Spanish Colonial Governance, Native Relations, and the English Reformation
Spanish Colonial System: Requirements, Social Hierarchy, and Native Relations
Requirements for Spanish Emigration
Spanish origin: Emigrants moving from Spain to the New World were required to be Spanish citizens.
Religious affiliation: Spain was a Catholic nation; therefore, all prospective emigrants had to be Catholic to immigrate from Spain to the New World.
Gender Imbalance and Intermarriage
Due to a significant gender imbalance in New Spain, instances of intermarriage with native populations occurred.
Despite intermarriage, Spain implemented a social class system to ensure that pure blood remained at the top of society.
Social Class System and Caste Structure
Purity of blood dictated social standing: Pure Spanish blood was strictly kept at the top of the social class system.
Dilution of blood: The more mixed or diluted an individual's Spanish blood was, the lower down the social class hierarchy they were placed.
Rigidity versus Fluidity: The Spanish colonial structure functioned almost as a rigid caste system with very specific boundaries. This lacked the social fluidity found in New France and French colonial society.
Native Populations and Control Strategies
Upon arriving in the New World, the Spanish encountered extremely numerous and large Indian nations.
Primary policy: Spain chose absolute control as its primary approach to colonial governance.
Spanish missions: Missions were established as a core component of the overall territorial and population control effort.
Military conquerors: Spanish military forces, soldiers, and conquerors owned and dominated conquered areas.
Spanish Economic Expansion, Land Acquisition, and Conflict
Impact on Native Communities and Resistance
Spanish expansion involved severe disruption, attempted religious conversion, and the stealing of wealth from native populations.
Mission destruction and native uprisings: In areas where the Spanish attempted to push forward and establish a mission, native uprisings occurred, sometimes resulting in every single person in that mission being wiped off the face of the earth.
Native uprisings were a direct result of aggressive Spanish encroachment and actions.
Demographics and Agricultural Production
Population size: Compared to the French, the Spanish had larger overall numbers of settlers in the New World.
Agricultural models: The Spanish established large-scale agricultural production, including plantations and ranching operations.
Encroachment and Territorial Expansion
High land requirements: Farming and ranching operations required vast amounts of land.
Conquest of empires: To acquire necessary land, the Spanish conquered large empires and continuously pushed Indian nations out of the way.
Cycle of tension: Forcing native populations off their land created an ongoing cycle of severe tension between Indian nations and settlers in New Spain.
Failure of long-term alliances: Intermarriage did not eliminate tension or create lasting peace. The Spanish had a very difficult time creating long-lasting, effective alliances with native nations because they were not as friendly with Indian nations as the French were.
Governance and Royal Authority in New Spain vs. New France
Lack of Representative Government
Absence of local choice: Colonists in New Spain did not have representatives and were not permitted to pick the local leadership who ruled over them.
Direct control: Governance was dictated entirely by the mother country.
Comparative Imperial Control
New France: Royal control over settlers in New France was maintained pretty tightly by the French crown.
New Spain: Royal control over settlers in New Spain was iron-fisted, behaving almost like hands around the colonists' throats.
Crown dependency: Colonists in New Spain were tied significantly and directly to the authority of the Spanish crown.
Mechanisms of Control
Legal and royal means: The Spanish crown kept settlers strictly in check through legal and royal mechanisms.
Military enforcement: The mother country actively maintained control through military force if colonists stepped out of line or disobeyed.
Zero delegation of power: Spain gave up no control or authority from the mother country to the New Spanish colonies.
Resource and geographical foundations: Both the French and Spanish built colonial systems based on their specific national needs, geographical conditions, available resources, and methods of resource exploitation.
The English Reformation, Monastic Dissolution, and the Act of Supremacy
Pre-Reformation Land Seizures under King Henry VII
Dissolution of religious property: Prior to King Henry VIII coming to power, his father, King Henry VII, had already begun confiscating the land and wealth of religious orders in England.
State ownership: King Henry VII dissolved monasteries and assumed direct government ownership of monastic wealth and land.
Creation of a political patronage base: By confiscating Catholic wealth and handing land and noble titles out to his supporters (such as creating titles like Earl Philanthropy), King Henry VII built a strong loyal support base.
Ascension of King Henry VIII
Monarchial succession: King Henry VIII came to the English throne in .
The Act of Supremacy ()
Parliamentary action: Passed in , the Act of Supremacy was an act passed specifically by Parliament, rather than a decree issued solely by the king.
Formal break with Rome: The Act of Supremacy enacted a formal, total break with the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope.
Establishment of the Church of England: The legislation declared the English monarch to be the supreme Head of the Church in England, officially creating the Church of England in .