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The '''Spanish colonization of the [[Americas]]''' was the exploration, conquest, settlement and political rule over much of the [[western hemisphere]]. It was initiated by the Spanish ''[[conquistador]]s'' and developed by the [[Monarchy of Spain]] through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the [[Christian]] faith through [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous]] conversions. It lasted for over four hundred years, from 1492 to 1898.


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Beginning with the 1492 arrival of [[Christopher Columbus]], over nearly four centuries the [[Spanish Empire]] would expand across: most of present day [[Central America]], the [[Caribbean]] islands, and [[Mexico]]; much of the rest of [[North America]] including the [[Southwestern United States|Southwestern]], [[Southern United States|Southern]] coastal, and [[California]] [[West Coast of the United States|Pacific Coast]] regions of the [[United States]]; and though inactive, with claimed territory in present day [[British Columbia]] [[Canada]]; and U.S. states of [[Alaska]], [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]], and [[Oregon]]; and the western half of [[South America]].<ref>http://cvc.cervantes.es/obref/aih/pdf/03/aih_03_1_013.pdf Study of the ''Instituto Cervantes''</ref><ref>http://www.histocat.cat/pdf/catalans_al_canada.pdf Study of the ''Fundació d'Estudis Històrics de Catalunya''</ref><ref>http://cesarfrijol.tripod.com/virreynato.html Source in Spanish</ref> In the early 19th century the [[Spanish American wars of independence|revolutionary movements]] resulted in the independence of most Spanish colonies in the Americas, except for [[Cuba]] and [[Puerto Rico]], given up in 1898 following the [[Spanish-American War]], together with the [[Philippines]] in the Pacific. Spain's loss of these last territories politically ended Spanish colonization in the Americas. The cultural influences, though, still remain.


==Exploration==
[[File:Spanish America XVIII Century (Most Expansion).png|thumb|The expansion of Spanish colonization of the Americas during the 18th century.]]


===Christopher Columbus===
Since the early 15th century, Portuguese explorers sailing [[caravels]] established new southward routes along the coast of [[West Africa]]. In 1488 they rounded the [[Cape of Good Hope]] and explored parts of [[East Africa]]. They discovered rich trading regions in the African continent and established several trading ports along the West African coast, and later India.


In 1485 [[Christopher Columbus]] unsuccessfully tried to persuade [[John II of Portugal|King John II of Portugal]] ''(João II)'' to sponsor an expedition to Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean. This alternative route, different from the theoretical eastward route, was based on the conviction that the earth was round. His proposal was rejected by the Portuguese, who thought the distance to Asia was much greater than Columbus had assured. In 1488 again he presented his plan to the Portuguese King, who refused based on the recent discovery by [[Bartholomeu Dias]] of the eastward route along the African coast and across the [[Indian Ocean]].


Columbus was more persuasive with ''Los Reyes Católicos'' ([[Catholic Monarchs|the Catholic Monarchs]]) of Spain: recently crowned [[Queen Isabella I|Isabella I]] Queen of [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] and her husband [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand II]] King of [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]]. Although he presented his plan as early as 1486, his arguments for reaching Asian trade centers by sailing West across the [[Atlantic Ocean]] did not convince the Spanish Monarchs until 1491. Queen Isabella played a decisive role in the decision of supporting Colombus' plans.


Finally, in August 1492 Colombus sailed from the Andalusian port of [[Palos de la Frontera]] in Southern Spain. Columbus arrived on the island of [[Guanahani]] in the [[Bahamas]] on October 12, 1492. This day later became a [[Spanish National Holiday]]. On this first voyage, Columbus encountered the indigenous [[Arawak]] people in the Bahamas. In his journal Columbus wrote: ''"I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men and govern them with ease"''. He imprisoned ten to twenty-five native people and took them back to Spain, with seven or eight surviving.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} He presented the Spanish monarchs with small items of gold, parrots, and other 'exotic' things. They commissioned Columbus for a second voyage, providing him with seventeen ships, nearly 1,500 men, cannons, crossbows, guns, cavalry, and attack dogs. He returned to claim the island of Hispaniola, present day [[Haiti]] and the [[Dominican Republic]], from the indigenous [[Taíno]] people in 1493.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}}


⚫
called ''[[Junta (Peninsular War)|juntas]]'' were established to rule in the name of [[Ferdinand VII of Spain]].
Columbus was granted governorship of the new territories and made more journeys across the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. While generally regarded as an excellent navigator, during this first stay in the New World, Columbus wrecked his flagship, the Santa Maria. He was a poor administrator and was stripped of the governorship in 1500.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}

He profited by using the labour of [[Indian slavery|native slaves]] for agriculture and to mine [[gold]]. He attempted to sell native people as slaves in [[Spain]], bringing five hundred people back.{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}} The Taínos began to resist the Spanish, refusing to plant and abandoning captured native villages. Over time the rebellion grew violent.In the resulting conflict, the native inhabitants used their extensive knowledge of the terrain and applied guerilla tactics such as [[booby trap]]s, ambushes, [[attrition warfare|attrition]], and forced marches to tire the Spanish columns. Although stone arrows couldn't penetrate the best of the Spanish armor, they were somewhat effective if they were used as [[Shrapnel shell|shrapnel]], since they tended to shatter on impact; stone and copper or bronze maces were used more effectively. However, the most crucial weapon the native Americans used was the [[sling]], which could hurl massive stones that easily crushed even the most heavily armoured [[caballero]].<ref>{{cite book | title=Slings in the Iron Age | author = Jane Penrose| url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=99haLasvV3gC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=iron+helmet+sling&source=bl&ots=2fyIqj6k1u&sig=YXnWKDeXFwg5nHVjvwcutVDbTlU&hl=en&ei=-9YqTKXFBcP-8AaLq8jUCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCYQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false | accessdate=30 June 2010}}</ref>

In 1522, a [[Taíno]] [[Cacique]] named [[Enriquillo]] waged a successful rebellion causing the Spaniards to sign a treaty granting the Indian population the rights of [[Freedom (philosophy)|Freedom]] and of [[Possession (law)|Possession]]. It had little consequence however, as by then the Taíno population was rapidly declining from to European diseases, forced labour, and ritual suicides.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} The Taíno often refused to participate in activities forced upon them by the Spanish which resulted in suicide. Their children were killed as a perceived escape from a terrible future.{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}

On his fourth and final voyage to America in 1502, Columbus encountered a large canoe off the coast of what is now [[Honduras]] filled with trade goods. He boarded the canoe and found [[cacao bean]]s, [[copper]] and flint axes, copper bells, pottery, and colorful [[cotton]] garments. This was the first contact of the Spanish with the civilizations of Central America.{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}}

===First mainland explorations===
In 1513, [[Vasco Núñez de Balboa]] crossed the [[Isthmus of Panama]],to find gold but instead led the first European expedition to the [[Pacific Ocean]] from the [[History of the west coast of North America|west coast of the New World]]. In an action with enduring historical import, Balboa claimed the Pacific Ocean and all the lands adjoining it for the Spanish Crown. It was 1517 before another expedition from [[Cuba]] explored [[Central America]]. It landed on the coast of the [[Yucatán peninsula]] in search of [[slavery|slaves]].

==Conquests==
===First settlements in America===
{{Main|Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations}}

The first mainland explorations were followed by a phase of inland expeditions and conquest. The [[Spanish monarchy|Spanish crown]] extended the [[Reconquista]] effort, completed in Spain in 1492, to non-Catholic people in new territories. In 1502 on the coast of present day Colombia, near the [[Gulf of Urabá]], Spanish explorers led by [[Vasco Núñez de Balboa]] explored and conquered the area near the [[Atrato River]]. The [[conquest]] was of the [[Chibcha]]n speaking nations, mainly the [[Muisca]] and [[Tairona]] indigenous people that lived here. The Spanish founded San Sebastian de Uraba in 1509—abandoned within the year, and in 1510 the first permanent mainland settlement in the Americas, [[Santa María la Antigua del Darién]].<ref>http://museo.udea.edu.co/codice/codice2/mayolicas2.html</ref> These were the first European settlements in the [[Americas]].<ref>http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/historia/equinoccial_2_vivienda/cap21.htm</ref><ref>http://www.teleantioquia.com.co/TeleantioquiaensuRegion/Uraba/Historia.htm</ref>

===Mexico===
{{Main|Spanish conquest of Mexico|Spanish conquest of Yucatán}}

[[Image:Ruta de Cortés.svg|thumb|250px|right|Map depicting Cortes' invasion route.]]

There is a difference in the 'Spanish conquest of Mexico' between the [[Spanish conquest of Mexico|Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire]] and the [[Spanish conquest of Yucatán]]. The former is conquest of the campaign, led by [[Hernán Cortés]] from 1519–21 and his [[Tlaxcala (Nahua state)|Tlaxcala]] and other 'indigenous peoples' allied against the [[Aztec|Mexica/Aztec]] empire. The [[Spanish conquest of Yucatán]] is the much longer campaign, from 1551–1697, against the [[Maya peoples]] of the [[Maya civilization]] in the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] of present day Mexico and northern [[Central America]]. The day [[Hernán Cortés]] landed ashore at present day [[Veracruz, Veracruz|Veracruz]], April 22, 1519, marks the beginning of 300 years of Spanish [[hegemony]] over the region.

===Peru===
{{Main|Spanish conquest of Peru}}

[[Image:Conquest peru 1531.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Map depicting the route of Pizarro from Panama to Cuzco]]
In 1532 at the [[Battle of Cajamarca]] a group of Spanish soldiers under [[Francisco Pizarro]] and their [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#South_America|indigenous Andean]] ''[[Indian auxiliaries]]'' native allies ambushed and captured the Emperor [[Atahualpa]] of the [[Inca Empire]]. It was the first step in a long campaign that took decades of fighting to subdue the mightiest [[empire]] in the [[Americas]]. In the following years Spain extended its rule over the Empire of the [[Inca civilization]].

The Spanish took advantage of a recent civil war between the factions of the two brothers Emperor [[Atahualpa]] and [[Huascar]], and the enmity of [[Classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas#South_America|indigenous nations]] the Incas had subjugated, such as the [[Huancas]], [[Chachapoyas culture|Chachapoyas]], and [[Cañaris]]. In the following years the [[conquistador]]s and indigenous allies extended control over the greater [[Andes Mountains|Andes]] region. The [[Viceroyalty of Perú]] was established in 1542.

==Governing==
{{Main|Viceroyalty of New Spain|Viceroyalty of Peru|Intendant#The Spanish Monarchy}}

Spain's administration of its colonies in the Americas was divided into the [[Viceroyalty of New Spain]] 1535 (capital, [[México City]]), and the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] 1542 (capital, [[Lima]]). In the 18th century the additional [[Viceroyalty of New Granada]] 1717 (capital, Bogotá), and [[Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata]] 1776 (capital, Buenos Aires) were established from portions of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

This evolved from the [[Council of the Indies]] and Viceroyalties into an [[Intendant]] system, in an attempt for more revenue and efficiency.
==19th century (the end)==
{{Main|Spanish American wars of independence}}

⚫
During the [[Peninsular War]] in Europe between France and Spain, assemblies called ''[[Junta (Peninsular War)|juntas]]'' were established to rule in the name of [[Ferdinand VII of Spain]].
The [[Libertadores]] (Spanish and Portuguese for "Liberators") were the principal leaders of the Latin American wars of independence from Spain. They were predominantly ''[[Criollo people|criollos]]'' (local-born people of European, mostly of Spanish or Portuguese, ancestry), [[bourgeois]] and influenced by [[liberalism]] and in most cases with military training in the [[Homeland|mother country]].
The [[Libertadores]] (Spanish and Portuguese for "Liberators") were the principal leaders of the Latin American wars of independence from Spain. They were predominantly ''[[Criollo people|criollos]]'' (local-born people of European, mostly of Spanish or Portuguese, ancestry), [[bourgeois]] and influenced by [[liberalism]] and in most cases with military training in the [[Homeland|mother country]].


Revision as of 12:43, 7 October 2010

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called juntas were established to rule in the name of Ferdinand VII of Spain. The Libertadores (Spanish and Portuguese for "Liberators") were the principal leaders of the Latin American wars of independence from Spain. They were predominantly criollos (local-born people of European, mostly of Spanish or Portuguese, ancestry), bourgeois and influenced by liberalism and in most cases with military training in the mother country.

In 1809 the first declarations of independence from Spanish rule occurred in the Viceroyalty of New Granada. The first two were in present day Bolivia at Sucre (May 25), and La Paz ( July 16); and the third in present day Ecuador at Quito (August 10). In 1810 Mexico declared independence, with the Mexican War of Independence following for over a decade. In 1821 Treaty of Córdoba established Mexican independence from Spain and concluded the War. The Plan of Iguala was part of the peace treaty to establish a constitutional foundation for an independent Mexico.

These began a movement for colonial independence that spread to Spain's other colonies in the Americas. The ideas from the French and the American Revolution influenced the efforts. All of the colonies, except Cuba and Puerto Rico, attained independence by the 1820s. The British Empire offered support, wanting to end the Spanish monopoly on trade with its colonies in the Americas.

In 1898, the United States won victory in the Spanish-American War from Spain, ending the colonial era. The U.S. took occupation of Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. The latter continues as a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States.

Spanish possession and rule of colonies in the Americas ended in 1898.

Cultural impact

Indigenous peoples (Native Americans)

Main articles: Indigenous peoples of the Americas and Native Americans in the United States

The cultures and populations of the indigenous peoples of the Americas were changed by the Spanish assumption and colonization of their lands.

Before the arrival of Columbus, in Hispaniola the indigenous Taíno pre-contact population of several hundred thousand declined to sixty thousand by 1509. Although population estimates vary, Father Bartolomé de las Casas, the “Defender of the Indians” estimated there were 6 million (6,000,000) Taíno and Arawak in the Caribbean at the time of Columbus's arrival in 1492.[citation needed]

The population of the Native Amerindian population in Mexico declined by an estimated 90% (reduced to 1 - 2.5 million people) by the early 17th century. In Peru the indigenous Amerindian pre-contact population of around 6.5 million declined to 1 million by the early 17th century.[citation needed]

Of the history of the indigenous population of California, Sherburne F. Cook (1896-1974) was the most painstakingly careful researcher. From decades of research he made estimates for the pre-contact population and the history of demographic decline during the Spanish and post Spanish periods. According to Cook, the indigenous Californian population at first contact, in 1769, was about 310,000 and had dropped to 25,000 by 1910. The vast majority of the decline happened during the Mexican and U.S.A period of Californian history (1821-1910), with the most dramatic collapse (200,000 to 25,000) occurring in the U.S.A period (1846-1910).[1][2][3]

Today the majority of people in Spanish speaking countries, that are in the former Spanish colonial territories, are primarily of indigenous ancestry, although most of these are Mestizos.

Missionary effort

The Spaniards were committed, by Vatican decree, to convert their New World indigenous subjects to Catholicism. However, often initial efforts were questionably successful, as the indigenous people added Catholicism into their longstanding traditional ceremonies and beliefs. The many native expressions, forms, practices, and items of art could be considered idolatry and prohibited or destroyed by Spanish missionaries, military, and civilians. This included religious items, sculptures, and jewelry made of gold or silver, which were melted down before shipment to Spain.

Though the Spanish did not impose their language to the extent they did their religion, some indigenous languages of the Americas evolved into replacement with Spanish, and lost to present day tribal members. When more efficient they did evangelize in native languages. Introduced writing systems to the Quechua, Nahuatl and Guarani peoples may have contributed to their expansion.[citation needed]

Spanish emigration

It has been estimated that in the 16th century about 240,000 Spaniards emigrated to the Americas, and in the 17th century about 500,000, predominantly to Mexico and Peru.[4] In the early 20th century impoverished Spaniards, and from the 1930s-70s political exiles from the Spanish Civil War and the Franco government, immigrated to the countries that were former colonies in the Americas - predominantly Cuba, Mexico, and Argentina. After the 1970s, the direction reversed as Hispanic Americans began settling in Spain.

See also

References

  1. ^ Baumhoff, Martin A. 1963. Ecological Determinants of Aboriginal California Populations. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 49:155-236.
  2. ^ Powers, Stephen. 1875. "California Indian Characteristics". Overland Monthly 14:297-309. on-line
  3. ^ Cook's judgement on the effects of U.S rule upon the native Californians is harsh: "The first (factor) was the food supply... The second factor was disease. ...A third factor, which strongly intensified the effect of the other two, was the social and physical disruption visited upon the Indian. He was driven from his home by the thousands, starved, beaten, raped, and murdered with impunity. He was not only given no assistance in the struggle against foreign diseases, but was prevented from adopting even the most elementary measures to secure his food, clothing, and shelter. The utter devastation caused by the white man was literally incredible, and not until the population figures are examined does the extent of the havoc become evident."Cook, Sherburne F. 1976b. The Population of the California Indians, 1769-1970. University of California Press, Berkeley|p. 200
  4. ^ http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/history/migration/chapter53.html

Further reading

  • David A. Brading, The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots, and the Liberal State, I492-1867 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993

External links

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