*collaborated with Brittany McFeeley
E
Main Idea: Slaves and serfs burden to the economy of the American colonies.
-Controlled trade with the help of a consulado which is a merchant gild.
-Spanish and Portuguese merchants shaped traditions that carried over to the American colonies
-Portugal moved down African coast, establishing trading posts- led to slave trade with Atlantic islands and Africa
-Silver was more valuable than gold
-Enforced mita was forced labor; forced it onto Indians to work on state projects
S
Main Idea: A system based on encomienda existed within the Spanish colonies.
-Spain and Portuguese people were very urban
- Peasants lived in small towns and villages
-Similar pattern developed in America where Europeans lived in cities and towns
-Many who came to America as conquerors sought to recreate themselves as a new nobility, with native peoples as their serfs
- Patriarchal family was adapted to Latin America where large estates and encomiendas (grants of American Indian laborers) provided framework for economic dominance relations
-The Iberian peninsula maintained tradition of using slaves- extension of slavery in America too -Arrival of Spanish women and African slaves represented shift from area of conquest to one of settlement
-Lack of women in soceities led to exploitation of women in the social structure
- Indian nobles were treated as middle men
P
Main Idea: The political system of the Latin American colonies paralleled that of Spain
-Christian kingdoms emerged, such as Portugal on the Atlantic coast and Aragon in eastern Spain, and in the center of the peninsula Castile (largest kingdom)
-Rulers Ferdinand of Aragon and his wife Isabella of Castile created a program of unification that sought to eliminate the religious and ethnic diversity within their kingdoms-The cross triumphed the peninsula with the fall of Granada, the last Muslim kingdom, in 1492-Isabella ordered the Jews to convert or leave- 200,000 left, disrupting the economy -Political centralization of Portugal and Castile relied on a professional bureaucracy made up of men such as lawyers and judges
-The crown feared limited social mobility, prevemted the heritance of encomiendas
-They created administrative institutions and divided into 10 judicial divisions
I
Main Idea: There were three areas of conquest that dominated Mexico and the Americas.
- The first era of conquest occurred between 1492 and 1570. It brought two continents and millions people under the European control.
- The second era of conquest occurred between 1570 to about 1700.
- The third era of conquest occurred during the 18th century, a period of reform and reorganization in both Spanish America and Portuguese.
- In 1493 the colony on the island of Santo Domingo (Hispaniola) was established.
- The New World offered many opportunities to start new ideas and forms.
- Disease and conquest demolished the native peoples of the Caribbean. In 30 years or so, most of the indigenous population had died or been killed.
- Expedition leaped from island to island in the Caribbean.
- The conquest of the Americas was focused in two places, Mexico and South America.
- In 1519, Hernán Cortés led an expedition of 600 men to the coast of Mexico. He captured and killed the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II during his conquest inland.
- Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec society, was soon replaced by Mexico City. Most of central America was brought down under Spanish control as the kingdom of New Spain.
- Led by Francisco Pizarro, fewer than 200 men conquered the Inca empire.
- By 1540 most Peru was under Spanish control and they had developed a new major city, Lima, at the old Inca capital Cuzco.
- Francisco Vázquez de Coronado led one of the most famous expeditions in southwestern United States in search for mythical cities of gold.
- Pedro de Valdivia conquered the Araucanians of central Chile and established the major city of Santiago in 1541.
- By 1570, there were 192 Spanish cities and towns throughout the Americas.
R
Main Idea: Christianity was the dominant religion and those weren't practicing the religion were forced to convert or leave.
- Isabella of Castile ordered that Jews must convert to Christianity or they have to leave the country. Nearly 200,000 Jews left, affecting their economy severely.
- The church was being represented by missionaries such as the Dominicans.
- By 1530, a cathedral was being built on Hispaniola.
I
Main Idea: Many did not know if the conquests were justified which led to revolt, new literature, and questioning.
- A university in Hispaniola was being built shortly after the cathedral in 1530.
- The Spanish conquests stirred a series of important philosophical and moral questions for Europeans, such as:
~ Who were the Indians?
~ Were they fully human?
~ Was it proper to convert them to Christianity?
- In 1548 Juan Gines de Sépulveda’s book stated that the conquests were fully justified.
T
Main Idea: The conquistadors were more prepared for battle with their weapons than the Native Americans.
- Horses, firearms, and steel weapons gave the Spanish a great advantage over the stone technology of the native peoples.

The 18th Century Reforms
Main Idea: Amigos del pais met in small clubs and associations in Spain to discuss reforms, while in Portugal, foreign influences and ideas created a group full of progressive thinkers and bureaucrats for new ideas in economy, education, and philosophy.
  • 18th century was a period of intellectual ferment in Spain and Portugal
  • amigos del pais, or friends of the country, met in cities to discuss and plan reform ideas
  • reforms meant for material benefits and improvements, not political changes
  • expansion of population and economy in Europe as well as demands for American products gave the American colonies a new importance
The Shifting Balance of Politics and Trade
Main Idea: Several aspects led to the breaking point of Spain until a new king, Philip of Anjou, took the throne, yet problems still existed. The War of the Spanish Succession occured and eventually Spain's commercial monopoly crumpled.
  • Spain's colonial system and hold on the Indies died out by 18th century
  • foreign wars, increasing debt, declining population, and internal revolts weakened Spain
  • Spain was threatened by France and England and Holland, whose Portestantism made them natural rivals of Catholic Spain
  • Since the 16th century, French, Dutch, and English ships raided the Spanish empire- islands fell to them, like Jamaica in 1654 for example-> islands became slave and plantation colonies like i n Brazil
  • failure of Spanish mercantile and political system
  • Spanish king Charles II died without an heir- last blow for Spain as Europeans all seeked the throne (Philip of Anjou got the throne)
  • War of the Spanish Succession ensued and the Treaty of Utrecht was a recognition of the Bourbon family in order for commercial concessions to be allowed---Spain's monopoly was broken by contraband trade and legal means
The Bourbon Reforms
Main Idea: The restructuring of government and economy led tot he revival of the Spanish empire, while removing the Creoles from government and opening a commerce contributed to dissatisfaction from the elite.
  • Bourbon dynasty in Spain was vigorous- launced series of reforms to strengthen the state and economy called "enlightened despotism"
  • Charles III and other Spanish Bourbon monarchs were moved by economic nationalism and desire for a centralized government to achieve a revived Spain
  • the Jesuit order was a target that would be punished because they opposed the government's measures- expelled in 1767
  • French bureaucratic models were introduced; tax system tight, navy and ships reformed, new ports open for trade
  • West Indies- viceroyalties created in New Granada and Rio de la Plata to provide better administration and defense to the growing populations of those regions
  • Jose de Galvez became a minister of the Indies and chief architect of reform
  • new officies; Creoles eliminated; corregidores removed from Indian villages replaced by new system of governers---improved tax collection and made government more effective, but the reforms disrupted the influence and power patterns
  • forms in America linked to defence and military matters-- combitionation of missions and frontier outposts sent to New Spain and regular Spanish troops as well led by local Creoles
  • government took role in economy- state monopolies established for itsems such as tobacco and gunpowder
  • commerce of the Caribbean expanded under the liberal trading regulations- Cuba became plantation and slave colony, exported sugar, coffee, tobacco
  • major centers of the Spanish Empire experienced rapid gorwth- mining inspectors and exports and techniques and new veins allowed production expansion
  • ***restructuring of government and economy revived Spanish empire. removal of Creaoles form the govt and creation of a militia with Creaole officer corps, opening of a commerce contributed to a growing sense of dissatisfaction among the elite
Pombal and Brazil
Main Idea:
  • Bourbon reforms were paralleled in the Portuguese world during the adminstration of the Marquis of Pombal- prime minister, hoped to use same techniques
  • He wanted to break England's hold on the Portuguese economy, especially on the flow of Brazilian gold from Portugal to England