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Course: US history > Unit 1
Lesson 4: Spanish colonization- Spanish colonization
- The Spanish conquistadores and colonial empire
- Pueblo uprising of 1680
- Comparing European and Native American cultures
- Lesson summary: The Spanish empire
- Spanish colonization
- Labor, slavery, and caste in the Spanish colonial system
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Lesson summary: The Spanish empire
A high-level overview of Spanish efforts at early colonization.
Early interactions between the Spanish and Native Americans who lived in Central and South America led to a series of cultural exchanges that affected both the New World and the Old World.
Key terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Treaty of Tordesillas | In 1494, Spain and Portugal moved the line of demarcation several degrees west, establishing Portugal’s claim to Brazil. |
| Encomienda system | A labor system in which the Spanish crown authorized Spaniards, known as encomenderos, to enslave native people to farm and mine in the Americas. |
| Caste system | A social system in which class status is determined at birth. The Spanish had mixed-race children in the Americas with enslaved Africans and Native Americans. Status was determined by how “Spanish” one was, so those with little to no Spanish blood were in the lowest class. |
| Bartolome de las Casas | A Spanish priest who criticized Spain’s treatment of Native Americans in its colonies. |
| Pueblo Revolt (1680) | A successful rebellion by Pueblo Native Americans to reclaim Pueblo religious practices, culture, and land that had been stripped away by Spanish colonizers. |
The Spanish colonial caste system
Core historical themes
Motivations for colonization: Spain’s colonization goals were to extract gold and silver from the Americas, to stimulate the Spanish economy and make Spain a more powerful country. Spain also aimed to convert Native Americans to Christianity.
Development of labor systems: In order to extract natural resources from the Americas, European colonizers created labor systems, like the encomienda system, to exploit Native American labor. When Native Americans began to die from diseases like smallpox, the Spanish and Portuguese began capturing and sending enslaved Africans to the Americas as a labor force.
Interactions with Native Americans: Spanish colonizers attempted to integrate Native Americans into Spanish culture by marrying them and converting them to Catholicism. Although some Native Americans adopted aspects of Spanish culture, others decided to rebel. The Pueblo Revolt was one example of a successful Native American effort to reclaim their religious practices, culture, and land.
Review questions
- What were the three main motivating factors for Spanish to begin colonizing?
- What were the implications of the Spanish integrating both Native Americans and enslaved Africans into colonial society?
- How did Native Americans and the Spanish adapt aspects of the other’s culture?
Want to join the conversation?
What is Repartimiento, and what's the difference between it and Encomienda?(13 votes)
Ecomienda granted the first Spanish settlers tracts of land and the right to extract labor from the Native inhabitants. The Repartimiento system replaced this system after it was documented by Bartolomé de Las Casas, and mandated the banning of outright Indian slavery and that the Indian laborers be paid wages. In spite of the fundamental change, the Spanish Empire and colonists continued to exploit the Native labor up until it was replaced by African slavery.(25 votes)
In the key terms it mentions Bartolome de la casas. Who is he and can anyone give me additional information on him?(9 votes)
He was a Spanish colonist. Unlike other European people at this time, he vocally opposed the oppression of the natives and indigenous people by Europeans. He defended the native people in the Americas from slavery and stolen property perpetrated on them by the Europeans.(10 votes)
- What are the reasons why it was abolished?(3 votes)
- The main reason that the ecomienda system was replaced was due to the chronicles given by Spanish friar, Bartolomé de Las Casas, who wrote about the treatment of the Native Americans in his book, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, where the worst of Spanish behavior was chronicled. Similar to how Upton Sinclair's The Jungle led to social reform during the Gilded Age, Las Casas's book led to fundamental changes in the Spanish economic system, which remained up until the African slave trade went mainstream.(18 votes)
- The Desier to convert others to Christianity is a part of the gospel mandate delivered to all who would follow Jesus .(7 votes)
Some of the Spanish were following that gospel mandate.
Some of the Spanish didn't care, and just left it to the missionaries among them.
Some of the Spanish were greedy thugs who used "the gospel mandate" as cover for greed and thuggery.(6 votes)
1. The 3 G's: Gold, God, and Glory
2. The Spanish used them as laborers
3. The Spanish married the Natives to convince them into joining Catholicism(6 votes)
- why was it abolished for what reason.(2 votes)
- The Spanish Empire didn't get abolished so much as it died from injustice and incompetence.(5 votes)
What was the term of a descendant of a Native American and an African slave?(3 votes)
wooooah history is beming more interesting, not as boring as I thought it would be.(3 votes)
I love history, so I never thought I'd say this but.. I hate this right now.. This is so.. Hard for me to understand. But I'm good at it so no one believes me when I say that I'm strugglin'!(3 votes)