© t. m. whitmore today iberian history & the conquest of latin america early spanish conquest...

© T. M. Whitmore

TODAY• Iberian history & the Conquest of Latin

America

•Early Spanish conquest and colonization

•Early Spanish colonial labor institutions

•Early Spanish settlement

© T. M. Whitmore

LAST TIME- Questions?

•Columbian Exchange & Amerindian crops

•Columbian Encounter & Amerindian population collapse

© T. M. Whitmore

Iberian History &Latin American Conquest

• Iberia settled by Romans in 300 CEImpacts for Americas:

Tradition of latifundia (lg estates); Urban living preferenceClass structure and primogeniturePreference for cattle and horses as proper for gentlemen

Primogeniture Christianity

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Iberian History & Conquest II

•Islamic conquest 700s CEMuslim Moors from N AfricaOccupied most all of IberiaMajor impacts

LanguageAgricultureRacial mixingIndividual ruleLower status for women

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Iberian History & Conquest III

•Reconquista (re-conquest)Begins in 900s => a 700 year-long holy war to re- conquer Iberia by Christian kings

1492 marks last battle and expulsion of Moors (and Jews)

Christian

Muslim (Moors)

Muslim (Moors)

Christian

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Implications of the Reconquista for Latin America

•Border war to expand the faith

•War to expand territorial controlNew towns

•Victors get “tribute” AND landLooting => value in “portable” wealth

•War = opportunity for glory and riches

•Secular and religious motives mixed

• Iberia misses our on initial stages of Renaissance

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Spanish colonial policies & practices in the Americas

•The 3 “Gs” Glory (conquest mentality from 700 yrs of war)

Gold (seizure or portable wealth and use of Amerindians to create more)

God (Christianize Indians and conquer lands for Christianity)

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Early Iberian exploration, economic “development,”

colonization, etc.•Early proto-colonies in Islands (Madeira, Cape Verde)

•Portuguese-style “commercial” model down African coast Trade, no conquest of territory

initially•Columbus: Related to Portuguese

nobility (Madeira or Azores)Familiar with Portuguese model &

profits

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Early Portuguese & Spanish Explorations

N. Atlantic Gyre

Treaty LineTordesilles

1493-4<= Spanish | Portuguese =>

Madeira

Canary Islands

Cape Verde

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Spanish Colonial economics

•Focused on extraction to enrich MotherlandPortable wealthIndian labor to create portable

wealth

•Mercantile modelControl of trade, production,

immigration

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Spanish colonial labor institutions

I: Encomienda•Early in the Caribbean, Mexico, and PeruTribute (tax) and labor service paid to a

conqueror (as reward for conquest) from each head of household (tributario) in a population in a specified area

Also seen as payment for education in the holy faith (Santa Fe) and for “protection”

Laws thought to control the greedy conquerors – i.e., for protection of the Indians

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Encomienda•Not a land grant per se

• Initially only for lifetime of encomendero => temptation for exploitation

•Outcry from clerics (Bartolome de las Casas) about mistreatment

•Failed as Indian pops crashed

•Declining populations gave rise to calls from Indian leaders for new counts

Sample Folio from Visita of

Yanquecollaguas, Colca Valley, Peru

1604

Shows tributario (don Pedro Quispe) and his dependents(and earlier deaths

with the ts)

© T. M. Whitmore

Spanish colonial labor institutions II: Repartimiento•After 1542 in Mexico and Peru

Forced labor draft with paid wagesMost impressive early colonial

building (e.g., churches) done under this system

Somewhat similar to pre-Columbian Coatequitl (Aztec) and Mitá (Inka) labor tribute systems

Legacy still evident all over the landscape

Santa Pricina,Taxco, Mexico

Tepoztitlan Mexico

San Antonio, Honduras

16th C church Antigua, Guatemala

Near Antigua, Guatemala(collapsed by earthquakes)

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Spanish Colonial Settlement I

• Initial Spanish occupancy patternTie main ports to Spanish motherland

•Economy focused on extraction to Spain not local connections =>

•Dual system Euro cities with close ties to SpainIndian areas in the periphery --

carries down to todayThis early pattern still visible in the

“dual economy” of Latin America

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Spanish Colonial Settlement II•Caribbean settlements

Fortified ports in Strategic locationsVirtual extinction of Amerindians in

Caribbean Experiments with Mediterranean

animals & crops•Caribbean settlements after 1519

Increasingly unimportantExcept for a few strategic locations

for the shipments back to SpainCrop & animal experimentsImprint still

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CartagenaPanama

Havana

SantoDomingo

San Juan

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•Havana

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Treasure Convoys (flotas)

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© T. M. Whitmore

Urban types & functions I•Mexico & Central America

Administrative cities:Mexico City, Antigua

Commercial and transport citiesVeracruz, Acapulco, Panama City

Mining CentersZacatecas, Guanajuato

Agricultural CentersGuadalajara, Puebla, Querétaro

“Industrial” CentersPuebla, Tlaxcala, Oaxaca

© T. M. Whitmore

Urban types & functions II•Caribbean

Administrative cities:Havana, Santo Domingo, San Juan

Commercial and transport citiesHavana

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Urban types & functions III•South America

Administrative cities:Lima, Bogotá, Quito

Commercial and transport citiesCallao, Cartagena

Mining CentersPotosí

Agricultural CentersArequipa, Santiago

“Industrial” CentersQuito, Cuenca

© T. M. Whitmore

•Zacatecas

San Luis PotosíQuerètaro

Guadalara

Guanajuato

Puebla•• •

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• Tlaxcala•Mexico City

Oaxaca••Veracruz

Acapulco

© T. M. Whitmore

Antigua

Panama

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© T. M. Whitmore

CartagenaPanama

Havana

SantoDomingo

San Juan

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Bogotá

Cartagena

Quito

Cuenca

LimaCallao

Arequipa Potosí

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© T. M. Whitmore

Urban Morphology in Spanish America: 2 types

•“Freeform” mostly mining townsE.g., Guanajuanto or Taxco

•Grid system cities — virtually ALL the rest Patterned on the new towns settled

in Spain during the re-conquest Central square (plaza, plaza de

armas, zócalo) surrounded by: ChurchSeat of local governmentHigh-class residences and shops

Taxco, Mexico

Central Mexico City

Cathedral & Zócalo, Mexico City

Cusco, Peru Plaza de Armas

Plaza in Querétaro, Mexico

Antigua, Guatemala

© T. M. Whitmore

Spanish Colonial Settlement•World of the Spanish (and their servants

etc.)Urban society as much as possibleCloser to center = higher prestigeSpaniards settled where wealth was to

be had

•African World in Spanish AmericaPlantation slavesAs servants and craftspeople in

Spanish cities

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•The Indian world, the so called “República de los Indios” (for high density Amerindian societies in Mexico, Guatemala, Andes)Rural Townships

Follow old encomienda and parish boundaries

•Spanish resettlement (1550s & 1600 in Mexico, 1570s in Peru)Called congregación or reducción

•Role of missions in less settled areasMissions of mendicant friars

(Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits, etc.)

Spanish Colonial Settlement II

San Xavior de BacJesuit Mission near Tucson, AZ

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Spanish American Social Hierarchies

•Social distinctions among Spaniards – mostly an urban phenomena

•Racial distinctions – races separate to a degree

•Over time spatial hierarchy became:Mulattos and mestizos in smaller

more remote Spanish cities or haciendas;

Creoles and Spaniards in larger cities; Indians and Africans either urban

servants or in rural areas

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Relative Populations mid 1500s mid

1600sSpanish 250,000 400,000(thus a small minority for most of

colonial times)African 100,000 225,00Indian 50 million 5 million

million

•By 1810: Spanish descent = 20%; Indian descent = 45%; Mestizo = 33%; African = 4%

© T. M. Whitmore

Portuguese Brazilian Settlement

• Initial Settlement PatternsState-sized settlements to private

entrepreneurs to extract dye wood “palo brazil”This initial “capitalistic-like” set up

failed by 1540 and all lands re-transferred to the crown

© t. m. whitmore today iberian history & the conquest of latin america early spanish conquest...

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