Rise of the Atlantic World, 1400-1625 (Condensed Notes)

Encomiendas, labor, and slavery in the early Caribbean
  • Map (Spanish colonies, West Indies) shows African laborers forcibly imported as Native Americans died from disease/mistreatment.
  • Encomienda system granted Indian land, labor, and tribute to colonists, enabling exploitation.
  • Native American deaths from overwork, malnutrition, and disease led to increased use of enslaved Africans.
  • Missionaries condemned Indian exploitation but justified African enslavement.
  • Enslaved Africans did back-breaking work on sugar plantations in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other islands.
  • Portuguese slaving and Spanish exploitation expanded Africans’ role in the Atlantic economy despite royal attempts to curb it.
Cortés, Malintzin, and the Aztec Empire (1492–1521)
  • 1519: Hernán Cortés led
    ~600600
    troops to Mexico, allied with Aztec enemies using Malintzin.
  • Spaniards, initially hosted by Moctezuma II, raided the palace.
  • Aztec resistance and a smallpox outbreak weakened natives, allowing Spanish victory.
  • By
    15211521
    , Cortés overthrew the Aztecs, building Mexico City on Tenochtitlan’s ruins.
  • Smallpox and European arms enabled conquest; epidemics devastated central Mexico.
  • 1521–1536: Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca due to smallpox and European weaponry.
  • Population collapse: central Mexico dropped from
    13−25 million13-25\text{ million}
    to
    0.7 million0.7\text{ million}
    by
    16001600
    .
The Columbian Exchange
  • The Atlantic world connected people, animals, plants, and microbes across hemispheres.
  • Epidemics: Native Americans were decimated by diseases like smallpox, with
    95%95\%
    dying within
    30 years30\,\text{years}
    in the West Indies.
  • Europeans introduced horses, cattle, wheat, and sugar cane; Americans contributed corn, beans, potatoes, and tobacco.
  • Diets broadened globally, though initial reactions to new crops varied.
  • European species transformed American landscapes; silver from the Americas fueled inflation in Europe and funded wars.
Footholds in North America, 1512–1625
  • By 1625, Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands held overlapping Atlantic claims.
  • Florida’s St. Augustine (1565) was North America’s first enduring European settlement.
  • Eastern missions failed due to resistance and disease.
  • After 1600, disease-driven depopulation enabled sustained colonization.
  • Competing claimants established footholds, shaping colonial policies toward Native Americans.
North American frontier: New Mexico and Acoma, 1598–1630s
  • New Mexico was founded by Juan de Oñate to secure northern frontiers and spread Christianity.
  • Acoma Pueblo resistance (December 1598) resulted in brutal Spanish retaliation.
  • New Mexico survived; Oñate was replaced, and Franciscans continued missionary work.
  • By the 1630s, Franciscans established missions among
    ~20,00020{,}000
    nominally converted Indians, despite ongoing tribute, forced service, and resistance.
Northern expeditions and the search for wealth
  • Juan Ponce de León (early 1510s) explored Florida for gold and slaves, dying in conflict.
  • Cabeza de Vaca’s 1527–1536 journey inspired later expeditions.
  • De Soto (1539–1543) searched the Southeast for gold, clashing with natives and causing depopulation.
  • A major confrontation at Mábila (1540) curbed southern expansion.
  • Coronado (1540–1542) plundered pueblos for fabled gold but found none, leaving tense relations.
  • This era showed extensive exploration with limited wealth, significant Native resistance, and lasting impacts.
Map context: European imperial claims, 1565–1625
  • Eastern North America became a battleground for competing