Tema-34.-Conquista-colonizacion-y-administracion-de-la-America-Hispanica-en-los-siglos-XVI-al-XVIII

Introducción

• The discovery and conquest of America occurred within a specific historical context with identifiable causes.
• From 1498, the Spanish Crown began exploiting transatlantic colonies, establishing an efficient organization in the new territories.
• The colonies were meant to enrich Spain through a monopolistic economic system.
• Colonial society was shaped by interactions between European whites, indigenous populations, enslaved blacks, and "mestizaje" (racial mixing).
• The consequences of the conquest were felt in both the Old and New Worlds.
• The formation of Hispanic America became a sociocultural and economic experiment, inspiring other European nations like England and France.

El Contexto Histórico del Descubrimiento

• The "discovery of America" refers to Christopher Columbus reaching American territory on October 12, 1492, but the term is controversial.
  • America was already inhabited.
  • Vikings possibly reached North America earlier without permanent settlement.
• Western Europe had a tradition of expeditions in the 15th and 16th centuries driven by mercantile interests and the desire for new routes to the East.
• Advances in maritime science were crucial: improved ships (naos and caravels) and navigational instruments (astrolabe, compass, and ballestilla).
• The concept of the Earth's sphericity was known in scientific circles, dating back to ancient philosophers such as Tales de Mileto, Pitágoras, and Aristóteles.
• This knowledge, combined with cosmographic calculations, suggested the possibility of reaching Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic.
• Motives:
  • The rise of a new entrepreneurial spirit during the Renaissance, linked to early capitalism and the desire for wealth.
  • Portuguese explorations in Africa demonstrated the potential for economic gains.
  • Increased prices of eastern goods (spices, luxury items) due to insecurity on land routes and Turkish blockage of Mediterranean routes.
• Iberian Peninsula's geographic location & control of Atlantic archipelagos gave a clear advantage for colonization and trade.
• Conflict between Castile and Portugal was resolved by the Treaty of Alcaçovas-Toledo (1479).
  • Castile's claim to the Canary Islands was recognized.
  • Portugal's rights over Madeira, Azores, Guinea, and future African discoveries were acknowledged.
  • The treaty prevented Castile from sailing south, making Columbus' westward proposal the only option for reaching the East.
• Historians debate whether the discovery was solely due to Christopher Columbus or a communal effort led by the Spanish Crown.
  • Some emphasize Columbus's role.
  • Others view it as a process involving expansive maritime tradition, national unity after the reconquest, and a society driven by monarchist ideals influenced by humanism.

Descubrimiento y Conquista de América: Fases y Características

El Proyecto de Colón

• Christopher Columbus's origins are debated among historians.
• Genoa is the most accepted place of birth.
• He arrived in Lisbon in 1476 and worked in the sugar trade where he became involved with Portuguese plans to find a new maritime route to the Indies.
• Inspired by Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli's calculations, Columbus believed the Earth's diameter was smaller than it is, estimating he could reach Asia by sailing 2400 nautical miles west across the Atlantic.
• In 1484, he presented his project to John II of Portugal, but it was rejected.
• Columbus moved to Castile in 1485, where his project was also rejected initially.
• He befriended Fray Juan Pérez, who interceded for him with Queen Isabella I.
• The conquest of Granada delayed a final decision on Columbus's proposal.
• After the capture of Granada in January 1492, the Capitulaciones de Santa Fe were signed on April 17, 1492.
  • Columbus was granted the titles of Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Viceroy, and Governor of the lands he discovered, plus 10% of the commercial benefits.

Primeros Descubrimientos y la Explotación de las Antillas (1492-1519)

• On August 3, 1492, Columbus departed from Palos (Huelva) to the Canary Islands with three ships: the nao Santa María and the caravels Pinta and Niña, and a crew of about 100 men.
• On October 12, they reached the island of Guanahani, which Columbus named San Salvador.
• The speed of the voyage has been interpreted as evidence that Columbus had prior knowledge of land in that area.
• On Christmas Eve 1492, the Santa Maria shipwrecked; with its remains, the Natividad fort was constructed, leaving 39 men behind, and Columbus returned to Spain.
• After Columbus's return, the Catholic Monarchs sent emissaries to Rome to obtain papal approval for the assignment of the new lands.
• In 1493, Pope Alexander VI issued four bulls:
  • Breve Inter caetera (May 3)
  • Bula menor Inter caetera (May 4)
  • Bula menor Eximiae devotionis (May 3)
  • Bula Dudumsiquidem (September 26)
  • These granted the Castilian monarchs the rights to lands "discovered and to be discovered" sailing west and drew a demarcation line for Spanish and Portuguese zones of influence 100 leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde.
• The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) between Portugal and Castile moved the demarcation line to 370 leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde.
• Columbus made two more voyages in 1493 and 1498, discovering a dozen islands in the Caribbean and the Paria Peninsula in present-day Venezuela.
• In 1498, Francisco de Bobadilla replaced Columbus.
• Columbus's downfall was: a mercantile mindset lacking political tact, and an attempt to force labor from the nobility on Hispaniola.
• After Columbus's removal, exploitation of the Antilles intensified, and further discoveries continued.
• The Central American coast was explored by Columbus in his fourth voyage between 1502-1504.
• The Mexican coast (Yucatán Peninsula) was explored by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba and Juan de Grijalba between 1517 and 1518.
• Florida was discovered and explored by Juan Ponce de León in 1513.
• Juan Díaz de Solís reached the Río de la Plata between 1515-1516.
• Panama was explored by Vasco Núñez de Balboa, who reached the Pacific Ocean in 1513.
• Pedro Arias Dávila founded Panama City in 1519.
• The expedition of Fernando de Magallanes, which began in 1519 with five ships and 239 crew members, completed the first circumnavigation of the world.
• Magellan sailed along the Argentine coast, through the Strait of Magellan, and across the Pacific Ocean.
• After Magellan's death in the Philippines, Juan Sebastián Elcano took charge and reached Sanlúcar de Barrameda in 1522 with one ship (the Victoria) and eighteen crew members.

LAS CONQUISTAS (1519-1540)

• Due to the high cost of the conquest and colonization of Hispaniola, subsequent conquests were entrusted to private individuals through capitulaciones de conquista.
• The Crown designated a territory as a gobernación and offered it to a future governor, who had to discover, conquer, and populate it, giving the Crown the quinto real (20% of the profit).
• In return, the Crown offered the conquistador privileges and benefits, such as the title of governor, captain general, adelantado, or alguacil mayor, tax exemptions, and land ownership.
• Since the capitulante could not cover the expenses alone, he partnered with the men of his hueste (army).
• Each soldier contributed personal effort and weapons in exchange for economic compensation, land, or a share of the spoils, scaled according to rank ( peonía for a foot soldier, caballería for a knight).

La conquista de México

• In 1519, Hernán Cortés departed for Mexico with approximately 600 men, horses, and artillery under the orders of Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, the governor of Cuba.
• After arriving in Tabasco and winning a battle, Cortés gained control of the local chief, who gave him gifts and women, including Marina la Malinche, who served as his interpreter, intermediary, lover, and mother of his son, Martín Cortés.
• Cortés founded Vera Cruz and had its town council elect him as captain general.
• He renounced the powers granted by Diego Velázquez and became directly subordinate to the King, leading to conflict with the governor of Cuba.
• Cortés countered those loyal to the governor and decommissioned the ships to prevent desertion.
• Cortés advanced into Mesoamerica and confronted the Aztec Empire.
• In August 1519, he marched with his army and defeated the Otomies and the Tlaxcalans (enemies of the Aztecs), who became his main allies.
• With their help, he entered Cholula and massacred its population.
• Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, the Aztec king, believed Cortés was the embodiment of the god Quetzalcóatl and that the invaders were unbeatable, so he welcomed them hospitably in Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital.
• Fearing Moctezuma might change his mind, Cortés took him prisoner.
• The governor of Cuba sent an expedition under Pánfilo de Narváez to confront Cortés, who had to leave Tenochtitlan to meet him.
• Cortés neutralized the expedition and incorporated its men into his army.
• Upon returning to the Aztec capital, Cortés found a tense situation.
• During a religious festival, Pedro de Alvarado had ordered an attack on the unarmed population, killing many nobles, believing they were leading a rebellion.
• Cortés entered the city and took refuge in the temple.
• Historians disagree on the version of Moctezuma's death, but the most accepted account states that Cortés, facing the Mexica rebellion, forced Moctezuma to appear on the balcony and calm his people.
• The crowd saw this as complicity with the Spanish, and they threw stones at him, mortally wounding him.
• After seizing the loot, Cortés chose to flee on the "Noche Triste" (Night of Sorrows) on June 30, 1520, when many Spaniards were killed trying to escape with the gold.
• The Spanish victory at the Battle of Otumba (1520) allowed them to regroup and reach Tlaxcala, where they took refuge and received reinforcements from Cuba.
• Cortés reorganized his forces and, with the support of the Tlaxcalans, subdued the Aztecs and besieged the capital.
• Tenochtitlan was ravaged by smallpox in 1521, leading to the destruction of the Aztec Empire.
• Mexico City was built on its ruins.
• Cortés led four subsequent expeditions that led him to discover California and explore Mexico further.

La expansión hacia el norte y hacia América Central

• In 1524, Gil González Dávila led an expedition to present-day Costa Rica and Nicaragua and began the conquest of present-day Honduras, which was eventually subdued by Hernán Cortés.
• Pedro de Alvarado was responsible for the conquest of Guatemala, and Francisco de Montejo for the Yucatán Peninsula (Maya territory).
• In 1524, Spanish expansion reached Tepic, where the natives did not live in cities and attacked using guerrilla tactics, slowing the advance.
• In 1529, Nuño de Guzmán established the province of Nueva Galicia in the area of present-day Jalisco, Sinaloa, and Zacatecas.
• Pánfilo de Narváez led the first exploration of Florida in 1527, resulting in tragedy.
• One of the few survivors, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, lived with the natives for seven years and returned, spreading the myth of the land of the Apache as a place of fabulous riches.
• This motivated the expeditions of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, who departed from Mexico and reached the Kansas River, and Hernando de Soto, who departed from Florida and reached the Mississippi River, finding no trace of the riches reported by the earlier explorers.

La conquista del Perú

• Since 1513, there had been talk of the mysterious Pirú or Birú, a country of immense wealth.
• Francisco Pizarro proposed the venture of its conquest and discovery to Diego de Almagro, Father Hernando de Luque (who would finance the expedition), and Governor Pedro Arias Dávila (who asked for a share of the profits in exchange for authorizing the expedition).
• Pizarro left Panama with his army in 1524, and after two years of strenuous and fruitless attempts at conquest, they reached the island of Gallo, where they took refuge from the aggression of the natives.
• Discontent was high, and many wanted to abandon the enterprise.
• There, Pizarro drew a line on the ground and invited those who wanted to go with him to Peru to cross it; only thirteen men crossed it, known as "the thirteen of fame"; the rest chose to return to Panama.
• Pizarro and his men waited nearly six months for reinforcements; when they arrived, they embarked again, and in 1528, they reached Túmbez, the gateway to the Inca Empire.
• After the first contacts with the Incas, in 1529, Pizarro traveled to Castile and capitulated with Carlos I for the conquest of Peru.
• He departed again from Panama with three ships and a crew of 180 men and continued his advance along the coast, trying to meet with the Inca sovereign, Atahualpa, who was then at civil war with his half-brother Huáscar.
• The Incas identified Pizarro as the reincarnation of the god Viracocha, so Atahualpa invited the Spaniards to a meeting in Cajamarca.
• Atahualpa confidently entered the city square, where Father Valverde stepped forward to read the summons for submission to the kings and to God.
• Perhaps the Inca threw the Bible, as some chroniclers say, or perhaps he gestured that he was tired of listening to that speech in a language he did not understand; in any case, Pizarro gave the order to attack and captured Atahualpa and his court.
• That afternoon of November 16, 1532, the Inca Empire fell.
• Atahualpa, captured, ordered the elimination of his half-brother, who was also imprisoned, and paid a ransom for his release; but he was still executed by strangulation in 1533.
• Pizarro headed for Cuzco, in the hands of Huáscar's supporters; once there, he took the city with the support of the new Inca leader, a puppet of the conquerors, Túpac Hualpa, and founded the new city of Lima in 1535.
• Sebastián de Benalcázar defeated the former allies of Atahualpa and subdued Quito in a campaign of excessive cruelty.
• The rebellion of the Inca Manco Capác in 1536 ended in failure, so the rebels formed the kingdom of Vilcabamba, where they survived until 1572, when the viceroy of Peru, Francisco de Toledo, had Túpac Amaru, the last Inca monarch, executed in the square of Lima.

Las expediciones hacia Colombia, Chile y el Río de la Plata

• Colombia was explored in search of the legendary kingdom of El Dorado, where, according to indigenous legends, there was countless wealth and even a king covered in gold.
• The first to arrive was Sebastián de Benalcázar, followed by Jiménez de Quesada and the German, Nicolás Federmann; however, all these expeditions ended in failure.
• Pedro de Mendoza, adelantado of the Río de la Plata, founded Buenos Aires in 1536 and penetrated the territory, securing control over present-day Paraguay.
• The first expedition to Chile was carried out by Diego de Almagro, governor of New Toledo, who left in 1535 but found no wealth, but the fierce resistance of the native Araucanians.
• He was also the first to venture into Bolivian territory.

Estructura y Evolución del Gobierno y Administración de América

• To ensure control of the newly conquered territories and maintain royal authority, the Spanish Crown structured a colonial administrative model.
• This model involved creating government institutions that operated under royal control in both the Americas and Spain.

Instituciones en España

• Initially, governance of the Indies depended on the Council of Castile, similar to the Canary Islands and the Kingdom of Granada.
• The Catholic Monarchs appointed trusted individuals within the Council to oversee the new territories, but expanded territories necessitated specialized bodies.
• In 1524, the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies, presided over by Cardinal Loaisa, was created as the highest authority for Spain's overseas kingdoms.
  • This body had administrative, legislative, and judicial functions, with the power to issue orders without needing explicit monarch approval (though law proposals required approval).
  • It served as the highest appeals court for civil and criminal cases from the New World.
  • The Council influenced appointments by suggesting candidates for high office and confirming lower-level positions.
  • It oversaw financial administration and church matters (excluding spiritual affairs).
  • It handled requests for concessions, favors, and privileges.
  • The Council consisted of ecclesiastics and lawyers, along with military or administrative advisors without legal training, known as consejeros de capa y espada whereas lawyers were called consejeros togados.
  • The Contaduría General de Indias managed financial administration.
• The Council of the Indies retained its importance until the Bourbon era and was dissolved in 1812 by the Cortes of Cádiz.
• In 1503, the Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) was founded to organize and inspect all trade-related activities with the New World, based in Seville for military and political reasons.
  • The Casa had administrative functions (initially most important) and judicial functions from 1511, with jurisdiction over commercial disputes related to trade, insurance, and freight.
  • Later, the Casa assumed fiscal functions related to trade with the Indies.
  • The number of officials increased with its responsibilities.
  • It also served as a center for nautical research and training, gathering observations from American explorers and producing maps, gaining international renown.
  • In 1508, Fernando el Católico created the position of chief pilot, tasked with creating maps of the New World and examining and graduating pilots; Américo Vespucio was the first to hold this position.
• In 1717, the Casa de Contratación was moved to Cádiz, and in 1790, it was abolished by Carlos IV.

Instituciones y Sistemas de Gobierno en América

• Virreinatos (viceroyalties) were established as the system of government in the Americas.
• A virrey (viceroy), usually related to or close to the monarch, exercised authority in the monarch's name.
• Carlos I created the Viceroyalty of New Spain in 1535, with its capital becoming the administrative center of the Spanish Empire in America.
• The Viceroyalty of Peru was created in 1542.
• In the 18th century, the Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717) and the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (1776) were created.
• Initially, the title of viceroy was held for life, but powers were later limited.
• Viceroy responsibilities:
  • Acted as superintendents of the Royal Treasury
  • Had judicial functions as presidents of the Audiencia
  • Ensured defense and expansion of the faith
  • Only reported to the monarch
• In smaller territories, royal authority was represented by capitanes or gobernadores generales, dependent on the viceroyalties militarily and administratively.
  • Examples: Captaincy General of Santo Domingo (1526), Guatemala (1540), and Yucatán (1565).
• These captaincies general, gobernaciones, or provinces were subdivided into corregimientos, smaller administrative units headed by a corregidor (magistrate), typically appointed by the governor.
• The title of adelantado was granted to the head of an expedition in most conquest agreements, granting the power to distribute land (repartimientos) and assign indigenous people (encomiendas) in the discovered territories.
  • This was the governance model before administrative definitions of a newly discovered territory.
• Other administrative positions included alcalde mayor (functions limited to a smaller territorial demarcation, usually a single city) and regidor (responsible for controlling the police of supplies and visiting prisons).
• The indigenous leaders (caciques, or curacas in the Viceroyalty of Peru) governed indigenous villages and were responsible for labor provision; over time, their functions were transferred to the corregidor de indios.
• Audiencias were established in the New World by Carlos I as judicial bodies for criminal and civil law, with added political and administrative functions.
  • Along with the viceroyalties, they were fundamental pillars of the government of the Indies.
  • The audiencia comprised a president (the viceroy), several oidores (judges), and alcaldes del crimen (criminal judges), one or two prosecutors, a chief constable, a lieutenant of the grand chancellery, and other necessary officials.
  • The number of magistrates varied depending on the era, importance, and volume of cases.
  • Those in Mexico and Lima had twelve, divided into civil and criminal chambers.
  • Smaller audiencias typically had three to five magistrates.
• By order of Felipe II in 1570, the ceremonial of the Indian audiencias mirrored those of Valladolid and Granada, and their decrees had the same force as those issued by the monarch.
• Cabildos were assemblies of free inhabitants of cities, with judicial powers as courts of appeal and the power to appoint some officials.

Características Económicas y Sociales de la América Hispánica

La Organización Económica

El comercio

• In 1503, the Castilian monopoly in the New World was established, centered in Seville, home of the Casa de la Contratación, where exports and imports to the Americas were concentrated.
• Imports: gold, silver, dyes, sugar, tobacco, coffee, cacao, as well as oriental products brought to Acapulco by the Manila galleon and the "nao de China."
• The Crown typically retained 40% of the cargo arriving in Seville through taxes.
• Exports to America: arms, manufactured goods, wine, and food.
• In the 16th century, the State (represented by the Casa de Contratación) was dominant, monopolizing main products.
• In the 17th century, members of the Consulado (merchant guilds in the colonies) began to dictate the rules.
• Private initiative gained strength in Indian trade circuits.
• While the State sought trade to collect taxes, the Consulado aimed to limit trade to control prices in the New World (which were sometimes 400% higher than in the Old World).
• Fairs such as Portobelo (center of trade with the Viceroyalty of Peru) disappeared due to smuggling, piracy, and increased colonial manufacturing.

La carrera de Indias

• In the early 16th century, ships sailed according to their needs, but increasing pirate activity led to the creation of the carrera de Indias in the mid-century.
  • System of routes that organized trade and navigation of the Spanish fleet with the colonies to protect the monopoly.
• Two convoys departed from Seville each year:
  • One to New Spain (Veracruz)
  • One to Tierra Firme (Cartagena de Indias and Panama)
  • Southern ports had individual ships (navíos de registro).
• Both fleets joined in Havana with the War Armada for their return voyage to Europe.
• This system worked for over 200 years, with the fleet captured only three times:
  • By Piet Heyn in 1628 in Matanzas Bay (Cuba)
  • By Robert Blake in Cádiz in 1656 and in the Canary Islands in 1657
• The Indies fleet was scuttled in the Battle of Rande (Vigo) in 1702 to prevent capture by the Anglo-Dutch armada.
• Most losses resulted from tropical hurricanes and storms in the Bahamas, the coast of Yucatán, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
• International pirate groups infested the Caribbean, harassing trade and attacking Spanish settlements.
• From 1624, French, English, and Dutch arrived in the Lesser Antilles, settling and acting as smugglers.
  • They focused on Venezuela and nearby islands, exchanging textiles and slaves for tobacco and cacao.
• In 1740, navíos de registro increased significantly, and in 1778, free trade with America was promulgated, ending the monopoly.

La agricultura y ganadería

• Agriculture was the main economic activity and the basis of colonial wealth.
• Encomenderos had large estates worked by indigenous people or slaves.
• The rest of the land was divided into small, self-sufficient family properties (peonías and caballerías of derecho de conquista).
• American crops: corn, potato, tomato, pumpkin, cacao, and tobacco.
• Sugarcane, introduced by Columbus, was successful in America.
• Livestock breeders owned haciendas (agricultural estates that absorbed indigenous lands).
• European animals, such as horses, cows, goats, and pigs, reproduced rapidly in the New World.
• Only indigenous people continued to raise native animals like llamas.

La minería

• Mining began with the Mexican silver mines in Zacatecas and the Peruvian mines in Potosí.
• Gold and silver production balanced in 1550, but silver was three times the gold obtained by 1565.
• A lack of mercury, needed for mineral extraction in the late 16th century, decreased mining production throughout the 17th century.

El régimen fiscal

• The primary source of income for the Crown in the New World was regalías:
  • Exclusive rights of the Crown over mines, river gold, salt mines, treasures, lands, waters, mountains, and pastures.
• The second source of income was taxes:
  • Almojarifazgo: customs duty on American trade (7-8% of the value of merchandise).
  • Avería: a tax on goods arriving in the Indies.
  • Alcabala: Spanish products taxed at 10% when departing for the Indies.
  • Millones or sisa: established only in case of war or urgency, taxed essential items such as meat, wine, oil, and vinegar.
• The Crown could also keep donations and services consisting of seizing gold and silver from individuals.
• Initially, royal officials in each city (a treasurer, an accountant, a factor, and a inspector) collected taxes, but financial policy was regulated by the Royal Treasury (integrated by the viceroy or governor, royal officials, and a prosecutor from the audiencia).
• Accounts were rendered to the Casa de Contratación in Seville and the Supreme Council of the Indies.

Estructura Social y Mentalidades

• Spanish American society evolved throughout the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.
  • Indigenous America, White America, Black America, and the phenomenon of mestizaje.

La América indígena

• The exact population of America before Columbus is unknown.
• Guillermo Céspedes del Castillo estimates:
  • 4.5 million indigenous people in what is now Mexico in the Aztec Empire.
  • 2 million in the Inca Empire.
  • 1 million in the Chibcha region (Colombia).
  • 800,000 in the Mayan area of Central America.
  • Less than 500,000 Tainos in the Caribbean.
• A sharp population decline occurred during the conquest due to:
  • Fights against the Spanish.
  • Intertribal wars.
  • Psychological imbalance.
  • Infectious diseases transmitted by Europeans.
• Local cultures were disrupted, leading to the end of pre-Columbian indigenous civilizations.

La América blanca

• Between 1493 and the mid-17th century, about 500,000 Spaniards arrived in the colonial territories, settling in areas already inhabited by pre-Columbian societies, such as Mexico, and in ports such as Veracruz, Cartagena de Indias, Valparaíso, or Callao.
• Descendants of the first settlers were called criollos, and those arriving from the peninsula were called gachupines or chapetones.
• The first settlers in the New World governed as feudal lords through the system of encomiendas:
  • Personal dependency relationship between two free men, where the stronger offered protection in exchange for loyalty and service from the weaker (originated in Castile in the 12th century).
• The Indian encomienda involved assigning colonists a certain number of indigenous people to carry out work and pay tribute.
  • The encomendero received temporary and non-hereditary manorial rights over the indigenous people and was obligated to protect and instruct them in civilization and Christianity.

La América negra

• In the 16th century, a new element was introduced into the social fabric with the importation of African slaves (mostly from intertropical Africa) to replace the depleted indigenous populations in the hardest jobs.
• Demand for labor drove the slave trade.
• Charles I granted the first asiento de negros (contract) to two German colonists in 1528, allowing them to trade slaves.
• Over ten million Africans arrived in America, resulting in a significant demographic drain in Africa.

El mestizaje

• Unlike English America, Spanish and Portuguese America saw frequent mestizaje (racial mixing).
• Immediate causes:
  • Need for labor
  • Lack of peninsular women accompanying their husbands
• Conquistadors, merchants, and colonists often took native concubines.
• The demographic decline of the New World was compensated by the increase in the mestizo population in the late 16th century.
• Racial classifications:
  • Mestizos or cholos: descendants of indigenous and white people
  • Cafuso or zambo: descendants of indigenous and black people
  • Afro-descendants: descendants of white and black people
• Spaniards felt an obligation to convert the Amerindian population to Christianity.
• Catholic Monarchs implemented evangelization mechanisms.
• A number of religious orders began to operate in the New World, especially Dominicans and Franciscans.
• Missionaries did not try to impose their language, and the Church evangelized in Quechua, Nahuatl, and Guaraní, contributing to the maintenance of these languages.
• European emigration to the New World during this period was predominantly male.
• Women who emigrated tended to do so with their families.
• The goal was to maintain the purity of blood and the family structure and prevent the conquerors from mixing with the native women.
• Women also emigrated seeking to improve their social status.
• Those who did not achieve this goal were dedicated to various trades: servants, cooks, sellers, weavers, or even prostitutes.
• Despite being subject to the control of her husband, the woman played a fundamental role, in her capacity as a transmitter of material and domestic culture and, above all, of religious beliefs.
• On the other hand, indigenous women did not reject European emigrants, although many were forced and violated by the conquerors.
• In fact, some became their concubines and, later, mothers of their children, of the first generation of mestizos.
• In addition, direct interaction with newcomers, especially in urban areas, led many native women to end up adopting Hispanic culture, becoming mediators between both societies.

Repercusiones del Descubrimiento y Conquista de América para la Monarquía Hispánica

• The discovery of the New World positioned the peninsular kingdoms as pioneers in an unprecedented enterprise of discovery and colonization.
• The exploitation of silver mines in Mexico and Peru multiplied the arrival of precious metals in Spain.
• The agricultural exploitation of products such as sugar, cocoa, or coffee, as well as the trade and export of manufactured products, became an enormous source of income for the Hispanic monarchy.
• The wealth was not invested in productive activities or improving living conditions of the population, but in financing costly wars in Europe, the consumption of luxury goods by the wealthy, and the purchase of English and French manufactured goods.
• Historians like Earl J. Hamilton argue that the increase in metals caused a price revolution and strong inflation.
  • The 16th century was characterized by demographic growth, increasing demand and raising prices.
  • The massive arrival of precious metals meant a large increase in circulating currency, which immediately increased prices.
• Carmen María Fernández Nadal and other contemporary national authors argue that the silver was immediately exported to Europe, blaming the inability of the Spanish economy to absorb the benefits of the American market.
• The axis of world trade shifted to the Atlantic.
• Mediterranean routes lost importance, and trade of the Italian republics declined.
• Ports such as Lisbon, Cádiz, and Seville gained importance.
• The Spanish monarchy used the money from the New World to consolidate and expand its prestige in Europe.
• When Felipe II became king of Portugal, he articulated a colonial empire imitated by England, Holland, and France.

Conclusión

• The discovery, conquest, and subsequent colonization of Spanish America are of special importance in universal and Spanish history.
• Spain established the basis of its European hegemony on the economic wealth it obtained from its overseas empire.
• Poor political and economic management by the Crown, lacking productive investments, meant that the great American riches were insufficient to maintain the Habsburg Empire in Europe, which weakened throughout the 17th century, submerged in a profound political, economic, and social crisis.
• In the 18th century, the colonies grew significantly, with greater control by the new Bourbon dynasty.
• The independence of the British colonies in North America soon spread to Ibero-America.

Uso Didáctico del Tema

• This theme can be taught in Geography and History in ESO (Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, mandatory secondary education).
• It connects with basic knowledge in 3rd and 4th year ESO related to research methods in Geography and History.
• It enhances historical awareness by examining the political, economic, and social changes during this period.
• It provides insights into the transformation of human political status (from servitude to citizenship) by exploring the emergence of modern states in America.
• It facilitates the analysis of the capitalist system from its origins.
• It highlights cultural diversity by studying the blend of cultures resulting from colonization.
• Methodological decisions require careful planning to organize content development and adapt specific evaluative competencies.
• Interdisciplinary work allows students to value their teaching-learning process on a broader dimension and participate in proposals beyond the classroom.
• Constructivist teaching allows the teacher to guide and mediate, enhancing cooperation and mutual acceptance.
• Activities such as content explanations, oral questionnaires, image reading, text analysis, portfolio activities, and vocabulary creation are useful.
• Learning and teaching