Download The New World - Ms. Hou`s AP World History Class

Unit 6, Lesson 2
The New World
Essential Questions
Keywords
•
What were the economic conditions in the Spanish Caribbean during the Age of Exploration?
conquistador
•
What were the key features of trading-post empires?
•
How did Europeans conquer Mexico and Peru?
•
What were the key features of the Iberian empires in the Americas?
•
What were some of the consequences of European conquests in Southeast Asia?
encomienda
Hispaniola
infidel
pagan
Taino
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
2
Set the Stage
When Vasco da Gama’s Portuguese fleet arrived in Calicut, India in 1498, their reception
was fairly quiet. Compared to the enormous fleet commanded by the Chinese Admiral
Zheng He sixty-five years earlier, the Portuguese fleet seemed utterly unremarkable. At the
time, the high cultures of India, China, and the Middle East were far more sophisticated
and luxurious than those in Europe. While Zheng He had brought impressive gifts for
local rulers, da Gama had only a few pieces of clothing, six wash basins, and barrels of
sugar, honey, and oil; gifts which provoked laughter and ridicule among the Indian elite.
When da Gama attempted to defend his gifts by saying that he had come as an explorer
and not as a merchant, the ruler of Calicut asked whether he’d come to discover men
or stones, saying, “If he had come to discover men, as he said, why had he brought
nothing?” Later European expeditions to the Far East learned from da Gama’s mistake and
filled their holds with gold and silver coins, exotic goods from the Americas, and unique
European products. Superior military technology soon ensured that Europeans were
increasingly treated with caution and respect.
The European reception in the Americas was far different. Native Americans were
viewed as little more than devil-worshiping barbarians inherently inferior to Christian
Europeans. Old World diseases that devastated the indigenous population were seen as
a sign that God favored the Europeans and gave them dominion over the land and its
people. In the New World, Spanish and Portuguese conquistadores found a land ripe
for plunder and exploitation in which American civilizations could be torn asunder and
rebuilt, tailored to European desires.
Economic Conditions in the Spanish Caribbean
during the Age of Exploration
European and Native American peoples first met in the Caribbean, where Columbus’s voyages established Spain as the leader in European exploitation of new lands,
resources, and peoples. On his first voyage, Christopher Columbus (1451–1505)
encountered the Taino on the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas. The Taino
were peaceful people who lived in small chiefdoms where they cultivated maize,
sweet potatoes, and hot peppers. Their ancestors had come to the Caribbean from
South America centuries prior, and by the Age of Discovery, the Taino were the
largest tribe in the Caribbean with villages scattered across most islands. They welcomed the Spanish explorers, eagerly trading food, cotton, and gold in exchange
for glass, beads, and metal tools. Columbus wrote in his journal about the Taino
saying, “It appears to me, that the people are ingenious, and would be good servants; and I am of opinion that they would very readily become Christians, as they
appear to have no religion . . . I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men,
and govern them as I pleased.”
Taino pre-Colombian
inhabitants of Caribbean
islands such as the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and
northern Lesser Antilles
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
On his first voyage, Columbus left 39 men on the island of Hispaniola, which
includes modern Haiti and the Dominican Republic, to begin Spanish colonization. During his second voyage, Columbus brought an additional 1,200 settlers
to Hispaniola and founded the city of Santo Domingo as capital of the Spanish
Caribbean. Spanish settlers hoped to mine the islands for gold, and they conscripted the Taino as laborers under the jurisdiction of an institution known as an
encomienda. Essentially, the settlers, or encomenderos, promised to look after the
Taino’s physical and spiritual health while the Native Americas labored under the
guidance of the Spaniards. As early as 1495, the Taino attempted to rebel against
their Spanish overlords, but their crude weapons had little effect against Spanish
guns and steel swords.
Brutalized by the Spaniards, the Taino population began to decline rapidly.
Native Americans throughout the Caribbean were captured and relocated to Hispaniola as slaves. The Caribs, a tribe on the Lesser Antilles islands for which the
Caribbean is named, were the only indigenous people feared by the Europeans.
The Caribs are known to have cannibalized the bodies of war enemies, a practice
which occasionally befell unlucky European explorers and missionaries. Most other
Caribbean tribes offered little resistance to the Spaniards and were exploited cruelly.
In 1518, a smallpox epidemic further eradicated Native American populations in
the Caribbean. Historians estimate that the Taino population was approximately
4,000,000 in 1492 but dwindled to only a few thousand within 50 years of contact.
It soon became obvious to the Spaniards that the Caribbean Islands offered
little of value for the greater Spanish Empire, so conquistadors ventured further
west to seek treasure and glory. For the Spanish, conquest was synonymous with
settlement, and while most settlers were men, a few brave Spanish women began
immigrating as early as 1510. Within a decade most of the elements for the colonial system of Latin America were already in place. Spanish laws and institutions
were exported to the Americas where they adapted to the unique environment and
concerns of the New World. Spanish American cities were typically laid out in a
grid pattern in which the town hall, Catholic church and governor’s palace were
predictably located in the central plaza. Political institutions such as the governorship, treasury office, and the royal court of appeals controlled the increasingly
vast Spanish territories, under the ultimate guidance of the Spanish monarchs and
Catholic Church. The first Catholic cathedral was built in 1530 in Santo Domingo,
and a church-sponsored university soon followed.
The Spanish Caribbean continued to act as a base for European explorations
until the mid-sixteenth century. By that point, the Spaniards had already conquered both the Aztec and Inca empires and governed much of the Americas, so
they could afford to essentially ignore the Caribbean Islands. In the 1640s, French,
English, and Dutch settlers took advantage of Spanish preoccupations and began
to set up sugar and tobacco plantations on many islands in the Caribbean. Since
the Taino and other indigenous Caribbean tribes were virtually extinct, Europeans
began to import millions of African slaves to labor in the fields. Europeans also
introduced cattle, pigs, and goats, dramatically changing the fragile ecosystems
of the Caribbean.
3
Hispaniola a major
island in the Caribbean
that comprises the
Dominican Republic
and Haiti
encomienda a system
used by the Spanish
crown to control Native
American labor
1
Self-check
Who were the first
Native Americans to
have contact with
Europeans in the early
modern period?
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
The Spanish conquest of the Americas raised important moral questions for
many Europeans. Conquistadores argued that the conquest consolidated Spanish
power and brought spiritual salvation to Native American populations. Any brutalities were therefore justified in the name of the greater good. This stance was further
validated in 1548 by the Spanish scholar Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda (1469–1573), who
eloquently argued that the conquest freed Native Americans from corrupt emperors
and pagan rituals. Furthermore, he insisted that Native Americans were not even
fully human and were instead, “born to serve.” This argument was hotly dismissed
by the Dominican Friar Bartolomé de Las Casas (1484–1566), whose life work was
to protect the Native American populations from the worst abuses of Spanish
officials. Las Casas argued that unlike the Muslims in Andalusia and abroad, the
Native Americans had never done anything to the Christians and so the conquest
of their lands was morally unjustifiable. He regarded indigenous populations as
“brothers” of all mankind and advocated peaceful rather than forced conversions.
Las Casas’s arguments were backed by the Spanish crown but had little effect on
the behavior of most conquistadores. By the 1570s, the Spanish conquest was all
but complete, and a new era began in which the worst abuses occurred.
4
conquistador a
Spanish explorer or
soldier who brought
parts of the Americas
under Spanish and
Portuguese control
Trading-post Empires
European nations that wanted to trade directly with the Far East did so by building
trading-post empires. This type of empire was first pioneered by the Portuguese
who hoped to control the African gold and slave trade and the spice trade in the
Indian Ocean. Portuguese expeditions met mixed responses from local officials.
Some states were suspicious of the Europeans, while others gambled that a political
and economic alliance with the newcomers would prove beneficial.
Early Portuguese expeditions explored the African coastline and mid-Atlantic
oceans. The Portuguese were not interested in conquering new territory; instead they
were content to negotiate favorable economic alliances with the local African kings
and merchants. In 1482, Portuguese sailors established a trading post at San Jorge da
Mina in western Africa which gradually allowed the Portuguese to take control of the
African slave trade. The African king Caramansa opened trade posts for gold to the
Portuguese along the coast of West Africa. For the next century, Portugal enjoyed a
virtual monopoly on the oceanic slave trade, exporting approximately 1,000 slaves to
Lisbon every year. Two decades later, another trading post on the island of Mozambique in south-eastern Africa gave the Portuguese access to the African gold trade.
Most East African states were suspicious of the Portuguese and would have nothing
to do with the foreigners. However, the ruler of Malindi, located on the modern
coastline of Kenya, saw the Portuguese as potential allies who could provide logistic
and economic support in the frequent African land wars. As an act of friendship, the
ruler of Malindi provided Vasco da Gama with a guide to India. In return, cordial
relationships between Portugal and Malindi existed for over a century.
Another African nation eager to form an alliance with Portugal was Christian Ethiopia whose lands were threatened by the Muslim Ottoman Empire. In
1509, the Ethiopian Queen Regent Helen (r.1478–1522) sent a letter to Manuel I
(1495–1521) that proposed an alliance between the Portuguese navy and Ethiopian
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
5
army against the Ottoman Turks. Along with her letter she sent a gift of two tiny
crucifixes made from wood supposedly taken from Jesus’s cross. Despite interest from both nations, a permanent alliance was never formed, mainly because
Ethiopian monarchs looked to the patriarch of Alexandria for spiritual guidance
rather than the Roman pope, a religious division that the Portuguese could not
ignore. Nevertheless, in 1539, the Portuguese navy did help the Ethiopians defeat
an Ottoman army, and the Christian nations remained on friendly terms. In the
fifteenth century, the Portuguese attacked and plundered many prosperous states
along the coast of East Africa. Ethiopia was the only state in East Africa that was
spared from Portuguese aggression.
During the early sixteenth century, numerous important Portuguese trading
posts were founded around the Indian Ocean Basin. A fortress built in 1508 in
Hormaz, off the coast of modern Iran, allowed Portugal to control access to the
Persian Gulf, while trading posts in Goa built in 1510 gave the Portuguese an upper
hand in the lucrative pepper trade. In 1511, Portuguese ships seized the port city
of Malacca in modern Malaysia, from which they attempted to control the entire
South China Sea and the Malaysian trade in cloves and nutmeg. The multicultural
port city of Malacca was one of the most important economic centers in the entire
Indian Ocean. When the Portuguese first arrived, many of the city’s merchants
greeted the newcomers with open arms, hoping to develop new trading partners.
Instead, Portugal seized the city, severely curtailing the ambitions of most merchants.
This map of West Africa identifies some of the key sites where trade with European powers such
as Portugal transpired in the sixteenth century.
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
6
During the 1550s, the Portuguese moved even farther east, eventually setting up
trading posts in Macau, China and Nagasaki, Japan to monopolize trade between
the two Asian nations.
The principal architect of the trading-post empire was the Portuguese admiral
Alfonso d’Albuquerque (1453–1515) who was variously known as “The Terrible,”
“The Great,” “The Portuguese Mars,” “The Caesar of the East,” and the “Lion of
the Seas.” Modern historians consider him to be a world conquest military genius
because of his strategy to control the Indian Ocean. Under his command, the
Portuguese navy built fortresses in key strategic locations and Portuguese ships
patrolled the waters in an attempt to transform the Indian Ocean from an open
sea to a private Portuguese waterway. Foreign merchant ships were expected to stop
at Portuguese trading posts and pay safe-conduct passes. Ships without the proper
passes were confiscated along with their cargo, and their crews were mutilated or
executed. D’Albuquerque arrogantly claimed that Portuguese ships were feared
throughout the Indian Ocean.
This aggressive imperial policy allowed Portugal to act as the strongest military
and economic power in the Indian Ocean for most of the sixteenth century. By the
middle of the sixteenth century, Portuguese ships transported half of the spices
that European nations consumed. Only the port city of Aden, in modern Yemen,
successfully resisted Portugal’s attempts to control its waterways. As a result the
European nation was unable to control access to the Red Sea and failed to gain
a complete monopoly over the spice trade. Ultimately, the Portuguese navy was
neither large enough nor strong enough to control all Indian Ocean trade, and
Arab, Indian, and Chinese merchants continued to trade much as they had before
the arrival of the Portuguese.
By late sixteenth century, other European merchants began competing against
the Portuguese for control over the lucrative Asian markets. Dutch, English, and
French merchants each sought to control and monopolize trade in the Indian Ocean.
Unlike the Portuguese, however, none of these nations attempted to control shipping on the high seas, which they correctly saw as a waste of valuable resources.
The English and French concentrated their attention on the Indian subcontinent,
while the Dutch focused on the spice-rich islands of Indonesia. The Dutch Republic allowed merchants to act as free agents in commercial organizations known as
joint-stock companies. Private investors financed trading expeditions with the sole
purpose of economic profit. Although the joint-stock companies had government
approval and support, they were essentially privately owned organizations whose
charters gave them the right to buy and sell, build trading posts, and even declare
war to expand or defend economic and religious interests.
In 1600, The English East India Company was chartered. Its first fleet of five
ships left London carrying a combined total of £.30,000 in gold and silver coins
in 1601. They traveled around the horn of Africa and then to India. The fleet
returned two years later carrying a cargo of spices worth more than £.1 million.
Soon after, the English East India Company built trading posts in Bombay and
Calcutta from which the English could control the resources of the vast Ganges
River Valley. French merchants competed against the English East India Company
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
7
throughout the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth century. A final
conflict in 1756 effectively destroyed the French presence in India, and for the next
two centuries the British government took a far more active role in administering
over the Indian subcontinent.
The United East India Company, or VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische
Compagnie), was organized similarly to the English East India Company. Companies such as the VOC helped the Netherlands and England build a global trade
network. The VOC’s first expedition to Indonesia in 1602 more than doubled the
original investment of its financers. Trading posts at Batavia, Indonesia, Colombo,
Sri Lanka, and Cape Town, South Africa allowed the VOC to compete against the
Portuguese for control over the spice trade. The VOC’s fleet was faster and more
powerful than the older Portuguese fleet, and the Dutch gradually seized Portuguese
territories and markets. For example, Malacca, which had been seized by Portugal
in 1511, passed into the hands of the VOC in 1641. Even more than the English
East India Company, the VOC enjoyed almost unlimited power, and the VOC’s
governor-general even had the authority to execute employees for “smuggling” if
they traded without the express approval of the company.
Unlike American territories, most African and Asian lands were subjected to
minimal colonization. Far fewer immigrants traveled to these regions, and local
populations and customs remained largely undisturbed. One exception was the
Dutch colony in South Africa founded in 1652. Dutch farmers, or Boers, spread
rapidly, seizing land from local hunter-gatherer groups. The Boers began competing
against the indigenous Bantu farmers in a power struggle that would rage until the
twentieth century, and racial tensions between the two populations continue today.
The Conquest of Mexico and Peru
Spanish conquistadores, or conquerors, adapted for the New World an ideology
based on the Reconquista of Muslim Iberia and the Crusades. Spanish warriors
in the Old World had fought to extend Christian dominion over infidels and
pagans and were occasionally rewarded with vast riches that were taken as a sign
of divine approval. New World conquistadores advocated a similar moral justification while searching for gold, silver, and other treasures as well as Native American laborers. The Caribbean was the first site for Spanish conquests, and by 1511
Spaniards dominated all of the large islands including Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and
Cuba. Most Spanish expeditions were independent ventures backed by the Spanish
monarch and consisted of less than 500 men, small numbers when compared to
the millions of Native Americans. Aided by smallpox epidemics, superior military
technology, and luck, the Spanish quickly became overlords of vast territories in
the New World. Expeditions were soon followed by settlers including political
administrators, missionaries, and craftsman who formed the elite backbone of
Spanish colonial society.
During the sixteenth century, Spanish conquistadores explored much of
North and South America. In some regions, they encountered small bands of
nomadic peoples or primitive tribes who had little to offer the Spaniards in
terms of wealth or a significant labor force. In other areas, the conquistadores
infidel a person without faith or a person
who does not accept
the fundamental tenets
of a particular religion
2
Self-check
What is a joint-stock
company?
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
8
struggled against powerful American empires with vast
resources and enormous populations. Mexico and Peru
were both centers for huge agricultural societies that
supported densely crowded cities. During the early fifteenth century, both regions fell under the control of
powerful imperial families who taxed the populace and
conscripted them as free laborers for public projects,
actions that earned widespread resentment. The Aztec
Empire controlled most of Mesoamerica, and its emperors were doubly hated for their religious devotion that
required large-scale human sacrifices. The Incas ruled
over the largest South American state in history, which
extended from modern Ecuador to Chile. Both empires
were fabulously wealthy with huge stocks of gold and
silver, which made them tempting prizes for greedy
Spanish conquistadores. The Spaniards were aided by
epidemic diseases such as smallpox, which decimated
native populations and their defensive forces, allowing
the Spanish to claim remarkably easy victories.
In 1519, Hernandez Cortez (1485–1547) led the first
major Spanish expedition against an American imperial civilization. He commanded 600 troops mounted
on horses and armed with the most advanced military
The Spanish conquistador Hernandez Cortez contributed to
technology. He began his conquest in a series of pitched
the fall of the Aztec Empire and led the first phase of Spanbattles against the Maya, but soon turned his attention
ish colonization in the Americas.
towards the fabled riches of the Aztec Empire. Along the
way, Cortez’s forces were swelled with thousands of native
warriors who resented the overlordship of the Aztecs. The Spaniards also benefited
from alliances with lands that bordered the Aztec Empire, particularly the Tlaxcalan, who provided Cortez with logistical support and safe passage through their
lands. Such alliances were forged largely due to the efforts of Cortez’s translator,
advisor, intermediary, and mistress, a native woman by the name of Malintzin or
Dona Marina (c.1505–1551). With her knowledge of local languages and customs,
she helped Cortez put together an army large enough to take on the Aztec capital
of Tenochtitlan.
News of the Spanish presence in Mexico soon reached the ears of the Aztec
emperor Montezuma II (r.1502–1520), who decided to greet the conquistador as a
friend rather than an enemy. Cortez responded by seizing the emperor and looting the treasury, while allowing his troops to interfere with religious rituals and
massacre hundreds of people during a religious festival. Such actions earned the
Spanish the hatred of the local population, who in 1520 rose up in rebellion led
by Prince Cuauhtemoc (c.1502–1520). During the skirmish, Cortez was forced out
of the capital and escaped with only half of his Spanish soldiers. Montezuma II
was killed during the fighting, and Cuauhtemoc was proclaimed emperor in his
place. Cortez laid siege to the city, eventually starving its citizens into surrendering.
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
The new emperor was seized and tortured in an attempt to uncover more Aztec
gold. Cuauhtemoc remained brave to the last and refused to answer his torturers’
questions. In 1525, the last Aztec emperor was executed by order of Cortez. The
empire was now under total European control and Cortez was rewarded by being
named its first governor, Captain General, and Chief Justice.
Ten years later, the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro (c.1478–1541)
led the next great expedition into the New World. Spanish settlers in Panama
and along the northern coast of South America had heard many stories about
the powerful and wealthy Inca Empire in South America. In 1530, Pizarro set out
for Peru with 180 soldiers, 37 horses, and two cannon. The conquistador and
his army arrived at a particularly auspicious moment. In 1525, the Inca Emperor
Huayna Capac had died leaving two sons, Huascar (1503–1532) and Atahualpa
(c.1503–1532), to fight over the throne. For five years their dynastic dispute
wreaked havoc for the Inca military and weakened political leadership. At the
time of the Spanish arrival, Atahualpa had recently been crowned emperor and
imprisoned his brother, and the empire was still in the process of recovering from
the civil war which had embittered much of the local population. Moreover,
smallpox epidemics had already spread throughout the empire, weakening the
populace and its military.
In 1532, Pizarro set up a meeting between the Spanish forces and Atahualpa.
Although the emperor came to the meeting with an Incan army numbering 40,000,
the emperor made the mistake of entering an enclosed courtyard where the Inca
ruling elite and their servants were quickly slaughtered. Pizarro took Atahualpa
prisoner and seized control of the capital city of Cuzco. The emperor falsely believed
he could ransom his freedom and ordered the execution of his brother Huascar,
whom he feared would usurp the throne in the meantime. Atahualpa offered Pizarro
13,400 pounds of gold and 26,000 pounds of silver. Pizarro accepted the ransom
as a tribute and promptly executed Atahualpa. Another prince, Manco Inca, was
placed on the Incan throne as a puppet ruler. The Spanish soldiers thoroughly
looted Cuzco and defiled its temples. Pizarro then abandoned Cuzco and founded
Lima as the new capital of the Spanish territory. Such actions prompted Manco
Inca to lead an unsuccessful rebellion against the Spaniards in 1536. He ultimately
chose to abandon the Incan Empire and instead set up an independent kingdom
in the interior of South America. This kingdom survived for almost 40 years before
finally falling to European conquistadores. By 1540, the Spaniards controlled the
entire Incan Empire, including its rich silver mines.
Later conquistadores hoped to imitate Cortez and Pizarro, but the Americas
offered no other wealthy civilizations ripe for conquest. In the early 1540s, Francisco
Vazquez de Coronado (1510–1554) explored the southwestern United States in
search of El Dorado, a mythical city of gold. A similar expedition led by Hernando
de Soto (c.1496–1542) explored the southeastern United States at the same time.
In South America, Pedro de Valdivia (c.1500–1553) spent the early 1540s exploring southern Chile, where he founded the city of Santiago. By 1570, the Spanish
had founded 192 cities and towns in the New World and had created a thriving
new culture which mixed Old World and New World customs and sensibilities.
9
3
Self-check
How was Pizarro’s army
of less than 200 able to
defeat an Incan army
over 40,000 strong?
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
10
The Iberian Empires in the Americas
By the 1570s, the era of the Spanish conquistadores was over, and the Americas
were increasingly subject to formal Spanish rule. Officially, the Spanish monarchs ruled over the Americas; in reality however, an enormous bureaucracy made
up of government officials, lawyers, tax collectors, military forces, and Catholic
clergy administered the conquered territories. Spanish territory was divided into
two colonies. The northern territory, including Mexico, the southwestern United
States, and Latin America was known as New Spain. Its capital was Mexico City,
built directly on top of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. The southern territory
was called New Castile and included most of South America with the exception
of Portuguese Brazil. The Inca capital of Cuzco was considered too inaccessible to
continue as the capital city, so Lima was built in its place.
Each colony was governed by a viceroy who represented the Spanish monarchy.
Viceroys were monitored by a court of lawyers known as audiencias, who reviewed
the viceroys at the end of their term and heard appeals against the viceroys’ more
unpopular decisions. The size of each colony ensured that the viceroy had little
control over local administration outside of the capital, so town councils or royal
magistrates were given the authority to administer justice, collect taxes, and govern the indigenous population. The Spanish monarchy had even less influence on
local administration since it could take years for even the simplest communication
between Spain and its colonies. For example, if the viceroy of New Castile asked
the king whether or not to increase taxes, it would be two years before he received
a response. Moreover, it was not unusual that the king’s response was merely to
ask for more information rather than to give a direct answer. As a result, many
decisions were made independently of the Spanish monarch. Even when the king
gave a direct order, it was easy for viceroys to procrastinate or even ignore the
order altogether.
In 1494, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, a papal document which divided the world along an imaginary north-south line 170 leagues
west of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands. According to the treaty, Portugal
claimed all lands east of the line, and Spain claimed the land to the west. In
terms of dividing the Americas, Brazil’s coastline fell under the jurisdiction of
the Portuguese while the rest of the New World was a Spanish possession. Brazil
was discovered by a Portuguese expedition led by Pedro Cabral (c.1467–1520) in
1500. A few Portuguese expeditions returned to the new territory, primarily to
export brazilwood from the lush rainforests. But it was only after French and Dutch
explorers began sending expeditions to harvest brazilwood that the Portuguese
monarchy took a more active interest in administering over its American territory.
In 1530, the first permanent Portuguese settlement was founded at São Vicente.
Portuguese nobles were awarded huge land grants with the understanding that
they were to colonize the region and establish profitable sugar plantations. Early
plantations relied on Native Americans for a free labor force until epidemics and
military action depleted the population. African slaves were then imported in
huge numbers. By 1630, over 300 sugar plantations were being farmed on the
Brazilian coastline.
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
11
Portuguese Brazil was administered by a governor-general who was responsible
for implementing royal policies and tax collection among the noblemen. Portuguese
holdings were located mostly along the Brazilian coastline and did not penetrate
very far into the interior rainforest. Settlement took place at a much slower pace
than among the Spanish colonies. By 1720, Portuguese Brazil had become large
enough that the governor was replaced by a viceroy modeled on the Spanish system.
Spanish and Portuguese American colonies shared similar cultures. Both societies had strong vertical hierarchies that were Eurocentric and patriarchal. Aztec and
Incan elites sought to protect their traditional privileges by marrying into Spanish
and Portuguese families. The vast majority of European settlers preferred to live in
cities. In these urban centers, the Spanish and Portuguese languages were spoken
in government offices, businesses, and at cultural events. In rural areas, however,
many indigenous languages continued to be spoken into the twenty-first century
including Nahuatl in Mexico, Quechua in the Highlands of Peru, and K’iche in
Guatemala. Indigenous cuisine, medicine, architecture, agricultural techniques,
and art also survived and were often adopted by settlers. With the expansion of
the African slave trade, a third culture was added to the unique civilization of the
Iberian empires. African music and religious beliefs were adapted to the New World
and gradually became part of the wider culture of the region.
Another similarity between the colonies was their adherence to Catholic Christianity. Spain and Portugal justified their conquest and dominion in the Americas by converting native populations. During the early years, mass conversions
and baptisms were frequent occurrences. Some natives were given no choice in
The transatlantic slave trade involved the transfer of slaves from Africa to colonies in North and
South America.
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
12
the matter, while others converted in order to integrate themselves into colonial
society. Unsurprisingly, many converts continued to observe traditional rituals
and beliefs, much to the dismay of the Catholic clergy. Although the church had
hoped to transmit Catholicism without any alterations, cultural innovations led
to a distinct Latin American form of Catholicism which included numerous Aztec,
Incan, Mayan, and other indigenous religious beliefs.
The Catholic Church was the principal patron of colonial intellectual life: it
founded schools and universities and introduced the printing press. During the
sixteenth century, Catholic missionaries scoured the countryside, but the church
soon began directing its resources into urban areas, and the traditional church
hierarchy of parishes and bishoprics soon emerged. By 1600, the Catholic Church
was the wealthiest institution in both the Spanish and Portuguese colonies. The
church owned numerous plantations, ranches, and vineyards in virtually every
settlement. Colonial administrators worked alongside church officials to create
mutually beneficial policies.
Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas were far more uniform in
nature and expensive to maintain than French and British colonies in North America. The Iberian colonies had complex bureaucracies, which suppressed political
experimentation, while heavy taxations slowed economic growth. While Spain and
Portugal certainly exploited their American holdings, they also took great pains to
colonize them. Between 1500 and 1800, over 500,000 Spanish settlers immigrated
to the Americas while 100,000 Portuguese immigrants colonized Brazil. Intermarriage was also much more common in the Iberian colonies, effectively creating a
large mixed racial population.
The Consequences of European
Conquests in Southeast Asia
European conquests in Southeast Asia were very different than those in other parts
of the world. Asian populations were typically immune to the European diseases that
eradicated indigenous peoples in the Americas and Oceana because Asian populations had prior contact with diverse civilizations and built immunities to various
pathogens. Asian populations also had access to the same kinds of technology.
Additionally, powerful centralized states were able to contend against European
ambitions and limit their political influence. As a result, Europeans found themselves members of a diverse multicultural community including Indian, Chinese,
Arab, and other Asian merchants who competed together in the silk and spice trade.
The Philippine and Indonesian islands were the only lands in the Indian Ocean
that Europeans were able to successfully exploit during the early modern period.
During the sixteenth century, both of these island nations lacked a powerful centralized state and neither was claimed by Chinese or Indian officials. Europeans
could therefore establish a kind of political and economic dominance that strongly
favored European merchants.
The Philippines were first colonized by Europeans in 1565, led by the Spanish Captain Miguel López de Legazpi who named the islands after his patron King
Philip II of Spain (1554–1558). By this point in time, the Spanish were already
4
Self-check
Who was responsible
for the intellectual
environment in the
Iberian empires?
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
13
well-versed in conquest and colonization. Spanish forces quickly took control of
the islands since the small chiefdoms were unable to effectively unify or organize a
resistance. Within a decade, the Spanish occupied the coastal regions of the central
and northern islands, and by the mid-seventeenth century they occupied most of
the archipelago. The only exception was the southern island of Mindanao whose
large Muslim community was united and therefore able to effectively resist the
Christian conquistadores.
Like other parts of the Spanish Empire, the Philippines were economically
exploited for the benefit of the Spanish monarchy, and the native populations
were actively converted to Catholicism. Spanish trading ships, or Manila Galleons,
sailed across the Pacific Ocean between Manila in the Philippines and present-day
Mexico. The galleons allowed sailors to sail west in order to reach the East. The riches
of the Indies could subsequently reach Spain and the rest of Europe. Schools that
taught basic literacy and Christianity were founded throughout the archipelago.
Along the coastlines, Spanish missionaries were wildly successful. Inland populations initially resisted the spread of Christianity but in time fervently embraced
it. By the nineteenth century, the Philippines had one of the strongest Roman
Catholic populations in the world, and today over 80 percent of the population
remains Catholic.
The Philippines had few native products that appealed to Spanish imperial
greed. Instead the Philippines were principally valuable for their enviable location
in the silk and spice trade. The capital city of Manila was particularly well-situated.
This multicultural city had a large Chinese population that almost single-handedly
supplied silk to the rest of the Spanish empire. The financial success of these Chinese merchants was jealously regarded by European merchants, and between 1603
and 1819 numerous massacres took place that targeted the Chinese communities.
Indonesia was controlled by Dutch merchants who had little interest in spreading Christianity and instead focused almost exclusively on gaining advantages
in the spice trade. Indonesian islands were ideally situated for the cultivation of
spices such as cloves and nutmeg. Prior to the arrival of the Dutch, the archipelago
had freely traded with merchants throughout the Indian Ocean. Starting around
1613, however, Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1587–1629), an officer in the Dutch East
India Company and two-time governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, began
developing political and economic policies that overwhelmingly favored Dutch
merchants. He advocated the use of Dutch naval power to ensure that Indonesian
islands were only able to trade spices to members of the VOC, thus creating a
Dutch monopoly in the spice trade. However, the Dutch did not have the military
or manpower to exert their control. Thus on smaller islands, Coen relied chiefly
on intimidation, but on larger islands such as Java, Coen exasperated tensions
between local princes, financing each side to their mutual destruction and the
economic advantage of the VOC.
By the late seventeenth century, the VOC controlled most of the important
spice-producing islands in Indonesia and all of the principal ports on Java and
other large islands. Unlike the Spanish, the Dutch rarely colonized the islands
and instead typically contented themselves with making political and economic
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
14
alliances with local authorities. Only the most important spice-producing islands,
such as Amboina, the Banda islands and the capital city of Batavia on Java, were
subjected to direct Dutch rule. The Netherland’s monopoly on the spice trade soon
made it the most prosperous nation in all of Europe.
Summary
From 1450 to 1650, European nations founded several massive empires that spanned
the globe. The Spanish Empire focused on conquering and colonizing the Americas, while most other empires focused on the Indian Ocean Basin. Each region offered distinctly different opportunities. In the Indian Ocean, Portuguese, Spanish,
English, Dutch, and French navies sought to control access to the spice trade and
other eastern goods. Various monopolies arose that vied with other European and
Asian nations for economic and political advantages. In the Americas, the Spanish,
English, French, and to a lesser degree the Portuguese were able to exploit the land
and population to a far greater extent. Spanish conquistadores were able to conquer huge American civilizations and rebuild the Americas on a European model.
5
Self-check
Why were Indonesia
and the Philippians
the focus for European
imperialism in the
Indian Ocean?
Looking Ahead
The effect of the European imperial empires was profound. In the Americas, the
colonial designs and customs of each region has had an enormous effect on modern nations. Spanish and Portuguese colonies have larger mixed populations and
remain overwhelming Catholic, while English, French, and Dutch former colonies are typically protestant and more economically independent. The effect of
European empires in the East was equally huge. India remained an English colony
until 1947, and many other cities and regions remained colonies for decades after
that. While most colonies have been given their independence or aligned with
neighbors, a few small islands remain territorial possessions today. Depending
on which European nation ruled a region, languages, religion, and political and
economic practices were all affected.
Self-Check Answers
1. The Taino tribes of the Caribbean were the first
Native Americans to interact with Europeans.
cannons and horses, which they used to great effect
to frighten and disorientate the Incans.
2. A joint-stock company is a commercial
organization in which private investors finance
trading expeditions with the sole purpose of
economic profit.
4. The Catholic Church was responsible for
founding schools and universities as well as printing
and distributing books.
3. Pizarro trapped the Incan emperor and the most
important members of the elite in a small courtyard
which separated them from their army. The Spanish
army also had superior military technology including
5. Both archipelagos lacked a strong central
government and were not claimed by other imperial
nations such as China. Moreover, these island chains
were ideally located to take advantage of the spice
trade or to produce spices.
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Unit 6, Lesson 2
All images © K12 Inc. unless otherwise noted. 1 Emancipation of slaves in French
West Indies, 1848. The Granger Collection, New York 2 Oliver Joseph Thatcher,
ed., The Ideas That Have Influenced Civilization, in the Original Documents (Chicago:
Roberts-Manchester, 1901), 5: 36–37. 2 Christopher Columbus and Bartolome de
las Casas, Personal Narrative of the First Voyage of Columbus to America: From a
Manuscript Recently Discovered in Spain, trans. Samuel Kettell (Boston: T.B. Wait
and Son, 1827), 36–37. 5 Map of West Africa, c. 1547. The Granger Collection,
New York 8 Hernan Cortes. © The Art Archive/Corbis 11 Emancipation of slaves
in French West Indies, 1848. The Granger Collection, New York
Copyright © 2011, K12 Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in whole or in part, including illustrations, without the express prior written consent of K12 Inc.