APUSH AMSCO 1.5, 1.6

Spanish Dominance in the Americas

What factors allowed Spain to dominate the Americas?

Spanish dominance in the Americas was based on more than a papal ruling and a treaty.

The new empire began with ambitious and skilled leaders, Ferdinand and Isabella.

• With its adventurous explorers and conquerors (called conquistadores)

• and the labor provided by Indians and enslaved Africans, Spain rapidly expanded its wealth and power.

Labor Systems: Native Labor

How did the encomienda system work, and how did Spain use Indian labor in Mexico and Peru?

In Mexico and Peru, the Spanish encountered the well-organized and populous Aztec and Inca empires.

Even after diseases killed most natives, millions survived.

The Spanish incorporated these surviving Indians into their empire through the encomienda system:

• Spain’s king granted natives on a tract of land to individual Spaniards.

• Indians were forced to farm or work in the mines.

• The fruits of their labor went to the Spanish, who in turn were expected to “care” for the Indians.

Labor Systems: Enslaved African Labor

Why did Spain turn to enslaved African labor, what was the asiento system, and how large was the transatlantic slave trade?

On sugar plantations off the African coast, the Portuguese had already shown that enslaved African labor could be profitable. This model was copied by other Europeans.

• To replace Indians who died, Spain began trading with African partners for enslaved people.

• Under the asiento system, colonists paid a tax to the Spanish king for each enslaved person imported.

• During the colonial era, more Africans than Europeans crossed the Atlantic. Between 10 and 15 million enslaved Africans were transported before the trade ended in the late 1800s.

• Between 10–15% died during the Middle Passage across the Atlantic.

Labor Systems: African Resistance

In what ways did Africans resist slavery, and how did African culture survive in the Americas?

Though transported thousands of miles and brutally repressed, Africans resisted slavery by:

• Running away

• Sabotaging work

• Revolting

• Preserving traditions in music, religion, and folkways

Spanish Caste System

Why did the Spanish colonies become ethnically diverse, and what was the structure of the caste system?

The mixture of Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans made Spanish colonies diverse. Since most colonists were men, many had children with native or African women. This led to a caste system based on heritage:

1. Pure-blooded Spaniards (top)

2. Mixed European, Native American, and African ancestry (middle)

3. Pure Indian or Black heritage (bottom)

Labor Systems (WXT)

• encomienda: A system in which Spain’s king granted natives who lived on a tract of land to individual Spaniards. The Indians were forced to farm or work in the mines, and the fruits of their labor went to the Spanish, who in turn had to “care” for the Indians.

• asiento: A system that required colonists to pay a tax to the Spanish king on each enslaved person they imported to the Americas.

Identity and Politics (POL)

• conquistadores: Adventurous explorers and conquerors who helped Spain rapidly expand its wealth and power, including those who led conquests in the Americas.

• Hernán Cortés: The Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico.

• Francisco Pizarro: The Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of the Incas in Peru.

Atlantic Trade (WXT)

• slave trade: The transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans to the Americas, which brought between 10 million and 15 million enslaved people from Africa before ending in the late 1800s.

• Middle Passage: The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in which enslaved Africans were transported; between 10% and 15% died during the journey.

European Treatment of Native Americans

How did Europeans generally view Native Americans, and what different approaches did they use to rule and operate colonies?

The Europeans who colonized North and South America generally viewed Native Americans as inferior people who could be exploited for economic gain, converted to Christianity, and used as military allies. However, Europeans used various approaches for ruling Native Americans and operating colonies.

Spanish Policy

How did the Spanish treat Native Americans, and what debates arose about their status?

The Spanish overwhelmingly subjugated Native Americans. However, Spanish scholars also debated the status and treatment of them.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

One European who dissented from the views of most Europeans toward Native Americans was a Spanish priest named Bartolomé de Las Casas. Though he had owned land and slaves in the West Indies and had fought in wars against the Indians, he eventually became an advocate for better treatment for Indians.

• He persuaded the king to institute the New Laws of 1542, which ended Indian slavery, halted forced Indian labor, and began to end the encomienda system that kept the Indians in serfdom.

• Conservative Spaniards, eager to keep the encomienda system, successfully pushed the king to repeal parts of the New Laws.

Valladolid Debate

The debate over the role for Indians in the Spanish colonies came to a head in a formal debate in 1550–1551 in Valladolid, Spain.

• On one side, Las Casas argued that the Indians were completely human and morally equal to Europeans, so enslaving them was not justified.

• On the other side, another priest, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, argued that Indians were less than human. Hence, they benefited from serving the Spaniards in the encomienda system.

Neither side clearly persuaded the entire audience. Though Las Casas was unable to gain equal treatment for Native Americans, he established the basic arguments on behalf of justice for Indians.

English Policy

How did the English interact with Native Americans, and how did their policies differ from the Spanish?

Unlike the Spanish, the English settled in areas with no large native empires that could provide forced labor. By the 1600s, European diseases had already dramatically reduced the indigenous population. In addition, many English colonists came in families rather than as single young men, so marriage with natives was less common.

• Initially, in Massachusetts, the English and the American Indians coexisted, traded, and shared ideas.

• American Indians taught settlers how to grow corn (maize) and showed them how to hunt in the forests.

• They traded furs for English manufactured goods, such as iron tools and weapons.

But peaceful relations soon gave way to conflict and warfare.

• Most English showed no respect for American Indian cultures, which they viewed as “savage.”

• American Indians saw their way of life threatened as the English seized land to support their growing population.

• The English expelled natives rather than subjugating them, forcing tribes inland.

French Policy

How did the French treat Native Americans, and what role did alliances and trade play?

The French, looking for furs and converts to Catholicism, viewed American Indians as potential economic and military allies. Compared to the Spaniards and the English, the French maintained good relations with the tribes.

• Seeking to control the fur trade, the French built trading posts in the St. Lawrence Valley, the Great Lakes region, and along the Mississippi River.

• They exchanged French goods for beaver pelts and other furs.

• Because the French had few colonists, farms, or towns, they posed less threat to native populations.

• French soldiers assisted the Huron in fighting their enemy, the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee).

Survival Strategies by Native Americans

How did Native Americans respond to European expansion?

As European settlements expanded, Native Americans responded with different strategies:

• Alliances: Some tribes allied with Europeans to fight other tribes (e.g., tribes in Mexico allied with the Spanish against the Aztecs; in the Ohio River Valley, the Delawares and Shawnees allied with the French against the English).

• Migration: Some tribes moved west to escape settlers, but this often led to conflict with tribes already there.

• Lack of unity: Strong tribal loyalty prevented a unified resistance to Europeans. Only later did some identify as Native Americans as well as members of a tribe.

Regardless of their strategies, Native Americans could never return to the life they had known prior to 1492.

The Role of Africans in America

How did Africans shape the culture and economy of the Americas, and how did Europeans justify slavery?

Africans contributed a third cultural tradition in the Americas:

• Their skill in growing rice made it an important crop in South Carolina and Louisiana.

• They brought musical rhythms and styles of singing that influenced music across the Americas.

• They introduced the banjo, later central to the culture of the southeastern United States.

Europeans justified slavery in several ways:

• Citing Bible passages to argue slavery was natural and approved by God.

• As slavery became exclusively for Africans, they claimed biological inferiority, making enslavement acceptable — an argument similar to that of de Sepúlveda regarding Native Americans.

Identity and Politics (NAT, POL)

New Laws of 1542

Laws persuaded by Bartolomé de Las Casas that ended Indian slavery, halted forced Indian labor, and began to end the encomienda system that kept the Indians in serfdom.

Values and Attitudes (SOC)

• Bartolomé de Las Casas

• Valladolid Debate

• Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

• Bartolomé de Las Casas: A Spanish priest who had once owned land and slaves in the West Indies and fought in wars against Indians, but later became an advocate for better treatment of Indians and persuaded the king to issue the New Laws of 1542.

• Valladolid Debate: A 1550–1551 debate in Valladolid, Spain over the role of Indians in the Spanish colonies. Las Casas argued they were fully human and equal, while Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda argued they were less than human and benefited from serving Spaniards.

• Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda: A Spanish priest who argued that Indians were less than human and therefore benefited from serving Spaniards in the encomienda system.