Colonial Era Latin America 1492-1815. Five Areas to Define the Era Political Conquest Race and...

Colonial Era Latin America1492-1815

Five Areas to Define the Era

Political ConquestRace and social hierarchyReligious lifeEconomic ruleWar and technology

Political ConquestStory begins 1492

…In 10 years, Balboa crosses Panama to the Pacific in 1502, laying claim to the Americas…

By 1513 (21 years)…

…and Cortes by 1519 in Mexico…

…via a route from Veracruz…

…in 1532, the largest empire fell to Pizarro.

Race and Social HierarchyClass differentials

Social/Racial Pyramid

Peninsulars

Creoles

Mixed Races

Indigenous and Africans

The Peninsulars

Ruling Class—held highest offices in the Government and Church

Born in Iberia—Spain or Portugal

Given land or charters of exclusive right to huge tracts of land and the people on it to exploit

Many were “second sons” of nobility—primo geniture excluded them from inheriting the family wealth of the homeland

Their own children born in the colony would be of a lower class

Creoles

Spaniards born in the colonies of European parents or of Creoles parents—white, but not born in Europe

Second-class status based on where one was born

Could not become bishops in the Church or Viceroys in the colonies

Resented the Peninsulars, but could nothing about it

Often wealthy, well-educated, and more knowledgeable about the colony than the Peninsulars

Many of the folk heroes come from this group

Mixed Races

Mestizo—native + EuropeanMulatto—African + EuropeanZambo—native + AfricanCabodo—native + African + EuropeanUsually, the father is Peninsular or CreoleStatus is higher if European to some degree,

with preference for Mestizo leading to white for a price

Bottom Rungs of the Ladder

IndigenousAssimilatedRural

AfricanFreedmenSlaves

Peninsulars

Creoles

Mixed Races• Mestizo• Mulatto• Zambo• Cabodo

“Pure”• Indigenous• African

Religious LifeCatholic in Name Only

European Controlled

Ferdinand and Isabella were named the “Catholic Monarchs” in the Reformation—challenges to Papal (Pope’s) authority

Extremely religious, Isabella supported Columbus at least partially to gain souls for the Church

Missions from the Jesuit, Franciscan, and Dominican orders set up a system of churches to Christianize the “heathens”

Spanish and Portuguese culture is spread as well

First Things First

Indigenous are trained at the mission to become obedient and to work without question for the Church

Cathedrals are built on the ruins of old holy sites

Old idols are given a make-overShaman leaders are rounded up and executed

as hereticsMissions become places for food and

protection

The Strategy:

Friars• Preach

for days at an outpost

Local Shaman• Shows

interest in gospels

Shaman taught basics• “Christ-

ianizes” his group

Friars move on to

the next outpost

Cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe

December 1531

Tepeyac at the shrine to Tonantzin, and Aztec goddess

Native man, Juan Diego, sees the image of a brown-skinned woman

Symbol of faith, hope, compassion become the symbol of Mexican nationalism

Junipero Serra

Arrives 1749 as a Franciscan missionary at Vera Cruz

Walks despite poor health to Mexico City

Jesuits expelled 1767, Serra fill the void in Mexico and California

Political? Sure, the Russians were moving south from Northern California

FOUNDS MISSIONS ATLos AnglesSan FranciscoSan Diego

ALLOWSWhippingsShacklingConversion at gunpointImprisonmentForced labor

As one Friar noted, the Indians "live well free but as soon as we reduce them to a Christian and community life... they fatten, sicken, and die."

Crusading Mentality

Land Grants given to religious orders include the peons (peasants) to work the land

Suppress language, culture, but most of all, religion of the old ways

Promises of “equality” in the eyes of God and paradise in the afterlife

What’s the big deal?

SchoolsSocial institutionsCharityStatus of the individualNetworking

Economic RuleMoney?

Hacienda/Fazenda System

European-style landholding

Lord of the manor in a mini-castle (title)

Peasants work plots of land or mine resources

Encomienda—land and peasants “belong” to the noble

Noble is supposed to protect the peasant

Peasants (serfs) tied to land—can’t be sold as slaves

Closer to the plantation system in Latin America

Patron is the land owner

Self-sufficient except for luxuries

Life of Luxury for the Patron

Gardens of the Hacienda San Gabriel in Guanajuato,M exico.

Palacio San Jose Argentina

Hacienda Aurora, Puerto Rico

Uses of the LandCoffeeSugarRiceCattleWheatRubberGold/Silver/

Copper Mining

Working cacao hacienda in Mexico

But, the other side of the gate…

War and TechnologyWhen disease is not enough

Weapons

Europeans Indigenous

European Technology by 1600date invention

1500 Wheel-lock musket, flush toilets

1510 Da Vinci’s water wheel, pocket watch

1565 Graphite pencil

1568 Bottled beer

1589 Knotting machine

1590 microscope

1593 Galileo's water thermometer

In the Americas?

No wheelNo gun powderNo iron or steelNo horsesNo spinning wheelBut they did have a calendar,

foot suspension bridges, and irrigation