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Colliding worlds
The meeting and interaction of European explorers and indigenous peoples in the Americas and the Pacific.
The Spanish Caribbean
The early area of Spanish colonization where the Taino people lived under chiefs.
Taino
Indigenous people of the Caribbean who lived in small villages and initially offered little resistance to Europeans.
Columbus built the fort of Santo Domingo
Established as the capital of the Spanish Caribbean.
Taino conscripted to mine gold
Forced labor of the Taino for Spanish economic interests.
Encomiendas
Land grants to Spanish settlers that included control over the local population.
Brutal abuses and smallpox
Led to the decline of the Taino population.
The conquest of Mexico and Peru
Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires by Cortés and Pizarro.
Hernán Cortés
Conquered the Aztec Empire (1519–1521) with a small force and local allies.
Smallpox epidemic
Devastated indigenous populations and aided Spanish conquests.
Francisco Pizarro
Conquered the Inca Empire (1532–1533) using similar tactics.
By 1540 Spanish forces controlled the Inca Empire
The Spanish established dominance over South America.
Iberian empires in the Americas
Spanish and Portuguese colonial systems formalized by the 16th century.
Viceroys
Representatives of the Spanish king who governed colonies like Mexico and Peru.
Audiencias
Courts established to oversee viceroys and prevent misuse of power.
Portuguese Brazil
Granted to Portugal by the Treaty of Tordesillas and developed sugar plantations.
Colonial American society
A blend of European and indigenous cultures
Settler colonies in North America
Established by France
Private investors in North American colonies
Funded colonies with little initial royal support.
Relations with indigenous peoples
Marked by land seizures
The formation of multicultural societies
Interactions in Spanish and Portuguese colonies led to mestizo societies.
Mestizo
Children of Spanish/Portuguese men and indigenous women.
Social hierarchy in Iberian colonies
Whites (peninsulares and criollos) at the top
North American societies
More gender balance among settlers and less intermarriage with indigenous peoples.
Mining and agriculture in the Spanish empire
Silver mining and large estates (haciendas) formed the economic base.
Zacatecas and Potosí
Major silver mining sites in Mexico and Peru.
The quinto
A tax of one-fifth of silver production for the Spanish crown.
Repartimiento system
Replaced the encomienda system with a labor system using free laborers.
Sugar and slavery in Portuguese Brazil
Brazil’s economy centered on sugar production with heavy reliance on African slaves.
Engenho
Sugar mills that combined agricultural and industrial processes.
High slave mortality
A constant demand for slaves due to harsh conditions in sugar production.
Fur traders and settlers in North America
Fur trade drove economic and environmental changes
Cultivation of cash crops
Crops like tobacco and cotton replaced fur trade as the main economic activity.
Indentured labor
Prevalent in North America before being replaced by African slave labor.
Christianity and native religions in the Americas
Spanish missionaries spread Catholicism while indigenous religions persisted.
Virgin of Guadalupe
Became a national symbol blending Catholic and indigenous traditions.
French and English missions
Had limited success in converting indigenous populations in North America.
Europeans in the Pacific
European exploration and colonization expanded to the Pacific Islands and Australia.
Australia
Explored by the Dutch and later settled by the British as a penal colony in 1788.
Pacific Islands
Contact with Europeans through trade
Chamorro population
Indigenous people of Guam who resisted Spanish colonization but were decimated by disease.
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