: a. Columbia a. The Real Country b. Los Lobos b. The Real Deal c. New Spain c. The Royal Casino d. Nueva America d. The Royal Road 4. What modern American state, located in the 9. What Aztec ruler was killed in 1520? southeast, was settled by the Spanish in the 16th a. Montezuma century? b. Sitting Bull a. Alabama c. Tupac b. Florida d. Yo Pe c. Georgia d. South Carolina 10. What Spanish explorer traveled into what is now the southwestern United States between 1540 5. A person of mixed African and Spanish descent: and 1542? a. Americano a. Cabrillo b. Indian b. Coronado c. mestizo c. Ponce de Leon d. mulatto d. Verrazzano Visit www.studenthandouts.com for free interactive test-prep games…no log-in required! Name: ________________________________________________________________________ Date: _________________________ Class: _____ 11.
    [Show full text]
  • Atoll Research Bulletin No. 317 the Palauan and Yap
    ATOLL RESEARCH BULLETIN NO. 317 THE PALAUAN AND YAP MEDICINAL PLANT STUDIES OF MASAYOSHI OKABE, 1941-1943 BY ROBERT A. DEFILIPPS, SHIRLEY L. MAINA AND LESLIE A. PRAY ISSUED BY NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION WASHINGTON,D.C.,U.SA October 1988 THE PALAUAN AND YAP MEDICINAL PLANT STUDIES OF MASAYOSHI OKABE, 1941-1943 ROBERT A. DEFILIPPS, SHIRLEY L. MAINA AND LESLIE A. PRAY* ABSTRACT Masayoshi Okabe visited the Palau and Yap Islands to study the local medicinal plants and diseases treated through their use. He made reports of his findings (1941a, 1943a) in Japanese. In this paper the authors present for the first time in the English language a published record of Okabe's findings. INTRODUCTION On September 25, 1513, from a hilltop on the Isthmus of Panama, conquistador Vasco Nunez de Balboa looked down upon and, in the name of Ferdinand I1 of Spain, christened the vast ocean before him the "South Sea." Since then, the paradise islands of the Pacific have continued to be the setting for much enterprise in behalf of European, American and Asian powers. Micronesia is one of three major geographic regions in Pacific Oceania. It comprises three main island chains, one of them being the Caroline Archipelago of which Palau and Yap are a part. Ruiz Lopez de Villalobos of Spain was the first European explorer to set foot on the shores of Palau, in 1543 (Smith, l983a). Spain, though exerting little authority, would claim sovereignty over the islands for the next three centuries. In the meanwhile, British and American traders frequented the islands in an effort to expand their rich Far East trade lines by scouting the Pacific itself for tradeable items such as pearl shell and the sweet-smelling sandalwood.
    [Show full text]
  • European Voyages of Exploration: Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Empire
    European Voyages of Exploration: Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire During the period from the late fifteenth through the seventeenth century, the Spanish empire expanded the extent of its power, influence, and wealth throughout the world. In particular the Spanish were responsible for exploring, conquering, and colonizing significant portions of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The Spanish Empire, along with neighboring Portugal, launched the period known in European history as the Age of Discovery or the Age of Exploration. Compared to Portugal, Spain succeeded in establishing more permanent and complex settlements in the New World, largely through centralized colonial governments. During the Age of Discovery several other burgeoning European empires such as England and France followed the lead of the Spanish Crown and increasingly extended their power and influence throughout the New World. Starting in 1492, Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon largely spearheaded the Age of Exploration under the newly unified kingdom of Spain. Before 1492, the Canary Islands were Spain’s only substantial territorial possession outside of Europe. By the end of the first half of the sixteenth century the Spanish Empire controlled territories in Africa, the Caribbean, and significant portions of Central and South America. During the reign of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, Spain’s empire grew and developed exponentially, as overseas exploration and colonization became one of the most important priorities for the Crown. The Spanish monarchy had the financial and political freedom to devote their resources to oceanic voyages because of the relative peace in Europe during this period that resulted from several marriages between other European royal households.
    [Show full text]
  • Christopher Columbus Was Not the Only Explorer to Sail for Spain
    October 01, 2018 Spanish Explorers Christopher Columbus was not the only explorer to sail for Spain. Some of the most famous explorers are Juan Ponce de León, Ferdinand Magellan, Hernando Cortés, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, and Hernando de Soto. Each one of these explorers played and important role in the colonizing and exploration of the Americas. October 01, 2018 Spanish Exploration One of the most influential countries during the age of exploration would be the Spanish. Spain with the help of Christopher Columbus was the first country to reach the Americas. Exploration to Spain was not to find treasures or claim land, those would be nice to have, but it's original goal was to spread their religion. Upon Columbus' return Spain turned it's focus to claiming land and finding riches. NOTES: *Spain was the 1st country to sail west to find Asia *Reason for Exploring: ~Spreading religion ~Claiming Land ~Finding Riches October 01, 2018 Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus was the first Spanish explorer to reach the Americas, in 1492. He landed on an island and named it San Salvador and claimed the land for Spain. He believed that he had reached India so he called the native people Indians. Columbus finding a "new world" is extremely important his biggest impact might have been the excitement he stirred in other countries to explore. Columbus made 3 more voyages to the "new world" after his first. NOTES: *1st Voyage in 1492 *Claimed San Salvador for Spain *1st explorer to sail west Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who set sail in 1519.
    [Show full text]
  • A Chronology of Spanish Florida 1513 to 1821
    Conquistadores in the Land of Flowers: A Chronology of Spanish Florida 1513 to 1821 Compiled by Paul Eugen Camp Special Collections Department University of South Florida Library Tampa 2001 The First Spanish Period, 1513-1763 To a late sixteenth century Spaniard, “Florida” was a vast land stretching as far north as Chesapeake Bay and west to a point beyond the Mississippi. In the first half of the 1500's, Spain launched a series of expeditions to explore and colonize Florida. Although these expeditions brought back geographic knowledge, they were costly in blood and treasure, and failed to achieve a permanent Spanish settlement. The establishment of St. Augustine in 1565 marked the true beginning of Spain’s Florida colony. The remainder of the century saw the establishment of further settlements and the beginning of the mission system. During the seventeenth century, Spanish Florida prospered moderately, with an extensive system of Franciscan missions stretching from northern Georgia to the Florida panhandle, and large cattle ranchos operating in the Tallahassee and Alachua areas. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, war with England destroyed the missions and ranchos, and with them any hope of Florida becoming more than an isolated military frontier. By the time Spain turned Florida over to the British in 1763, Spanish control was limited to little more than St. Augustine, Pensacola and a few other outposts. 1510 Unrecorded Spanish expeditions searching for indian slaves probably reached the Florida coast as early as 1510, possibly even earlier. In 1565, the Spanish Council of the Indies claimed that Spanish ships had “gone to occupy” Florida ever since 1510.
    [Show full text]