Amerindian Antecedents
Amerindian Societies
.
New World ethnohistorians become indignant when it
is said that “Columbus discovered America.”
In actuality, Columbus made contact with civilizations whose traditions
were equally old as those of western Europe.
A fortunate combination of circumstances made him go down in
history as the person who made first European contact with New world
peoples.
WHO WERE THESE PEOPLE?
Arrived over Bearing Land Bridge c. 30-25,000 years
ago, caused by the lowering of sea level b/c of the growth of the polar
ice caps.
Sea level lowered, created a bridge between Siberia & Alaska,
people, following the game animals simply walked across.
By 12,000 BP spread throughout hemisphere
The process of the development of civilization
depended upon the domestication of grains and animals.
As technology increased, food resources became less perilous, and
consequently population increased.
Accordingly these people developed societies of varying complexity:
1. Hunter-gatherers
2. Semi-sedentary—chieftancies (group with Sedentary)
3. Sedentary
4. Complex societies
Geographic distribution:
1. Valley of Mexico
2. Caribbean Coast
3. Highland Peru
4. Coastal Peru
Early Predecessors of Advanced Civilizations
encountered by the Spanish
1. Olmec, Caribbean Coast, c. 1500 BC
2. Teotiahuacan, Valley of Mexico, c.600 AD
3. Maya, Yucatan & Guatemala, c. 1000 AD
4. Sechin Alto, Coastal Peru, c. 1800 BC
5. Tiahuanako, Highland Peru, c. 800 AD
Late Advanced Societies:
Maya Guatemala, ruled 300-1000 AD,
Accomplishments,
hydraulic technology,
canals,
brilliant architecture,
calendar,
writing in form of glyphs,
advanced form of astronomy.
The high point of the Maya civilization was 1000 AD (classic period)
Major societies encountered by Spanish:
1. Aztec, Valley of Mexico, 1325 AD;
2. Inca, Unified Peru, c. 1438 AD
Aztec Empire
Chichimec tribe ancestor of the Aztec/Mexica, migrated from interior
North America c. 1325 AD to central Mexico, where eventually they
became dominant over other local societies.
Capital=Tenochtitlan on shores of Lake Texcoco “Valley of Mexico”,
present day Mexico City.
At first, Aztecs allied themselves with surrounding peoples,
later became powerful and dominated others.
By the time of Spanish arrival, Aztec influence extended
throughout S. Mexico.
Political Structure
Confederation of Semi-autonomous States paid tribute to Aztec masters,
under supervision of Aztec governors.
Internally, political power held by clan (calpulli) which concentrated
power in own hands, thus chief became hereditary position within clan
e.g. Montezuma succeeded his uncle by affirmation of
clan council leaders.
Tribute (taxation) in form of agricultural (corn) and mineral products
(jade) or people, e.g. criminals.
Tribute also in form of forced labor, coatequeti, in which men worked
on monumental architecture projects and women engaged in cottage
industry, e.g. creating elaborate feather cloaks worn by nobility.
No slavery but forced labor
Ritual warfare for captives, not for total annihilation of enemy.
Although subordinate states retained some autonomy under Aztec
domination, the Aztecs often resented by subject states.
One of the most distinctive features of this civilization was its
religion:
1. Pantheistic-little bit of spirit in everything in Universe
2. Had main God, HUITZILOPOCHTLI, with other lesser gods.
Borrowed god, Quetzalcoatl from predecessors, Toltecs.
Legend held that Quetzalcoatl would return in the form of a blond,
blue-eyed, male who came from the east.
Also had creation and flood myths.
When Catholicism arrives flood and creation myths of Christianity do
not seem so foreign.
Because already comfortable with borrowing Gods, substitution of
Christian “Big God” not all
that unfamiliar.
Priests from main calpulli or clan, their job was to square things with
the gods.
Aztec religion centered upon human sacrifice.
They believed that the gods had created the world and could take
it back at any time, therefore
the gods had to be appeased by human sacrifice.
For war captives and condemned criminals fate was a consequence of
defeat or anti-social
behavior.
But others voluntarily became sacrificial victims to save their
civilization, for them Aztec
religious ritual took form of ritual intoxication
Many captives would reach a state
of drug-induced numbness or drug induced
ecstasy that being a sacrificial
victim would become a privilege.
Men spent the last year of their life in the lap of luxury, w/ women,
wine, waiting for the day that
they could contribute to saving their civilization.
The Aztec concept of afterlife many paradises cosseted with luxuries,
just like what they had left. Otherwise a frigid hell, much like
Michigan.
Eligible entrants into paradise were sacrificial victims, soldiers who
died in battle. mother died in
childbirth, etc.
Economy
1. Agriculture-chinampas (artificially created floating islands created
by piling dirt on floating mats) along shores of Lake Texcoco.
2. Average diet consisted of maize, protein comes from beans, third
component = squashes, also chili peppers.
3. Extensive system of trade. Aztecs came to power b/c control obsidian
trade.
4. Also traded for luxury goods such as feathers, cacao, salt.
Salt was necessary for all ranks, but feathers for
elaborate cloaks and cacao beans brewed
into potent, bitter beverage were allowed only to
those of upper classes.
Society
Upper class, nobility, consisted of warrior-aristocrats and members of
the priesthood;
Permanent class of merchants who were not tied to the land.
Not held in high regard because of greater wealth and often served as
spies in other cities of the
confederation.
To kill a merchant was an Aztec federal crime, guaranteed to get you to
Tenochtitlan as a
sacrificial victim.
Also had a highly respected class of artisans.
Another class of “permanent servants” (not slaves) macehualli who were
allowed to leave their
calpulli and enter service of nobility or rich
merchant.
Lifetime care arrangement whereby a person sacrificed the
security of kinship group (calpulli) to
enter service of another.
Most people were peasants, tied to the land and to their own calpulli,
into which they were born,
married, and died.
Also slave class, made up of criminals, debtors, prisoners of war, many
of whom were sacrificed
to gods.
Language and Culture
1. Had a written language, Nahuatl
2. Education was available to both boys and girls of upper class,
but also to sons of merchants and artisans.
3. Had a calendar, secrets kept by priests, also unfortunately
for Aztecs the year predicted for Quetzalcoatl’s return was the same
year Cortez landed at Vera Cruz.
4. Literature in form of poetry and epic poems, usually reciting Aztec
conquests, often embellished. Aztecs were fond of grand recitals, and a
man’s worth was enhanced by his ability to expound eloquently for
hours;
5. Painting, monumental architecture, aqueducts to bring water,
causeways leading to Tenochtitlan on which 10 men could walk abreast.
Bernal Diaz Castillo’s The Discovery and Conquest of
Mexico.
When Cortes arrived he was astounded at the
city, clean, wide streets, especially
in comparison to the cities of
Europe,
Tenochtitlan was the size of Sevilla and Cordoba put
together (The 2 principal
cities of Spain at the time)
6. Surprisingly, no wheel nor draft animals, but did have wheels on
toys.
The Inca
Came to prominence c. 1370, basing their tradition on long line of
previous empires.
Political Structure
Empire, TWANTINSUYU, i.e. conquered people were governed by Inca
governors and administrators.
Incas conquered rather than formed alliances (unlike the Aztecs) and
imposed own
administration.
Sometimes they incorporated local chiefs into Inca bureaucracy.
Recalcitrant villages were forcibly deported and replaced with older,
more settled villages. Forced colonization = mitamaes.
One measure to promote conformity was imposition of language
Quechua is still spoken in Andes today
Society and governance also organized around clan structure (ayllu).
Inca ruling society had twelve royal families from which people took
their names.
Rather like American people calling themselves the
Clintonians or Bushites.
Capital city = Cuzco, divided into twelve sections, each the exclusive
province of an ayllu.
To preserve purity of the royal lineage, brother and sisters sometimes
would marry.
Inca succession appears to have been hereditary, but last two rulers,
Atahualpa and Huascar Inca,
were sons of Huayna Capac but were of different
mothers, thus causing civil war.
Religion
Syncretic combination of old cults and official state religion.
The official Inca religion practiced by the elites in Cuzco
centered around one main god, Viracocha
Another god = the Sun-god, from whom the ruling family was supposedly
descended; and other
deities including Thunder-god, Rain-god, etc.
Priests of the ruling class kept cosmos in order, in which they were
assisted by groups of holy
women specially chosen to serve the ruling priests.
These women took a vow of permanent chastity.
Human sacrifice was practiced, but rarely. Not a fundamental concept of
Inca religion.
Localized traditions of the villages.
In small villages, old traditions survived (very
similar to African pantheistic religions)
and each tradition particular to its own village.
Sacred places = huacas.
Ancestor worship
sometimes mummy bundles
Economy
Unusual combination of effects stemming from unusual
circumstances
1. Land is harsh, consisting of steep mountains and seaside deserts.
2. Inca and their ancestors developed system of irrigation and terraces
to maximize available land and water resources. (Hydraulic
technology)
3. The most important concept to understand about Inca economy,
particular to this civilization is the concept of verticality.
(Explanation + diagram)
4. Agricultural crops included white potato, quinoa, coca leaves, from
which modern cocaine is derived.
5. Protein sources included an occasional guinea pig, fish for elites.
6. Llama used for transporting goods, would not carry a human (max.
weight= 75 lbs), rarely eaten.
The harshness of Highland Peru led to the
development of measures to protect against
disaster.
Reciprocity in Inca society.
To pacify people and hedge against disaster. Rulers gave people
“rebates” including food, textiles, and supported mass
festivals=drunken revelry.
Inca rulers also cared for aged and sick.
Government also stored grain in warehouses to be redistributed in times
of famine and crop failure.
Trade existed only in luxury goods for benefit of nobility, and
commoners forbidden to use roads.
Taxation also included products and labor paid in tribute.
Products included agricultural products paid to state storehouses and
held until time of need, mineral wealth belonged to the Inca.
Portions of a village land was given to the Inca (thirds, Inca rulers,
priests, village for division between families).
Every year the parcelling of the land was rotated so as to spread
the risk.
Labor also given in tribute, Inca system = mit’a.
Men worked at monumental architecture projects, especially on the
extensive road system or maintaining public granaries
Men also served as imperial runners along the Inca highways. (Commoners
forbidden to use).
Women were given wool from alpaca and cotton to weave into elaborate
textiles for ruling class.
Warfare was ritual, i.e. fight and see who wins - not total
annihilation.
Usually conducted at certain seasons, i.e. not planting season or
harvest time.
Society consisted of noble families, small bureaucracy, and mostly
peasant masses, confined in villages and controlled by local strongmen.
Priests came from elite classes.
Also had class of “permanent servants” yanacona, and specialized
artisan classes in Cuzco
Language and Culture
No written language and no alphabet.
Records kept by elaborate system of knotted string (quipu.) (Many
tiered, colored, etc.)
Seems to have been mnemonic device.
Stories preserved by oral tradition, professional memorizers and
storytellers for court, especially
epic poetry.
Songs and music existed.
Art and metallurgy exquisite, for elites.
Monumental architecture roads, palaces, temples, irrigation projects.
No wheel –limited use on rough terrain
Reconquista Hispanica & Contact
Background: Muslim armies crossed the straits of Gibraltar into Spain
in 711 AD
Charles Martel defeated the Moslems at Poitier in 732,
thus marking the farthest advance of the Moslem armies into western
Europe.
From 732, Iberian princes battled to drive the Moors from the Iberian
peninsular
would take 750 years.
The campaign was not continuous, there were frequent truces as well as
hostilities.
Sometimes families of the two sides intermarried,
sometimes Castillian and Moslem princes would interchange
vassalage commitments, trade flowed freely between the two sides.
The Castillians were equally motivated by the desire to obtain land of
agricultural value as much as by religious zeal.
The recapturing of last lands was a slow process,
with momentum going back and forth, until the end of the eleventh
century,
when militant activity on both sides changed the nature of the
struggle.
The first call by the pope for a crusade was against the Moors of
Hispania.
By mid fifteenth century, Muslims held only a small portion in
territory in southern Spain -Granada.
At the end of the fifteenth century several
significant events occurred which would set the stage for Columbus's
voyage.
Trade to Europe flowed from the Eastern Mediterranean in hands of
Monguls, who allied with the Italian merchants and create a monopoly of
trade.
Consequence is that goods are very expensive.
Disaster struck when in 1458, the city of Constantinople fall to
Turkish control.
They still allow Italians to trade but goods become prohibitively
expensive.
Because of these events Europeans began to search
for new routes to the East.
Role of Portugal:
Portugal the leading nation in maritime discoveries in the late 15th c.
(discuss geographic position)
Portugal sent a series of expeditions
First to the Atlantic Islands (Canaries and Azores) then down the coast
of Africa, where they set up trading posts (factories)
The person most responsible was Prince Henry the Navigator (never
sailed out of the sight of land -1394-1460)
Henry supported technological efforts, by establishing a maritime
institute high above the cliffs of the wild Atlantic Sagres.
improved the astrolabe and compass.
Development of better, more seaworthy ships called caravelles
with improved triangular lateen sails. e.
Portuguese advances continued under John II, who sent Bartolomeo
Diaz around the southern tip of Africa.
Later Vasco de Gama (1497 sailed around the coast of Africa,
reaching India, obtaining two shiploads of spices and returning to
Lisbon in 1499.
By the 1470s Portugal had established settlements along the coast of
Africa, from which they extracted gold and slaves
island of Sao Tome, renowned for its sugar production, destroyed in
1570 by a slave rebellion.
Sugar/slave plantation complex of Sao Tome, Canaries, Azores as
progenitors of New World colonial economy
Spain
In 1470 with the exception of Portugues and
Italians, trade is blocked
Can't go east because Constantinople is in the hands of Turkish armies
and can't go south because route under Portuguese control.
Marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille in 1469. Their
marriage combined resources of two most powerful kingdoms in Spain with
two major political goals.
1. Begin to reign in the power of disruptive forces in the kingdoms,
nobility and sheep guilds
This happens within the context of early modern European history
And represents the gradual disintegration of feudalis and the rise of
nation states
consolidation around single monarchical family,
some power removed from localized nobles and placed into the hands of
monarchs.
England: Henry VII Henry VIII,
France: Henri IV began the process.
Portugal: Juao I
Spain Isabel & Ferdinand
2. Once the power of the nobles had been curtailed, they could focus on
the expulsion of the last of the Moors from their stronghold in
Granada.
efforts were successful, and Granada fell to the combined armies of
Aragon and Castile in 1492.
Significance to colonial Latin America:
The 750 year effort left Spain and Portugal with an ideological and
cultural heritage of the romantic glorification of heroic military
exploits, ie. El Cid. Order of Sao Sebastian in Portugal
the creation of society based upon traditions growing out of the
Reconquest. Gold, God, and Glory
Hierarchical pyramid.
Monarch --> Nobility --> Caballeros -->
Hidalgos Coat of arms, responsibilities to maintain
appearances,
privileges, did not work and did not pay taxes.
Lower orders: Commoners = 90% of the
population mostly peasants;
Merchants, Slaves, few in number,
Jews in 1492,
Jewish population forced to convert or they were
expelled.
c.120 M out of 200M converted,
many more left to Portugal from where sine would make their way to the
New World.
Tell story of Columbus sailing down the Rio
Gualdilquivir past Jews
But more important, with the expulsion in 1492, they
took their money and
expertise with them.
Thus Spain left with a rigid and often fanatical
Catholicism
later influx of wealth from Mexico and Peru not
properly accounted for
Columbus: the Genoese navigator, made one last
plea for financing for a proposed voyage to discover a western passage
to Cipango (Japan) and Cathay (China).
Ferdinand and Isabella were not Columbus' only prospects. He sent his
brother to the courts of England and France asking for similar support.
Only Spain was in a position to accommodate his request.
Thus in 1492, Columbus received permission and financial backing.
Profited from the technological advances of the age.
Columbus got little more than permission to go. (Mention TV add)
Isabella ordered that the city of Huelva build him a ship, then emptied
the jails to man the ship.
First enduring contact: Landfall sighted night of
October 12, 1492. First contact with a group of New World
inhabitants occurred in the Bahamas.
People were group of sedentary agriculturists= Arawaks.
Lived in non-threatening environment, therefore not afraid of
Europeans, expected trade.
Columbus, believing that he made it to the East Indies named them
Indians
He continued sailing southward. The Santa Maria was wrecked on
Xmas Eve 1492 on the north coast of present-day Haiti.
He salvaged what he could, left a settlement (Navidad) and returned to
Spain with about twenty Indians, a little bit of gold, and fabulous
stories of rich and glorious lands to the west.
Columbus' second expedition was a colonizing expedition w/ 1500
settlers, 17 ships, plants, animals, seeds to recreate the Spanish way
of life in the New World.
When he arrived he found Navidad destroyed,
founded another town, Isabella in the wrong place on the island.
There's trouble with the colonists
Spaniards in the Reconquista tradition are not about to work,
that's not what they came to the Indies for. As a consequence, the
Spaniards neglect labor-intensive Indian crops, try to grow wheat,
get sick w/ dysenteric diseases; there's friction w/ Indians. Men
mutiny and bands of roving soldiers begin to carry off Indian women.
Arawaks and Tienos abandon villages & burn crops. Uprising in
Hispaniola in 1494 & 1495.
Spanish suppress uprising and caciques are forced to pay tribute,
Spanish drew up a census to see how many people could be taxed.
1497 3rd voyage to Trinidad and the mouth of the Orinoco. Looking for
the Garden of Eden.
On the islands Caciques fled, Arawak society breaking down, Caciques
can't pay tribute; Slaves were the only product, the colony even had to
import food.
Columbus & brother Bartolome faced revolts;
rebels were allowed to divide the Indians amongst themselves for
food & labor. Beginnings of one of the key institutions in the New
World. This division would evolve into the encomienda.
Spanish crown did not want to see this; wanted Indians kept into
groups for tribute and Isabella wants to Hispanicize Indians.
Columbus had no talent for administration and the colony was plagued by
problems- antagonism b/w Columbus and "settlers"
Columbus was granted extensive rights (Admiral of the Ocean
Seas); settlers wanted to keep what they found.
Spanish settlers are returning to Spain with tales of sickness and bad
governance.
Crown acts in 1499 and sends a royal governor to take control of the
colony. Francisco de Bobadilla who arrived in 1500 in the midst of a
major revolt against CC and Bartolome.
Bobadilla arrested Columbus and sent him to Spain in chains.
The extensive rights granted to him by the Crown were revoked.
One of the people who received permission to search for new lands was
Amerigo Vespucci, who because of publicity would become the person for
whom the new World would be named.
In particular, on the islands, Crown grants mining rights which served
to open up the island and send people out
This led to the discovery of placer mining in turn led to a Hispaniola
gold rush, a breakthrough -- actually what Columbus had looked for.
At the same time, the Crown forbade the enslavement
of the Indians; they were to be treated with Benign Subjugation.
Under the laws of the day, soldiers could enslave captives from
battle provided it was a "just war" But the crown did nothing to
dismantle the practice of dividing Indians and entrusting them to
Spaniards' care.
In theory they were to work for wages, and could pay tribute in wages
or products. At the same time the scope of mining increased.
In 1502 the first permanent governor, Nicolas de
Ovando arrived.
He was an administrator, and a military man.
Ruthless, Spanish practices take hold.
He ordered the abandonment of Isabella and founded Santo Domingo,
(one of the fundamentals of Spanish society, wss the Castillian
municipio) on the south side of Hispañola.
He brought 2500 more Spaniards, including women and true settlers,
extended rule throughout the island.
He was under orders to treat the Indians well but there were no
instructions on how to deal with resistance.
This expedition included Bartolome de las Casas, who came as an
encomendero and participated in the conquest of Cuba, beginning in
1511. He would become the foremost advocate of humane treatment for the
Indians.
Ovando sought to bring Indians under control,
He marched to the west, the chiefs greeted him and his men with a
banquet, After the banquet, the Spaniards got up and slaughtered the
Indians. Ovando astutely eliminated the aristocracy of Indian society
in one blow.
Island resources quickly depleted.
1. Native peoples,dying quickly from overwork, disease, malnutrition,
etc. To obtain labor, Spaniards begin slave raiding expeditions to
other islands and to the Florida and Mexican mainland.
2. Spanish began to realize that there was little gold in Caribbean
Islands, but natives told of gold on the mainland.
3. As more Spanish come to New World, line of conquest moves westward,
relay migration.
First Hispanola, then Cuba, by 1519, ready to move on to the continent.
Clarify ability of Spanish to act as they pleased in
NW.
the ultimate authority lay with the Pope,(Alexander VI was a
protégé of Ferdinand)
in 1493 issued a "Bull of Donation" that awarded unoccupied territory
to Spain
Portugal protested and in 1494 the two countries settled their
dispute with the TREATY of TORDESILLAS which awarded sovereignty to
Spain on the west and Portugal to the east of the 40th meridian.
in return Spain had to assume some extensive responsibilities,
most important of which was the evangelization and Hispanicization of
the indigenous populations.
In summary, from the first contact, we see the imposition of Spanish
institutions upon the New World.
Explorations continue:
1502-04: Columbus' last voyage; missed chances to learn of Pacific or
discover Mesoamerican civilizations
1508 the coast of Mexico -Tampico conclusion that the Caribbean sea is
enclosed
Magellan rounded Cape horn --after 1520 the dimensions of the continent
become understood
In 1508 Sebastian de Ocampo established that Cuba is an island.
Conquest of Cuba
Expedition under Diego de Velázquez and Panfilo de
Narvaéz organized in 1511
pincer effect, Velazquez entering at Baracoa and Narvaez on
southern coast. In response to resistance conquest was swift and brutal
-- by now the indigenous peoples knew what to expect from the Spanish.
In the process several towns were founded.
Baracoa (1512) Bayamo, Pto Principe; Sancti Spiritu, Havana 1514; Stgo
de Cuba; 1515. Pto Principe y Havana moved to other locations; Pto
Principe inland to site of Indian village Camagüey; and Havana to
site on the north coast.
Gold soon came to be the primary motive for the
Spanish presence in the New World or the Indies as the New World came
to be called
eventually the Spanish did discover some gold, which became the driving
force behind the division of Indian villages for labor.
All belonged to the crown but how to exploit it?
1. Grant mining contracts (undermine Columbus' authority and
exclusivity)
2. Grant encomiendas of Indians but not land;
4. quinto real = fifth share to king.
Gold first mined on Hispañola then in Puerto Rico then in Cuba.
The search for gold and the dwindling supply of Indians on Hispaniola
provided the initiative for going to Cuba and Puerto Rico.
In the meantime, Diego Columbus replaced Ovando in
Hispaniola as gov.
The gold and the Indians were already dwindling which marked the
beginning of a boom and bust cycle of the island economy and by 1520
the islands experienced the first depression.
Consequently, the impetus for exploitation shifted to the
mainland.
The Spanish knew that large population centers existed on the mainland
from their slave raiding and shipwreck experiences.
Cuba would become the jumping off point for the mainland conquests such
as those of Pedrarias D'avila, Grijalva, (coastal Mexico); Cortes,
interior Mexico; DeSoto (Florida and southeastern N.A.
The mainland conquest of Mexico by Hernan Cortes (1519-21) brought to
an end the first phase of Caribbean history and the Caribbean has been
overshadowed by the Mainland ever since.
The island economies went into collapse because of
1. loss of Indians
2. depletion of metals
3. loss of population in general
Spanish officials to reform;
The officials begin the cultivation of cotton;
and the first introduction of sugar cultivation and the
establishment of processing machinery: the ingenio.
At the same time in Europe sugar was replacing honey as a
sweetener especially among the upper classes
The essential engine of sugar cultivation was slavery -which came to
be specifically African slavery.
Conquest of the Mainland; Biological Revolution/ New Laws
In 1519, Hernan Cortez received permission to continue Spanish
expansion to mainland.
Cortez has been called true Renaissance man, differed from
Columbus, dreamer who lacked administrative capabilities
Cortez mesmerizing, persuasive powers, conniver, shrewd.
Insightful and prescient: took full advantage of Montezuma.’s
indecisiveness
Was the very.profile of a typical conquistador:
1. basically lower middle class; artisans -mostly commoners. Never a
Don, who had it made at home.
2. from south of Spain; Andalucia, Extremadura –dry climate and
poor, rocky soils; the Basque and Aragonese generally had no desire to
embark on a dangerous journey when conditions were good at home.
3. Went for riches or honor to be able to go home an buy a title, marry
one, or earn through military service. Not professional soldiers.
4. No way to know how many went back, 75% casualty rate in campaigns.
Spent their lives complaining about the ingratitude of the king.
5. Ways to become a noble
prove 3 generations of
ancestry
distinguished military service
distinguished service in the Church
distinguished service in the bureaucracy
purchase a title (not considered quite legitimate)
II. Conquest of the Mainland.
First expeditions focused on exploration and slave raiding
1511: parts of the mainland (Yucatan, Caribbean coast of C.A.)
1513, Balboa reached Pacific
.
Cortes and Mexico
Already knew of land there by previous contact and the accounts of
shipwrecked sailors.
Spaniards’ motivation = gold or slaves.
Shipwrecked sailor, Aguilar, presented Malinche to Cortes
Cortes Went on orders of Velasquez, Double-crossed him and upon arrival
founded Veracruz
The men of the highest rank established a cabildo and elected Cortes
their leader.
Lent legitimacy to their illegal activities.
Cortes ordered the ships burned.
Discuss Cortez’s movements
Velazquez, learning of Cortes’ treachery sent Pánfilo
Narvaéz to bring him back
Cortes has to return to the coast, to convince Narvaez to join him and
then rush back to Tenochtitlan to salvage the invasion that had gone
wrong
How did it happen?
Historical question? How did a relatively small band of adventureres
bring down one of the two mightiest empire in the Americas?
Conquest relatively simple and easy. Why? CLASS DISCUSSION
.
Eurocentric view once assumed general Spanish superiority.
It is true that the Spanish had some technical advantages, but doesn’t
fully explain what happened:
1) Spanish had guns, swords; Aztecs have obsidian tipped clubs, bows
& arrows, quilted vests
for protection.
2) Spanish had armor, Aztecs had quilted cotton body shields.
3) Spanish had horses, Aztecs first believed they were one composite
creature. (Cortes had
horses that were slain in battle buried at night so
Aztecs would not know)
4) Spanish had superior tactics, discipline, similar to hoplite
phalanx, formed a porcupine.
5) Aztec conception of warfare was not a fight to the death. They
wanted captives for sacrifice.
Engaged in ritual warfare, “wars of the flowers”-
instead of weapons they would throw
flowers.
Other factors contributed to Aztec defeat.
1) Quetzalcoatl myth-redeemer god with blue eyes and blond hair
(Cortes), would return from
the East in precisely the same year the Spanish
arrived. Contributed to indecision
on the part of Montezuma.
2) Revolt of other groups under Aztec rule, specifically the
Tlaxcalans, Cempoalansa who lived
across the lake. Indian allies supply information,
labor, food. Cortes skillfully
played one group off against the other.
3) Help of an interpreter=Dona Marina (Malinche) young woman sold into
slavery by Aztec
family
was sent to the coast to Maya speaking people, had
learned Spanish from shipwrecked
sailors --spoke Nahuatl, Maya, and Spanish.
The cause of the fall of Tenochtitlan: measles and/or smallpox
epidemics.
Diseases took two years to reach interior --was
devastating. “American Holocaust”
Population estimates range from 7 million to over 100 million with most
historians supporting an estimate of c.50-60 million,
death rate of around 95% of the population in the first century after
the conquest. (regional differences)
Patterns of Spanish administration.
1. Spanish simply replaced the leaders of high civilizations who
exploited the population with Spanish administrators (Emperor with
Viceroy).
2. Set in place the Iberian institutions of economy and political
administration, i.e.: encomienda audiencia. new names but to
former subjects of Aztec empire, similar structures.
3. Razed Tenochtitlan and main ceremonial palace, erected Spanish city,
municipio, one of the fundamental concepts of Spanish colonization..
4. Imported Christianity often utilizing indigenous holy places after
consecration
Mutual acculturation
Began intermarriage w/ Indian women = different colonial experience
from Britain
Produced a syncretic culture
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER CONQUEST OF MEXICO?
Conquerors dissatisfied so Cortes gave them the authorization to
continue searching for other societies to conquer.
Sent Pedro de Alvardo- south into Guatemala.
Once Crown realized the vast riches, we see the same pattern
Cortes as seen with the Columbus family
When the expedition was in the organizing and risky
stages the crown granted vast
powers and privileges to its leaders.
But once the risks were overcome, the Crown
curtailed the powers of conquistadores and
sent its own men.
Remember- the conquistadores were mere
commoners/nobodys,
and despite their vainglory, were in the grand
scheme of things, little more than
cannon-fodder for the crown and were to be gotten
rid of once they had served their
purpose.
Cortes’ power was lmited by an administrative law court, the audiencia,
After a legalistic investigation, Cortez was
returned to Spain 1539,
died a bitter man in Seville,
title passed to eldest legitimate son
The Conquest of the Inca Empire
In 1519 town of Panama founded by Pedrarias Davila, one of the most
ruthless of the
Conquerors
Served as jumping off point for voyages to the south along the west
coast of S.A.
Francisco Pizarro went first to Panama, formed a partnership with Diego
de Almagro.
Tentative voyages: 1524 & 1526.
Almagro remained in Panama organizing the expedition while Pizarro
returned to Spain to enlist
his brothers and other men and gain royal approval
for his expedition
Governor of Panama refused to grant him
permission.
By the wording of the contract, Pizarro double crossed Almagro
Pizarro made himself gov of Peru, Sowed seeds of resentment b/t P and A
By 1530, ready to launch invasion of civilizations to south
Initial conquest of Peru even easier than Mexico
1. Inca nation already affected by European
diseases.
2. Plus --civil war raging between Atahualpa and
half-brother Huascar Inca
(Huascar was Atahualpa’s
prisoner). Pizarro knew of the war because of spies he
had left on previous
expeditions
3. Ominous signs portended by priests
Pizarro hoped to imitate Cortes by seizing the emperor
Spanish tricked Atahualpa into meeting, seized and captured him.
On his part, Atahualpa underestimated the Spanish.
They held him for ransom (a room full of gold).
When they realized that a popular movement was
growing around the leadership of
Atahualpa they executed him.
Spaniards marched on Cuzco, captured and pillaged city in 1533.
Gold and silver melted down, portions divided amongst soldiers, King’s
portion sent to Spain
(Quinta)
created a new wave of immigrants with gold fever.
Unlike Mexico, Cuzco not made Spanish capital
Too high, too far from coast, Pizarro begins
building Lima near the coast.
During the conquest of Cuzco, some of Huascar’s followers had
helped the Spanish, other
followers of Atahualpa refused to surrender.
Manco Inca, cooperated w/ Pizarrro to be named official leader,
then led an uprising against
Spanish rule. Siege of Cuzco 10 months,
defeated b/c of Spanish weapons and food
shortages,
Manco defeated, fled to high Andes, led resistance
until 1572, last leader, Tupac Amaru,
captured and beheaded in Cuzco.
Peruvian Civil War
In the midst of the indigenous uprising a civil war erupted between the
Spaniards,
followers of Almagro vs. Pizarro.
Pizarro brothers got everything, Almagro, was cheated.
Almagro began a rebellion
after the siege of Cuzco was broken, executed by
strangulation, left group of supporters
including his son.
They led assassination of Franciso P. in 1541, briefly took
control of Peru’s gov’t.
Crown sent judge who supported the Pizarro loyalist to bring rebels to
heel,
Almagro’s son defeated and beheaded.
Crown horrified at situation, sent Viceroy
Blasco Nuñez Vela (1544) to bring order and
proclaim a series of New Laws.
When the conquerors realized that the Laws would strike at the very
heart of their livelihood,
they rose in revolt, under Gonzalo Pizarro, executed
the King’sViceroy,
Anarchy reigned until pacification campaign undermined the rebel army
w/ pardons except
Leaders who were executed.
Not until 1567 with the arrival of Viceroy Francisco de Toledo will
pacification campaign end
and the installation of firm royal control over Peru.
How did Crown reassert itself?
Legislation and enforcement
LEGISLATION: The New Laws of 1542 attempted to stop use of forced
labor of Indians.
Provisions:
1. Slavery is forbidden BUT still could enslave if beyond the frontier
and if population engaged in hostile behavior [difference between
slavery and forced labor] –idea of “just war”
2. Most indians still in villages but owed tribute & labor to
encomendero;
The regulation of tribute; New Laws sought to
abolish labor component
3. Existing encomienda not in perpetuity -- after a period of
generations would revert to the Crown.
The promulgation of the New Laws led to widespread protest &
evasion.
In Peru to outright rebellion and the execution of Nuñez
Vela by Gonzalo de Pizarro & his
followers.
Peru would not be stabilized until the 1570s, after the last
Indian rebellion by Tupac Amaru in
1570.
ENFORCEMENT:
Crown sent an army of royal officials-university trained & elevated
to royal service in an
administrative hierarchy.
Introduced law courts audiencia -- the supreme court of appeal in the
New World.
Sent royal representatives, Viceroys to Mexico and Peru.
Two more checking mechanisms:
visita surprise visit by judges;
residencia end of term evaluation hears testimony,
draws up report and sends to
Spain.
Other Expeditions:
Two purposes:
1. to find otros mexicos;
2. to fend off potential European rivals
Cortes sent Nuno de Guzman to what was then the
northern frontier of Mexico (founded
Guadalajara), Pedro de
Alvardo to Guatemala
Pizarro sends Pedro de Valdivia to southern frontier
(southern Chile)
Coronado to interior of North America, 1540
DeSoto through Florida and Mississippi Valley,
1559.
And some years earlier, Magellan-Elcano’s circumnavigation of the
world, 1522.
Consequences of Contact for both Old and New Worlds:
Caribbean people disappeared almost completely --lost language,
culture
Aztec population declined but subsequently regained in numbers after
1700.
Inca and people of Peru less affected.
Other areas relatively unaffected by Spanish, some until late l9th
century.
Spain in New World became dominant society in political structure,
economy, culture particularly religion, society, etc. although many
regions remained essentially indigenous culturally
Intermarriage with Indian women produced a population phenomenon
unequalled anywhere else
in world, class of mestizo, i.e. Spanish/Indian
mixed blood people
Consequences for Europe
1. Political: Rise of Spain as dominant power from c. 1505 until 1620;
fostered the rise of nation-states.
2. Economic: Influx of precious metals profoundly alters European
econom (Silver Revolution).
a. Inflation: Too much silver led to monetary devaluation
–depressed economy
b. Spain spent its gold almost faster than it received it.
Two greatest beneficiaries = Dutch and British
Spanish economic power rests on extraction of
metals and export agriculture from the
American colonies to the rest of
Europe
Portugal’s on gold and other valuable
commodities from the India and the East Indies
(gradually > from Brazil) and
on domestic agriculture and trade with northern
Europe .
Greater wealth = better living conditions =
increase in population
3. Intellectual : Better maps and navigational devices, advances
in medicine with discovery of new plants; inspiration for literature
and drama.
4. Religious: Spain becomes defender (perhaps, savior) of Catholicism
in Europe; also stimulated theological discussion
Theological Problems: Who are the Indians and where
did they come from? How should
they be treated? Enslaved or not? Are they to be
free men or, as Aristotle proposed,
natural slaves?
Debate began with the return to Spain of the greatest champion of the
Indians Bartolome de Las Casas after the massacre in Cuba in the mid
16th c.
It reached its height in 1560s between Las Casas and Juan Gines
de Sepulveda.
Are they related to Africans and therefore rejected Christianity (lost
tribe of Isreal)
or developed separately and therefore worthy of protection?
Argument began in Hispaniola in 1511
Montesinos sermon began the conflict between
Church and encomenderos
led to Laws of Burgos (1512) supposedly
outlawed Indian slavery except in cases
of Just War.
Did little to change existing situation.
But under the leadership of Las Casas, a campaign continued to
stop the worst abuses of
The encomienda.
A 1537 Papal Bull, decreed that the Indians were indeed men,
paved the way for the Crown to promulgate laws
regulating the encomienda.
New Laws 1542, did just that –but royal wishes could
not be effected.
Birth of the Black Legend.
Rivals to Spain’s dominance seized the
propagandizing of Las Casas to justify
their challenges to Spain. The persistence of the
Black Legend continues to this
day.
Summation of Reasons for Spanish Success in Conquering the High
Civilizations of the New World
1. Technological superiority in arms and the use of the horse.
2. Disease, especially smallpox
3. Spanish were Renaissance men with a basically secular outlook on
warfare as opposed to the Native American view which had a large
religious component
4. Internal divisions within the Aztec and Inca empires
Biological Revolution: Biological Unification of the World or the
Columbian Exchange
MIGRATION OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS:
EUROPE TO AMERICA:
After “pacification” the Europeans intent was to recreate the way of
life that they enjoyed in
Europe. Consequently they usually brought with
them virtually everything needed to
recreat their way of life – but with mixed success –
experimentation (as in Florida ag)
So what was not present in the New World?
Animals: No horses, pigs, cattle, goats,
chickens(?)
Plants: European plants to recreate European society, wheat, citrus
fruits, radish, onions, salad
greens, garbanzos, oranges, lemons,
figs, olives, grape vines, banana, wheat.
Status differential: who eats what? Europeans eat bread, wine, serrano
ham, cheese, olives;
The poor eat tortillas (from Maize) and beans.
Economic exploitation of land and labor:
Exotic cash crops= coffee, sugar, indigo,
Ecologically indigenous cash crops = tobacco, cacao,
and cohineal
also commercially important were cattle products,
especially hides – leather industry
AMERICA TO EUROPE:
What did the indigenous societies have? Ameridian diet based upon huge
amounts of
carbohydrates, small amount of protein, herbs and
spices for seasoning.
But Amerindian diet was nutritionally adequate
Most important carbohydrates were:
maize (Mexico and Meso-America)
white Potato (High Andes)
manioc (Amazon basin).
Beans supplied protein, especially in combination
with maize
These crops were the staple crops which formed the basis of the native
peoples’ diet
Complemented by animal protein sources--Waterfowl
and a small hairless dog in
Mexico; guinea pig in High Andes; fish and shellfish
in Amazonia and Caribbean,
also agouti , peccari, and other rodents
Only small animals and a few of them.
Other crops: Pineapple, tomato, vanilla, cacao, beans, chili peppers.
Result was the biological unification of the world.
Question: w/out mixing of plant and animal life would global
population increase have
occurred?
DISEASE and MIGRATION:
American Indians limited immunity to old-world diseases;
Types of immunity
1. Genetic, which they did have to syphilis;
2. From previous contact; Smallpox, Measles, TB, diphtheria,
influenza, yellow fever; malaria; plague, typhus to New World;
Syphilis to Old world??
ECOLOGICAL CHANGES:
Europeans cut the forests, thus bringing about epidemics of
mosquito-born deseases
Altered water bodies, e.g. drained Lake Texcoco,
allowed livestock to run wild, trample and devour native agriculture,
introduced sugar to tropical lowlands, thus eliminating native flora
and associated fauna
displaced native agriculture
mining operations turned some areas fields of toxic wastes
caused catastrophic population decline among both indigenous humans and
many other species of plants and animals
But – by end of first century of European occupation pressure on land
from humans less than
What it had been at the time of first contact.
The Colonial Economy
Internal economy vs. Imperial economy-- Emergence of a dual
economy
local production in the Indies in conflict
with the imperial system,
the colonial economy reflected
this duality
the exchange of goods internally
and transatlantic trade.
IMPERIAL ECONOMY OR THE SPANISH COMMERCIAL SYSTEM
The Spanish form of mercantilism:
1. Wealth was static & limited based upon precious metals-- when
metals were traded away for consumable commodities or for commodities
of conspicuous consumption, finance capital was no longer available for
investment in the infrastructure, agriculture or industry.
2. Colonies existed solely for the benefit of the mother country,
in this case the crown of Castille.
Control concentrated in Seville in the Casa de
Contratacción 80 miles up the Rio Guadalquivir.
Later moved to Cadiz due to silting and larger ships
All products and persons must pass through Casa to get to New World.
In order to exercise greater and more direct
control, the crown leased out license to its
favorites
Also leased out licenses for tax farming.
Spanish peninsular economy not adequate to supply needs of the
colonies.
Leases in Seville go to Spanish who in turn sell to
foreign merchants.
Also when they were not able to supply the demands
of Spanish colonies, English,
French & Dutch turned to
smuggling.
Led to international friction
1. Other countries want markets in New World
2. Want a share of the silver
3. Also have a religious motivation stemming from the Protestant
Reformation.
led to general European war and Spain loses.
War spreads to colonies.
Protestant nations begin picking at invincible Spain.
Piracy: (Early 16th c. – 17th c.)
Attacked the treasure fleets but mostly individual
vessels
in the days before nations had large
navies, privateers/pirates were instruments
of national defense.
Pirate vs. privateer – an ever
changing boundary
Formation of colonies and development of internal colonial economy
(17th c.)
Smuggling: (late 17th century –late 18th c. (comercio libre).
Spain concentrated on the most valuable commodity -- silver.
Organized shipping of silver into two fleets
Spain to Cartagena then to Portobello in Panama
(most valuable) galeones
Silver from Potosi
Second comes from Vera Cruz
Silver from central Mexico and
gold from Manila via Acapulco
The two fleets meet in Havana in August/September
then sail
together to Spain (Flota)
In 1628 entire fleet captured by Dutch admiral. Piet
Heyn off north coast of Cuba
ILLEGAL TRADE:
Spain could never fulfill the contract that was implicit in
mercantilist doctrine.
Could not supply what was wanted much less at prices
colonists could pay.
Answer is smuggling.
Other European nations, with local connivance. flourished in areas
bypassed by the flotas and
galeones.
Northern European nations established entrepots in Caribbean and
introduced affordable
products into Spanish America.
They would send ships that would arrive before the ship from Spain did
and undercut the market.
Major areas =Rio de la Plata, Caribbean coast.
Jamaica/Cuba, Dutch Curacao and Nueva
. Granada.
When European nations recognize that smuggling is more profitable
than capturing ships, things
change.
That happens in late 17th. c. 1670.
Calculations of damage to Spanish trade indicate
that by the late 17th century more than
half of profits were lost to contraband.
SLAVERY
Two types:
Indian slavery and African slavery.
Indian slavery was theoretically outlawed except in
cases of a “Just War” But the practice
of raiding the interior tribes for captives
continued thru 1600s.
Most prevalent in Brazil because
of the immensity of the interior.
Bandeirantes slave raiding
expeditions into Brazil’s interior for agricultural
workers til 18th century.
The AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE:
As Indian populations decline, other labor sources are needed.
Spaniards turn to other sources of labor and find it in Africa.
Bartolome de la Casas recommended that
Africans be imported to replace the dying
Amerindians,
Europeans had no theological problem with using blacks as slaves.
But- Spain has limited trading posts in
Africa.
Forced to contract with Portugal,
which had slave factors in Africa,
Thus Portugal is granted an
asiento (contract to procure slaves)
(Spain can never supply her
colonies w/ products they need and slaves are no
exception).
Asiento held by Portuguese, (Portuguese and Spanish crowns united
from 1580-1640)
By the French in 1700, by the British in 1714, and
then to monopoly companies of
Various nationalities
The Domestic Economy of the Spanish Colonies
FACTORS OF PRODUCTION = Land, Labor, Capital
LAND
In theory all belonged to state, granted in various tenancy
arrangements,
Land was plentiful, Indian systems did not use all
available land.
King granted, rented, sold rights of
exploitation but he reserved ultimate title to himself.
The privilege was often granted or simply assumed by
local cabildos to grant land.
Usually the persons
arriving first got prime acreage.
The idea
is to make the land profitable and extract products
1. To be sent to Spain;
2. To be consumed locally.
Grantees expected to make certain improvements.
Also with population decline, Indians were congregated into
villages and their land was
granted to Spaniards.
LABOR
EVOLUTION OF THE PRINCIPAL LABOR SYSTEMS
1. Encomienda
2. Repartimiento (Mexico)/mit’a or mita(Peru)
3. free wage labor
4. debt peonage for haciendas & obrajes
The Encomienda:
“To entrust” --designed for conversion and to extract tribute,
tribute could be in the form of goods or could
substitute labor.
With the New Laws the crown came to gradually
control Indian labor
taken out of the hands of
encomenderos.
Both in New Spain and Peru encomenderos overworked their tributaries.
tributaries paid foodstuffs, produce, chickens, but
encomenderos preferred whatever
could be turned into cash - e.g. in Central America
they demanded cacao which was a
profitable export crop.
Regional variations: The encomienda survived on the poor fringes until
the 18th century.
1. No mining so no need for mass Indian labor
2. little potential for agricultural wealth—therefore no danger of a
wealthy, powerful encomendero class evolving to challenge the authority
of the crown
Repartimiento/mit’a:
After the Civil War in Peru was suppressed the crown assumed more
direct control.
From 1550 onward all village Indians owed some labor
but now it was the civil
authorities that controled the labor.
Local, private interests apply to government
officials for an allotment of Indians.
Goals:
1. To allot labor to landholders on an even-handed basis
2. To regulate the numbers of laborers through a forced labor draft
Why the change?
1. Dwindling supply of Indian labor Demand is increasing but population
is decreasing
2. Increased # of Spaniards who want Indian labor
especially King’s favorites & officials who try
to wrest wealth from first
generation of encomenderos.
Now with Crown in control what evolved was a rotational labor draft
Had precedents in both Aztec and Inca systems
--was not so foreign,
(especially when compared to the introduction of the
alien money economy)
The use that the labor draft was put to varied in different areas.
In New Spain used for agriculture, repartimiento had
a short life
In Peru was the primary supplier of labor for mining
industry
It also took the form of labor in textile
sweatshops, obrajes.
primarily in Ecuador
obrajes important part of economy
of central Mexico, but used ‘free’ labor
In some areas repartimiento died out quickly, e.g. New Spain; in other
areas it lasted til the 18th
and 19th centuries.
Free Labor
Why the transition to free labor?
1. No guarantee of labor supply i.e. if you’re ‘somebody’ you’ll get
labor, if not …
2. Gradually wages offered to workers (castas) slightly above the
renumeration of the repartimiento
supply of potential workers
growing as Indians lost their lands
or drifted away from villages due
to intolerable demands for tribute
The MEXICAN ANOMALY
Free labor begin early
1. In areas not a part of Aztec or colonial tribute systems
2. Mines far away from population centers
3. Local Chichimecs not used to systematic labor
Spanish were forced to recruit labor from too far away so they
contracted w/ Indians and castas
to provide labor.
Originally free labor supplemented the
repartimiento, but eventually replaced it
Debt Peonage and the Hacienda:
Mexico more than anywhere is associated with the hacienda:
a large estate pursuing agricultural
activities, usually ranching, or with obrajes,
Debt peonage workers are extended goods, food,
housing on credit at company store in
return for labor
.It was a way of tying workers to a particular ranch
or textile mill, of guaranteeing labor
at modest expense. It too varied over time.
Has a negative connotation b/c of the involuntary
connotation associated with it
New studies are revealing that workers sometimes
demanded credit in advance
But what else could they do?
Ramifications of free labor system
1. Increased acculturation. Indians permanently away from kinship groups
2. Adopt European way of dress
3. Loss of Indigenous languages and customs.
The process was greater in Mexico
indigenous population
survival in Peru, not only because of topography but also
because of the mit’a
Indians would
go to work for Spaniards and come back to village.
Yanaconaje (Peru)
Permanent servants, persons who had left their ayalla
From the Spanish point of view, they had left
their village but had become attached
permanently to an important person or
hacendado family/estate.
Instances of the yanaconaje
remaining with an estate if it was sold.
Not slavery but perhaps more like
serfs in some respects
CAPITAL
The first capital came from Europe, esp. North-European banking houses
i.e.Flemish, Italian, German, and some Castillian and Aragonese
Invested in mining, agriculture, especially
sugar, slaving, pearling.
Indies began generating its own capital
Some from agriculture i.e. Cortes –162Kpesos,
Some from silver and gold, i.e. Atahualpa ransom
-971K pesos in gold.
eventually tribute came to be rendered in money
Minimal capital accumulation
Concept of primitive accumulation
Where did the capital go?
Taxes, esp quinto, i.e. kings
fifth of mining revenue
European imports
early years for additional
expeditions
conspicuous consumption,
i.e. houses, dowries, endowments to church.
Little incentive to invest, therefore they spent.
The greatest internal moneylender was the Church, either as a
institution or in semi-private
capacities,
Mercantile sector: nothing resembling corporations or associations
(investment societies)
Partnerships usually formed for a particular enterprise.
Usually a family enterprise or merchant house linked
with crown
one family member went to Indies,
brothers remain in Seville (Cadiz after 1717)
common to send nephew to be indentured with brother
in America.
As there was no incentive and no structure available for capital
accumulation, the continuity of a
family fortune was with a man’s heirs.
Often a family fortune would be dissipated by heirs,
and/or visicitudes of royal policy, or
transatlantic shipping.
In contrast to land & labor, capital was limited and very unstable.
What was the result of these factors of production?
1. First Generation lived off tribute and looting
dwindling Indian labor
most easily mined metals discovered by mid
1550s
2. As the availability of Indian labor declined, tracts of land wre
left vacant and land became available for commercial agriculture
Agricultural products,
agriculture ie. animal and plant husbandry became
the economic base
Crops imported from Spain
wheat, grapes, olives,
fruits and vegetables, esp citrus, sugar, bananas.
European animals, swine adapt
best, horses, goats, sheep, oxen, chickens, European animals run wild
trample Indian crops
Undesirable fauna and flora such as rats and mice, non-native grasses,
dandelions, and other weeds
The form that commercial agriculture took was estancia and sitio
The development of the pastoral estate, i.e. the hacienda (some arable
land and stock raising).
Appeals to Spanish way of life.
Second biggest export is dyestuffs
Cochineal - ground beetles from Mexico inhabit the
nopal cactus that produces red dye.
It took 70,000 beetles to make a pound of dye.
Mexican colonists took cochineal in
tribute.
Much in demand because northern Europe was beginning
to export cloth.
In
addition forest trees produced dyestuffs --black, browns, dull reds.
Discovered a wild American species of indigo
Plantation crops also important
cacao –Caribbean basin
Indians used cacao beans as money
ground and mixed with water into
thick drink --only for nobility
in its original form, Europeans
eschewed it but when mixed with another product
it was made
highly appealing, i.e. sugar
Sugar is a tropical and sub-tropical lowland crop which came to be
grown in extensive
plantations
slavery/sugar had been moving westward across
Mediterranean and to Spain and thence
to the Canaries and Azores.
Sugar into Hispaniola with Columbus - second voyage
first ingenio in 1516, by
1521 exported to Spain.
Charles helped the industry get started
ordered that technicians be sent
to advise colonists the proper way to cultivate and
refine and that the
treasury advance credit to expand production.
Sugar not as important on
mainland, small scale production in Coastal Peru but
Mainly for
domestic consumption – later becomes important in coastal
Mexico
and Caribbean mainlands
Cuba produced hides for export.
Tobacco, not a primary product except in Cuba where soil produced some
of the best tobacco in the world. But smoking had not become a craze
until late 16th c.
Other important products cotton, coca, silk.
Cotton used in factory system especially in Ecuador.
Textile are produced in urban
workshops (obrajes)
Agro-industrial complexes: Sugar plantations and Obrajes.
.
Except for mining, textile industry the most advanced in terms of
organization and technology. Obrajes made cloth because imports were
expensive and Spain could not meet local demand.
This becomes an increasingly important factor in the
politics of econimic self-sufficiency
Labor came from Indian workers in the repartimiento
fabric made of cotton, silk, wool, depending
on locale
Used dyestuffs.
Produced hats, jackets, hemp sandals, carpet,
tablecloths, ribbons & lace
Two types of ownership:
Some were owned by Europeans, also owned
plantations or herds (vertical integration)
Others were obrajes de communidad, community
based but worked by tribute payers and
controlled by local chiefs who managed to skim
off a portion of the profits.
Mutual need, Spaniard needs the
mediation of the local chiefs;
collaboration with the Spanish
gets local leaders prestige and sometimes relief
from
taxes.
By 1550 the Spanish colonies are self-sufficient producing wine, oil,
flour, wheat, wool, and
leather.
How did the Spanish government view the colonies’
self-sufficiency?
Great bulk of wealth initially comes from mining.
Gold cycle in Islands: 1503-1560, peak period =1541-60
no way to tell how much left illegally in form
of dust, nuggets, or went into local
exchange.
Silver mining
On the mainland a few centers till mid century two big
strikes, the discoveries of
Potosi (Peru in 1545)
Zacatecas (Mexico 1546)
Amalgamation process: The discovery and development of this process
requiring mercury
Patio process: mixed ground ore with copper pyrite
or salt and mercury
The use of mercury, which is poisonous, was
costly but it gave greater yields and used
less lumber for fuel (deforestation or
non-availability of wood was a major problem in
many mining areas).
Process:
Extraction
Ore beat and ground to a powder
pulverized ore mixed with
quicksilver(mercury), salt and other reagents, which
amalgamated
the mercury and silver
washed to separate the mercury
and silver from the powder sludge
amalgam distilled (some of the
mercury could be reused)
Importance of Mercury supply:
At first all mercury had to be sent from mines at
Almaden in Spain
1560’s: discovery of a rich deposit of mercury at
Huancavelica, Peru
Mexico had to import mercury from Spain, all a royal
monopoly.
Silver was supposed to be taken to royal assay houses where it was
recast into bars, stamped,
weighed, the king’s share set aside, and the rest
returned to the owner.
Labor done by tributaries first, later by free wage labor.
Black slaves rarely used for mine work because they
were expensive
Silver became the major export
Effect of silver production.
Made conquest/ransoming pale by comparison.
Some few miners became wealthy
Mining was cyclical and risky, very expensive to get
into, had to have royal favor to get
mercury, veins could play out
unexpectedly or flooding could close a mine.
The trickle-down effect stimulated the local economy
and subsidiary industries around
mining towns.
responsible for the development of transportation
routes,
So much mineral wealth affected the world economy-
Philip II conducted extensive European wars against
the Protestant countries.
Inflation in the 17th century
Did Spain really profit from her Empire?
1. Profits from trade flowed to foreign hands
a. smuggling;
b. Industrial goods came from Northern European countries
2. Silver was quickly dissipated due to Philip II’s wars to wipe out
Protestantism
3. That which remained caused
tremendous inflation in Spain,
misery for the Spanish poor
rendered other nations’ goods cheaper than
Spanish goods.
Conditions worsened by artificial restrictions.
Spain left commerce in hands of merchant monopoly in Seville, the
consulado
farmed out privileges to foreigners
The consulado members act in reality as
agents, so bulk of money goes out of the
country.
Classic dependency theory: Spanish America’s dependent position due to
a disadvantageous
international division of labor imposed upon them by
superior European powers
supported by metropolitan mercantile policies.
Under this arrangement they were required to produce
primary goods for export at cheap
prices and import finished
goods at dear prices.
Neo-Marxist analysis::
1. The development of an economically dominant region imposes
dependency upon other countries and regions that it dominates.
2. Dependency cannot be attributed solely to external forces; it owes
in part to internal infrastructural weaknesses
3. Dependency creates under-development for it is not in the interests
of dominant centers to encourage or even allow the development of
subordinate regions
4. Thus, under-development is a chronic state that cannot be escaped
through evolutionary stages of advancement;
countries such as England were never dependent or
underdeveloped, they were
initially undeveloped.
5. Under-development can only be remedied by the elimination of
external and internal structures of dependency.
Comparative Slave Systems
Only in New World does slavery become inextricably linked with race,
and morphology, i.e.
black skin.
Legal Framework
Based on Roman Law; Siete Partidas
Alfonso el Sabio, 13th century --
codification of Spanish Law; established the
legal rationale that
Africans had rejected Catholicism and therefore could be
enslaved.
Comparative Slave Systems
Only in New World does slavery become inextricably linked with race,
and morphology, i.e.
black skin.
Legal Framework
Based on Roman Law; Siete Partidas
Alfonso el Sabio, 13th century --
codification of Spanish Law; established the
legal rationale that
Africans had rejected Catholicism and therefore could be
enslaved.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CHATTEL SLAVERY:
1. Slaves are animate property (chattel) i.e. can be bought and sold
like livestock
2. Slaves are powerless
3. Slaves are cut off from their native societies, uprooted
and placed in an alien environment
4. Slaves are without honor; more especially a North American concept
which was somewhat
different in Latin America.
Slave population must be continuously renewed for in most times and
places slave population fails to reproduce itself.
High mortality, low birth rate --planters don’t care
because it’s cheaper to buy a 20 year
old than to raise an infant to
maturity.
Only after the price of slaves rises significantly
due to illegality of the slave trade does it
become cheaper to ‘breed’ slaves
than to buy them (as in Southside Virginia
1830s-1861).
SLAVE TRADE
Initially the slave trade in the hands of the Portuguese; they were
gradually supplanted by the
Dutch during the first half of the 17th century.
In the late 17th century, the French and English
entered the trade
England became predominant by the end of the 18th c.
Americans entered late
Spanish later still.
Chronologically, the peak of the African slave trade was during the
eighteenth century.
Before 1600 = 3%;
1600-1700 = 14%;
1701-1810 = 60%
after 1810 (slave trade illegal) 23% largely
to Cuba and Brazil
How many? Estimates range from 11 to 20 million, but 14 million
is a reasonable figure
Effects of the trade on Africa difficult to assess -- May have been a
Malthusian crisis
the effects on different areas still in
investigatory stages
Impacted primarily those areas of West Africa where
merchants bartered for European
Goods (tobacco, rum, guns &
gunpowder)
The trade in Africa was in the hands of African middlemen - often
chiefs who controlled the
internal African trade
in response to European economic incentives, sold
P.O.W’s into slavery.
Gun/slave cycle
The slave trade fostered tensions between African societies, and
promoted certain chiefdoms to
power and prominence
Europeans could not have conducted trade without
African accomplices
Economic impact on African society
firearms fostered warfare
pots. pans, iron ag implements, trinkets and
mirrors contributed to new forms of social
stratification
Demographically most slaves were men –Slave traders preferred strong,
young, adult males.
Created special problems both in Africa and, of
course, within the New World slave
communities.
Planters had definite preferences -- some African tribes viewed as more
docile and others as
intractable.
Also some had agricultural experience and in others (i.e. Ibo men)
absolutely refused to do
agricultural work as it was regarded as work
fit only for women
.
Historiography: Current debates center around the numbers imported and
the profitability of the
trade.
Continental Spanish America was not the recipient of the majority of
the slaves brought to the
New World
Reasons:
1. Physical Geography
Highlands’ climate drastically different from
lowland tropics of Africa
Major factor: Highland crops not
suitable for plantation agriculture, which
required
intensive labor techniques (sugar as opposed to
wheat/cotton
as opposed to potatoes)
Minor factor: Africans from
tropical lowlands may have found it
difficult to
adapt to cold highland climates??? (or whites may
have assumed
as much, correctly or incorrectly)
2. Demography
Relatively smaller populations of lowland Indians
quickly wiped out by disease
and warfare (at least in areas
desired by Europeans), whereas much larger
highland Indian populations,
though suffering great losses from disease,
managed to maintain some presence,
therefore, less need for imported
labor
So, in the highlands, Encomienda labor was available, then
repartimiento labor, then free wage
labor.
Why purchase a slave when a wage worker can be had
more cheaply?
Brazil, over time, received the majority of slaves brought to the New
World
c.1570-mid 1660s; then drops off only to pick
up again in late 18th century and 19th c.
Probably had 4.1 million enter in total.
After the late 18th century, specifically 1789, Cuba became a prime
destination of slavers.
About 2/3 of all slaves were brought to Hispanic /Lusotanian America.
Profitability of slave trade
Once it was believed that the slave trade was extremely profitable
That myth has now been largely debunked in that the
hazards and uncertainties made the
trade less profitable than believed.
Average profits were no more that 10% (British) and
others such as the Danes and Dutch
realized no more that 2%. Could have done better in
other industries.
Example of Dutch who did get out of slaving
after 1700.
There are instances of a few families who did make
profits in slaving, but they do not
represent the majority.
Mortality rates of the crossing “Middle Passage” were predictably high,
about 10-20% died in transit -- estimated to be about 1-2 million
people. .
The current consensus is that the ships with
the least mortality were those that reduced
the sailing time between Africa and America.
Also once they arrived in the New World, the first
three years was a time of high
mortality.
Many more died on the plantations, work was harsh, slaves lived
in horrendous conditions,
Masters had little interest in providing more
than the basic necessities b/c it was cheaper
to replace a slaves than to care for them.
Average life expectancy of a
field hand in Brazil during the 18th c. was 7 years
beyond landing.
.
SLAVE TREATMENT & RACE RELATIONS:
Slave treatment: a continuing debate in American historiography
Some historical interpretations argue that
slavery was milder in Spanish/Portuguese
America than in other areas, esp. British or French
colonies, or later on in the United
States.
Legal foundation of Latin American Slavery:
Roman Law
Siete Partidas, Alfonso el Sabio, 13th century
codification of Spanish Law
Recopilación de los Leyes
de Indias (1680)
Slave Codes of 1789
Governance decrees (1836, 1842)
Provisions of legal framework:
1. Established the humanity of the slave
2. Guaranteed access to the sacraments
3. Guaranteed the right to own property
4. Recognized various means to attain freedom
Demographic dimension = growth of a large, free colored population
Factors Contributing to harsher slave treatment and perhaps to
especially bitter race relations
1. Profitability of the plantation: When debt/earnings ratio
high, and profits marginal, slaves treated harshly (Mississippi Delta
region 1830’s – 50s)
2. Demands of the cropping system: Sugar worst, then perhaps
rice, coffee, cotton, tobacco, and lastly general mixed farming in
temperate regions such as Virginia, Middle Tennessee
3. Size of the farm/plantation: The larger the plantation, the greater
number of slaves, and the harsher the treatment.
Factors Contributing to milder slave treatment and perhaps eventually
to better race relations
1. Profitability of a slave system; i.e. when no longer profitable
slaves manumitted gradually
2.Could be a function of time, Spain and Portugal had 100 year start on
British, French & Dutch,
once the mixed population evolved it was difficult
to erect a definitive color bar
3.Manumission significantly easier for slaves in Latin America (such
as or self purchase)
4. Role of the Catholic Church vs. the Protestant in North America
.
Yet – slavery perhaps more brutal in Brazilian gold and diamond mines
and on sugar and coffee
plantations than anywhere else in the New World
Most historians now agree that the nature of the crop determined the
harshness of a life in
bondage..
What did slaves do?
The vast majority of slaves did back-breaking, health-destroying
agricultural labor.
Some slaves served as artisans and/or apprentices, often in urban
environments
The Major Cropping Systems associated with American Plantation
Slavery:
Crop
Time
Place
Sugar
16th
c.
Hispanola-small scale
17th-18th
c. Lesser Antilles, Bahia, Peru
18th-20th c. Greater Antilles,
N.E.Brazil
Tropical and Subtropical Lowlands
(coastal Mexico, S. Louisiana, N. Argentina)
Cotton
17th-18th c.
Bahia, other tropical lowlands
18th-20th c
N.E. Brazil, U.S. South
Coffee
18th-20th c.
S.E. Brazil, Colombia, Central
America, West Indies, and
temprano areas throughout low-latitudes of
Latin America
Tobacco
18th-20th c.
Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras,
Mexico, U.S. (esp.Upper South)
The SUGAR PLANTATION
http://www.cubalabella.net/cgi-bin/museum/imageFolio.cgi?direct=Industria_del_Azucar_-_Sugar_Industry
In terms of the factors of production (Land, Labor, and Capital) sugar
is land extensive and labor
and capital intensive.
El Trapiche to El Ingenio to El Central
Field (cane) (La Canaveral)
Mill (juice)
Boiling House
Refinery (muscovado and molasses)
Port facilities
Requires :
1. Extensive lands
2. Numerous structures
3. Numerous slaves
4. Cattle for hauling caretas (carts) turn mill, subsidiary livestock
industry develops.
5. Wood for firing boilers;
6. Clay pots for draining sugar; machetes, ladles, etc.
DEMANDS OF SUGAR
1. Sugar is round the clock work in gang labor – among the most brutal
Which was a reason why planters had adopted
slavery
Why African slavery?
a. Europeans refused to work and were rarely enslaved and forced to
work (Australia?)
b. Indians had died out
c. Africans were imported because they were available and the Spanish
rationalized that it was moral to enslave them because they had the
opportunity to embrace Christianity yet had not (unlike the Indians).
2. Sugar Estates needed to take advantage of an economy of
scale. Production had to justify the
fixed capital investment, as well as more or less
fixed costs of maintenance and labor so
maximum production was required.
The optimum during the trapiche era (1600-1650) was about 300 acres
afterward only dependent upon availability of labor
during zafra (harvest)
intensive labor for the zafra
(A situation which would plague Cuban history would
be chronic underemployment
as Cuba was a monocultural economy)
During the zafra everybody was employed, but the between time
(tiempo muerto ) many
were left without work).
Only the wealthiest could afford. Buildings, labor = approx 40% of the
capital investment,
Land is costly and in Cuba fraught with difficulties of
possession.
Becomes more and more expensive.
In late 18th century many small farmers thrown off the land by the
expansion of sugar in the Havana area.
Also needs trees for fueling the boiling houses which until 1815
the planters were limited in cutting.
Sugar is technologically complex. It needs technology such as the
boiling house on site b/c the cane must be processed w/in 2 days of
cutting.
The juice is extracted, boiled down, then purified by heat, allowed to
cool, placed to drain in clay pots.
Particularly the process of boiling takes a great deal of skill,
Cubans benefited by the expertise of the St. Domingue emigres not only
in the sugar industry but also the coffee cultivation, centered
primarily on hillsides.
Depends to a degree on the state of the world market
SLAVE RESISTANCE
Resistance could come in many forms:
1. Mildest = working slow, feigning illness, stealing, breaking tools.
2. For women resistance could include inducing abortion, suicide, or
infanticide to not have one’s child grow up a slave.
3.Not surprisingly, slaves sought to escape by running away. Some
remained close and retained contact with slaves they had known, perhaps
even formed kinship linkages, not uncommon for slaves to form permanent
attachments to other slaves.
4. Others escaped to slave communities called PALENQUES in Cuba, or
QUILOMBOS in Spanish America.
5. The slaves who ran away were called cimmarones, At the beginning of
the nineteenth cent. a concerted effort to eliminate runaway
communities was instituted, in most slave societies the success of
running away had to do w/ the closing of the frontier.
6. Rebellion: the most radical form of resistance. The frequency of
rebellion also has to do w/ the closing of the frontier.
Men would rather flee than fight. Slave
rebellions were infrequent, 1812 Aponte =
free coloreds;
La Escalera in Cuba in
1840.
St. Domingue 1791. Had much to do
with the
subsequent
response of Cuban planters to revolt; put down brutally.
Historiography of Slave Treatment Debate
Elsa Goveia,
“West Indian Slave Laws” Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 4 (March
1960), 75-105.
Specific Interpretations:
Gilberto Freyre-
The Mansions and the Shanties. -nationalistic Brazilian writer
painted a paternalistic portrait of slavery.
Written in the 1940s -- draws a comparison between
Brazil & the U.S. in which Brazil
Brought to historical attention the differences
between North American and Spanish
American society.
Spanish American society 1/3 Free
White; 1/3 slave, 1/3 brown non- white or free
colored.
Characteristic of Spanish
American society but it made the U.S. very different
from other slave societies.
Much more racial harmony in the
Spanish American societies than in the U.S.
Issue was taken up by Frank Tannenbaum in 1948 Slave & Citizen
He claimed that the differing history of slave
treatment may be attributed to the Iberian
background
1. The Iberian experience with slavery.
a. Laws based upon Roman law included legal protection for slaves
b. Laws facilitated manumission and created a mechanism for
self-purchase, coartación,
2. The Iberians had had a long history of contact with the African
continent therefore they were
more tolerant of people with dark skins.
3. Catholicism mitigated against the dehumanizing effects of slavery.
a. Catholicism was more powerful than Protestantism & had more
control over
b. individuals. Coercion of individual owners sought to get slave the
sacraments of the Church. Baptism, marriage. last rites.
c. Catholicism was more institutionally powerful so it had the ability
to influence governments making slavery less brutal.
Pattern came about through a complex gradation of phenotype, status,
& wealth.
Valid points:
1. The Spanish countries did have a large free colored class due to
manumission and through coartacion. Slaves could earn money by growing
food for market and by earning extra wages if an urban slave.
2. There was more sexual contact between races
3. Less discrimination of Free Coloreds in Spanish colonies, some
regulations barring entry into occupations but still find non-whites on
town councils.
Hermann Höetink
Somatic Norm Theory- the physical makeup of master groups is the key.
Posits the extreme amount of prejudice on the part
of those with lighter skin & hair.
Social/psychological theory determines your ideal
physical attractiveness & willingness
to have physical relations with
those who don’t look like you.
Marvin Harris
stresses demographics in determining the harshness or severity and the
prevalence of miscegenation. including the number of white to non-white
& the number of men to women.
A. The Iberians and Portuguese freed many of their mulatto slaves b/c
they needed a
class of artisans
B. The incidence of racial admixture was a function of fewer white
women.
Carl Degler
Neither Black Nor White, classic work, continually cited, draws
comparison between Brazil & colonial U.S. reaches similar
conclusions to Harris re: demographic causes for the better race
relations in Brazil.
1. Few white women in Brazil, N.American arrived in family groups,
Portuguese & Spanish mostly alone
2. Position of women in Portuguese society, confined to the home
promotes concubinage
3. Legal structure allows for illegitimate children to be
legitimated and inherit.
Sidney Mintz
Anthropologist one of the first to argue that slave treatment was
a function of the state of the economy
Overview of the Economic Impacts of African Slavery in the New World
Though the African slave trade in and
of itself may not have been a profitable enterprise, the importation of
slaves allowed Europeans to create a profitable economic environment in
the New World. Eric Williams, for example, in his classic work,
Capitalism and Slavery (1944), claims that without slaves there would
have been no sugar, and without sugar, insufficient capital to fuel the
18th century industrial revolution in Europe. This claim has
always been open to debate, but it is clear for example, that without
slaves there could have been no cotton in the US and without cotton,
there would have been no capital to fuel the industrial revolution in
the northern US in the mid 19th century.
Latecomer Challenges to Spain’s Dominance
Goals:
* Look at newcomer’s challenges to Spain’s dominance.
* Examine the changes in Europe that contributed to events in the
Caribbean
* See how Spain responded to such challenges.
BEFORE
Challenges to Spain: 1530-1600 were on ad hoc basis
Unitil 17th c. France, Great Britain, or Holland
never seriously made a national effort to
settle in Spanish territory.
Possession de jure: Spain occupied the territories
with the blessing of Rome (by papal
Bull)
Possession de facto: Until about 1600 (end of reign
of Philip II) Spain able to maintain
possession
AFTER
What led to the first European incursions and what were the
preconditions for North European
settlement?
Piracy (1535-1600) -- Colonies (1607-1697) -- Contraband
(1700- )
FOUR LONG TERM DEVELOPMENTS in the 17th c.
1. The Decline of Spain economically, militarily, politically
2. Population growth - especially Britain
3. Disruption of traditional trading patterns in N. Europe, had to look
for new markets
4. Resumption of European Wars
1494 Treaty of Tordesillas settled the rivalry between Spain &
Portugal
Portugal given control of the slave trade
Why? They were already
established on the coast of Africa
Had a growing need for slaves in
Brazil
In terms of trade in commodities other than labor, Portugal was
more interested in Asia and the
lucrative trade from there.
Moreover in 1580 Spain & Portugal were united under the
Spanish crown.
In the meantime, the flow of silver to Spain from Indies is
enormous, and is crucial to financing
Spanish foreign policy.
Spain saw itself as the defender of the true faith and initiated a
series of foreign wars designed to
extirpate the Protestants from the earth, and
particularly from England.
hence the attempted invasion of 1588.
While its true that the British have a reputation as dashing privateers
the first incursions of the
English were in the form of slave smuggling
voyages, not the raiding ports.
Rather, the first serious challenges come from the French.
Reportedly Francis I wanted to see the clause in
Adam’s will that excluded him from a
share of the newly found lands.
When the French seize the first treasure ships (1523) it stimulates
enormous interest in the
Caribbean.
Early French efforts were concentrated in European waters, but in the
1530s. they range out into
Caribbean
Many voyages of plunder operated without government sanction, or
independently, but
governments realize the utility of private vessels
operating in the interest of national
policy so governments begin granting approbation or
royal sanction to pirates operating
in their name
. The official documents were LETTERS OF MARQUE, which stated that a
certain ship sailed
with the approval of a given government.
.
The French develop two harassing mechanisms
1. The small- scale expedition during peace time for trade and
barter;
2. Large- scale expeditions like Jacques Sores or Ribault accompanied
by royal warships designed to attack cities (Havana).
Many of the Huguenots were merchants and sailors.
Admiral Gaspard de Coligny - a clever statesman and
a trusted maritime advisor to the
Bourbon king, Charles IX.
Coligny convinced Charles IX that France's future
success as a nation depended upon
competing with Spain and Portugal for American
colonies.
Charles' mother Catherine de Medici, a staunch
Catholic was divided by her desire to
expand French colonization and her faith
warned Philip II that Coligny
wanted to overthrow Spain in the New World.
Her report was an exaggeration, for even Coligny
realized France had to avoid Spain's
developed colonies.
Still Coligny's choice of developing a colony in
Florida, so close to the Spanish gold
fleets may open the
question of whether Coligny wanted to confront Spain.
Many of the French sailors were Protestant so the men were personally
involved.
They become useful to Catherine de Medici, who
sent them to establish a settlement in
Florida
First French colony in Florida estb. under Jean Ribault, 1565
Fort Caroline at mouth of St. Johns
river.
Response of Spain was to send Pedro Menéndez de Aviles to found
St. Augustine (1565)
quickly crushed French settlement (but the
illustrator, Jacques Le Moyne, escapes)
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/photos/native/lemoyne/lemoyne.htm
European treaties in effect, but the Caribbean is “Beyond the Line” i.e
regardless of peace in
Europe the agreements had no force beyond the
longitude of the outermost Azores and
south of the Tropic of Cancer.
The 1560s were a time of peace, so the French returned to trade in
contraband.
Trade is a better way to obtain desired goods,
especially hides because the supply is
Guaranteed and the method is more
systematic and rationalized..
The RISE OF ENGLAND AS THE NATION OF PRIVATEERS and Spain’s greatest
rival:
England was not a great seafaring power in the early
16th c.
Shipped cloth to the Dutch city of Antwerp
establishing merchant houses there.
But as the fortunes of
Antwerp decline English merchants seek another market
for their
goods.
First they expand their trade to the Northeast
(Scandinavian, Russian and the Baltic Ports)
Steadily gain experience in seamanship in the
challenging waters of the North Sea, Bay
of Biscay, and the open
North Atlantic Ocean.
The population of England was increasing
Farmers and rural folk were losing their land or the
right to graze their livestock on lands
formerly set aside as commonweal
pastures (The Commons)
Thus Englishmen were looking for living space and
opportunity
This would lead to the English
colonization of previously held Spanish islands in
the Lesser
Antilles
The English Privateers
Creation of a class of privateers, younger sons of
gentry who because of the laws of
inheritance have no hope of
a family fortune but with enough ambition and the
connections to raise
capital begin expeditions designed to plunder the treasure
ships and trade illegally
with the Spanish colonies.
Until 1558, England and Spain were allies but the
alliance was undermined when
Elizabeth I, daughter of
Henry VIII, ascended to the throne
Elizabeth promoted the voyages of John Hawkins who
went to the Canaries for slaves
and sailed to the Indies.
On 4th voyage he was intercepted
by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and his ships
were sunk.
Sir Francis Drake occupied Nombre de Dios, 1572,
In the following year Drake crossed the isthmus to
the Pacific.
In 1577 he harassed Pacific ports on his way to
circumnavigate globe.
In 1586 he was back in the Caribbean sacking and
temporarily occupying Cartagena,
Then Santo Domingo, and St.
Augustine.
Sir Walter Raleigh’s Roanoke Island Colony in 1580s
failure but alarms Spain
Spain plans full- scale invasion of England.
Situation in the Late Sixteenth Century
Beginning of long period of intermittent warfare
between Spain and England
Primary Cause: English incursions
on Spanish colonies and Spanish trade with the
Indies
1588: Invasion of the Spanish Armada
Spain revamps her commercial policies
SPANISH RESPONSE TO INTERLOPERS
Defense Project promoted by Pedro Menendez de
Aviles, founder of St. Augustine &
governor of Cuba.
1. Provision of ship of the line escorts for the transatlantic fleets
2. Creation of cruiser squadrons based permanently in the Caribbean,
seek & destroy missions against pirates/privateers and their bases
3. Construction of fortifications in Caribbean manned by permanent
garrisons. Huge military engineering project.
Comprehensive plan inaugurated in 1560s
Supplemented with more restrictive shipping measures
Convoy system changes: two convoys one for
VeraCruz (flota); other for Potosi, at
Nombre de Dios, later Portobelo
(1597) (galeones) (named for the eight galleons
assigned to escort it.
But Spain could never satisfy the needs of its colonies.
Colonies become increasingly
1. Self-sufficient, i.e. doing things they are not supposed to be doing
2. Turn to contraband with other nations.
THE PORTUGUESE DISASTER
King of Portugal, Sebastian, died in military disaster in 1578
(El-Ksar-el-Kebir)
attempted to invade Africa, Sahara, 8000 Christians
died, 15,000 captive
national disaster of highest magnitude
demoralized Portugal, ransom of prisoners
drained the tiny kingdom of its cash and
jewels.
Philip II of Spain, who had a distant claim, able to get himself
crowned by Portuguese nobles,
through invasion and distribution of Mexican silver.
Thus the administration of Portugal passed to Spain in 1581 along with
Portugal’s colonies.
Beginning of “Spanish captivity”
created a Spanish empire on which the sun
never sat. 1581-1640,
But Portuguese rebels fight til 1665.
Also problems of administration
The Netherlands, which had been a Spanish dominion broke away in 1567.
Spain thus began a long series of wars of religion,
which contributed to the further
decline in Spanish royal
fortunes.
Philip II spent untold millions of pesos in
silver in an attempt to bring England and the
Netherlands back into the
Catholic fold.
The Dutch
were rarely interested in settling but more sensibly
interested in contraband trading and
transporting.
They’re also more interested in the East Indies, thus
Dutch pressure initiated a cease fire between
Spain and England. (but only a cease fire-no
peace treaty)
With a short- lived peace, Spain cracked down on the inhabitants of
Hispanola who had been
trading with a nest of privateers from the island of
Tortuga. Island of mixed nationalities
with common hatred of Spain.
Charles II (1605) ordered that the towns on the
north coast be abandoned, which led to a
further decline in the
region.
After the Spanish abandonment, the privateers (pirates) took possession
of the north coast of
Hispaniola
In 1603 the French occupy Hispaniola along with other islands of
Caribbean including
Martinique and Guadeloupe.
In 1607, the Spanish Caribbean was at a low ebb.
Highly inviting to foreign powers -- begin to nip at the heels of
mighty Spanish Empire.
http://www.caribbeantravel.com/map_full.html
New European colonies in the Indies -- roughly seventeenth century:
1607-1697
European nations move in taking advantage of Spanish weakness
Death of Philip II, 1598-- beginning of serious decline of Spain
as a world power
Foreign interlopers would begin establishing colonies on the outer
islands, away from threat of
Spanish fleets
Their reasons were to establish bases for raiding and smuggling;
supplying ships, and export of
tropical products.
For the French & English the key was
the expansion of Tobacco cultivation,
first colonies created for
tobacco.
The Real trouble was with the Dutch
Early- on they have a different agenda;
Initially they were primarily interested in
pearling and salt extraction, but they of all the
interlopers are most interested
in commerce “the carrying trade.”
Later the Dutch became involved in agricultural
production (Sugar in Brazil)
DUTCH OCCUPATION of Brazil
Spain was overextended in her worldwide empire
Opportunity for other European nations to move
into Spanish dominions.
Until then, Spain occupied the New World with the
blessing of the Pope
de jure possession and de facto
possession.
Unification of Spanish and Portuguese Crowns, put
the Dutch at War with Portugal as
well as Spain
Establishment of the Dutch West India Company; 1621 (never as large or
important as Dutch
East India Company)
threat of war with Spain a factor
a great permanent joint stock company capable of
challenging Spain in the West Indies.
Not particularly interested in colonization; rather it was
intended that the profits come from war
with Spain, specifically plunder, conquest, and
commerce with liberated territories
But in1624 the Dutch did occupy Portuguese settlements in Brazil, but
short lived
Large Dutch fleets began concerted attacks on Spanish shipping
everywhere from
Africa to West Indies.
Greatly contributed to the downfall of Spain by overtaxing her
limited resources.
Most spectacular success was the capture of the entire flota off the
coast of Matanzas by admiral
Piet Heyn in 1628.
Commanded 31 ships-- surprised and intercepted the entire flota
without firing a shot;
took so much money that the D.W.I. company paid a
50% dividend that year.
Ruined Spanish credit in Europe and paralyzed
shipping for several years.
Along with the official company, hundreds of unofficial
privateers sailed without letters of
marque,
Dutch forces, official and unofficial also attacked Spanish ports
regularly.
1630s-money from the Heyn expedition allowed the Dutch to renew their
incursions in
Pernambuco(Brazil) which they had occupied in 1624
but subsequently lost.
In addition the Dutch capture the Portuguese trading and slaving
stations in Africa
Cut off the supply of slaves to Brazil from Angola
When Portuguese planters fought against Dutch and they also armed
slaves to fight
Always a tempation for slave societies under attack,
but rarely implemented
Promises of freedom from either side can be a factor
American Revolution and Civil War
Cuba
By 1640 the Portuguese successfully ousted the Dutch (who had advanced
the Portuguese
planters credit and had carried the sugar to Europe
and brought back slaves)
In retaliation, the Dutch set up colonies in the Caribbean and
helped other nations’ colonies to
set up sugar production, e.g. British.
Some Portuguese Brazilian planters even followed
Dutch to Caribbean
Jewish financiers set moved to Curacao to lend money
to planters
The competition would severely damage the Brazilian
sugar industry.
Consequences of Dutch Activities in the New World during the 17th C.
1. Because of Dutch activity, England and France are able to occupy
other islands in the Caribbean and the Spanish were unable to eject
them (Jamaica, Barbados, St. Domingue, Martinique/Guadeloupe, etc.
2. Dutch become predominant in commerce; bring fortunes into Amsterdam.
3. Sets the example for France and England, who will model their
economies after successes of Dutch.
4. Dutch themselves did not seek to settle but a few islands: Curacao
(salt pans), Aruba (pearls), Bonaire, St. Barts, St. Maartin and
St. Eustatius (the most important transhipment port
in the New World, visited by as many
as 3000 ships a year, with as many as 200 anchored
at the same time --changed hands 22
times since settlement, with the French, Spanish and
British ever eager to wrest it from
the Dutch – was known as The Golden Rock).
English
1607: First permanent English settlement, Jamestown, Virginia
In Caribbean: St. Kitts, 1624; Barbados 1627. Also on the Central
American coast, i.e. Honduras,
British Honduras = Belize)
Both Spanish and English islands were dependent upon Dutch shipping and
with every colony
created it meant more money for the Dutch
carrying trade.
Island life was miserable for settlers, many were indentured servants
until shift to sugar c.1640
when slaves were used instead.
Sugar cultivation in the non-Hispanic West Indies made possible by
Dutch who
acquired the knowledge and experience in sugar
growing and processing in Brazil
imported the machinery from Europe
supplied the capital
transported the product to European markets
The first cane was brought to Barbados in 1637 by Dutch.
Immigrants from Brazil brought sugar cultivation to the French islands.
Dutch were also involved in the slave trade
ousted from Brazil, they begin carrying slaves to
British and French islands.
Dutch sign a peace treaty with Spain in 1660s agree not to raid Spanish
ports
EUROPEAN EVENTS AFFECT ISSUES IN WEST INDIES
How the English captured Jamaica (1655)
1642-1660, English Civil War, execution of monarch ascension of
parliamentary government
by militant Protestants.
Oliver Cromwell & Western Design.
Challenged Dutch in Europe, but they saw their natural enemy in Spain.
Envisioned a crusade against Catholicism, plus
treasure ships tempting.
But the bottom line was the permanent acquisition of
territory to establish colonies.
The main attack was aimed at Santo Domingo, more prosperous, port city.
The expedition was organized from Barbados
where my royalist held sway
Didn’t like Cromwellian government to begin
with -- the army drafted their agricultural
laborers to fight.- men who
didn’t want to be there.
“Mutinous, unwarlike mob,” landed in Sto Domingo.
Quality of the generals, General Venables and Admiral Penn poor
leaders, tactical mistakes
landed too far from town --became a total rout
by a much smaller Spanish cavalry force.
English saved from total massacre
by arrival of party of sailors.
As an afterthought. to save the expedition from total disgrace, English
turned to Jamaica, (didn’t
dare to go home to Cromwell empty handed).
Jamaica had a small population; no economy except cattle raising
English landed-- marched to Spanish Town with little
resistance
Spanish governor fled to the hills, then to
Cuba
attempts to recapture Jamaica
from Cuba were unsuccessful.
Jamaica ideally situated as a privateering base
harbor at Port Royal has an excellent natural harbor
-- become the base of privateering on
Spanish possessions.
England guessed rightly that Spain would not take the loss lying down
Governor of Jamaica issued privateering
“commissions of reprisal” for protection against
Spanish attack.
Thus beginning the second great privateering era,
that of the late 17th century.
Greatest of all, Henry Morgan, operating from his
stronghold at Port Royal Jamaica
led expeditions against Cuba
staged raids on mainland
settlements: Porto Belo, Maracaibo, Venezuela.
greatest
victory in Panama in 1671
nearly 1500 combined French and English buccaneers
took part
Devastated the
isthmus, and was the climax of Morgan’s career.
most of the cargoes stolen were sold in N. America
Meanwhile, in Europe, negotiations had been going on to end the
hostilities.
Significantly, these negotiations specifically
stipulated that the treaty should also
recognize the changes in
territorial occupation in the West Indies (de facto
possession).
In 1670, [Treaty of Madrid] both Spain and England revoke letters of
marque.
More importantly Spain recognized England’s right to trade in and
occupy certain portions of the
Caribbean
England recognized that trade in and of itself
would bring great rewards.
Morgan returned to Jamaica, commendation, knighted and received the
lieutenant-governorship
in reward -- Sending a thief to catch a thief.
That left only France -- and the center of privateering shifted from
Port Royal to Tortuga.
France under Louis XIV, powerful country, wanted recognition in the
West Indies.
French official presence began in 1665 when it appointed a governor of
Tortuga and from that
island it began to occupy western half of
Hispaniola, St. Domingue, establishing
colonies.
Two distinct types of settlement arose
1. the buccaneers in Tortuga,
2. respectable planters in St. Domingue
Governors stood in between, (straddling the thin line between
respectability and disrepute)
Many of Morgan’s old cohorts shift allegiance to the French, because
England was making a
concerted effort to end privateering.
Raids (as official French policy) also took a terrible toll on Spanish
ports
But England and Holland united to align themselves against France,
Why? : Fear of France gaining too much power in
Europe and West Indies
Result: King William’s War,
Ended in 1697 by the Peace of Ryswyck
Spain ceded the western half of the island of
Hispaniola to France.
The treaty of Ryswyck formally ended the age of the buccaneers
But pirates continued to operate into the 19th c. –
especially in North American waters
i.e. Blackbeard, Jean Lafite
The Eighteenth Century and the Bourbon Reforms*
The Steady Diminishment of Spanish Power in the 17th Century
We have seen how the exclusivity of the Spanish commercial system was
an invitation to abuse,
and to usurpation by other European nations
as England, France, Holland, captured the gold and
silver en route from the Spanish
colonies.
The English, especially
operating from stronghold at Port Royal
Jamaica, Henry Morgan staged raids on
mainland settlements,
Venezuela
greatest victory Panama in 1671
consisting of nearly 1500 combined French and
English buccaneers
Morgan
returned to Jamaica,
commendation, knighted and received the
lieutenant-governorship
in reward. in 1670,
By the Treaty of Madrid Spain recognized England’s right to maintain a
presence in the
Caribbean
both nations revolutionoke letters of marque,
England recognized that trade in and of itself would
bring greater rewards
1697 Peace of Ryswyck Spain ceded the western half of Hispanola to
France.
Important changes at the beginning of the 18th century (a century
characterized by warfare)
1. Spanish Succession Crisis on death of Charles II
English fears of a united Spain and France with
accession of Phillip V, to throne
2. War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713) resulted in
a new dynasty coming to the Spanish throne, the BOURBONS, grandson of
Louis XIV
Realignment in Europe.
Until 1700 France and Spain had been enemies
the Peace of Ryswyck marked the end of a two century
old rivalry.
NOW SPAIN & FRANCE become allies becaise
their rulers are cousins and grandsons
of Louis XIV.
Determined to bring new ideas to the administration of the
colonies.
Realization that the colonial economy is more dynamic and
resilient that of Spain.
In 17th century the mainland had experienced an economic
depression that had reduced the amount of goods produced and shipped to
Spain.
Crown stepped in to begin to make the colonies more profitable.
Empire wide measures:
1. Rivals had renounced privateering as national
policy, England in particular realized that
trade, legal or illegal, was a better way to
make money, so encouraged an increase in
smuggling.
Spanish response was to create a system of
guardacostas to fight ships engaged in the
contraband trade.
2. Spain abolished the flota system,
a. no need now that there’s no enemy to prey upon
shipping, costly to hold ships in Havana harbor for months at time
waiting to convene and return to Spain.
b. Also single ships are allowed to trade to
other cities in Spanish Empire such as Buenos Aires, and Santiago de
Cuba
3. Establishment of monopoly companies Guipuzcoa
(Caracas) company. 1728 (Nueva
Granada)
was a huge success from the
point of the royal treasury but colonists did not fare
very
well.
Other monopoly companies established for Cuba (Real
Compañía de la Havana) and for
Puerto Rico
Monopoly never extended to
Mexico because of resistance from existing
Consulado a
(why tamper with success?)
New system patterned on old system used by English, French, and Dutch
in 17th c to
encourage
colonization. [too bad it was 100 years too late]
Throughout the 18th century the enemy became Great Britain,
As a consequence of the War of Spanish succession, Britain had
received the Asiento, which
they had from 1714-1739.
Their ships could legally enter Havana harbor,
unload their cargoes and usually engage in
open contraband with the full
knowledge (and cooperation) of royal officials.
WARS AND POLITICAL EVENTS SURROUNDING THE ADVENT OF THE REFORMS
Series of wars fought in the 18th century
War of Spanish Succession settled the question of Aragon
Brought Spain a big step closer to becoming a united
kingdom.
1714: Barcelona surrendered to Bourbons
The big war: Seven Years’ War (French & Indian War) 1756-63,
Between England, France,
and Spain.
Ferdinand VI died and his brother Charles III
ascended to the throne in 1759.
He was the epitome of enlightened despotism.
Ferdinand VI had been generally pacifist, but Charles was openly
hostile to the British.
He energetically pursued war in alliance with
his Bourbon cousin.
The war was a disaster for France & Spain.
1759: British general Wolfe defeated French under
Montcalme on the Plains of Abraham
near Montreal
British could turn attention to
the Caribbean.
1762: a British expeditionary fleet appeared to the east of
Havana, launched boats and landed
they marched towards the
city through dense underbrush.
A second expedition landed to the west of town
and both encircled the city.
After a 44 day siege, Havana surrendered.
Victorious British entered the city, and their occupation lasted ten
months.
During that time British merchants descended
upon the city offering the consumer goods
that the people had coveted trade
without restrictions
cloth,
porcelain, slaves.
Negotiations in Paris led to the return of Havana to Spain in
exchange for Florida,
which the British held from 1763 to 1784.
The inhabitants had tasted life free from the yoke of
mercantilism, crown understood that the
clock could not be turned back
The BOURBON REFORMS
(1700-1788)
Overview
The return of peace allowed the new dynasty under Philip V to turn its
attention to reform on the French model
Three rulers associated with the Bourbon Reforms
Philip V (1700-1746)
His two sons:
Ferdinand VI (1746-1759)
Charles III (1759-1788)
A total renovation of the national life
Was required to close the gap between Spain and
major West European powers
weapons
industry
agriculture
strong middle class
Strong reaction from Church and much of the nobility
Thus, crown recruited supporters from ranks of lesser nobility and the
small middle class
These classes were strongly influenced by the French
Enlightenment
Nature of the Spanish Enlightenment:
carried out within the framework
of royal absolutism
Catholic orthodoxy
But more characteristic of the European
enlightenment in general
enthusiastic pursuit of useful
knowledge
criticism of defects in the
Church and clergy
belief in the power of informed
reason to improve society by reorganizing it along
more rational
lines.
Charles III oversaw the climax of the Spanish Enlightenment
Attempted to reform industry by
removing the stigma attached to
manual labor
establishing state-owned textile
factories
inviting foreign technicians into
Spain
encouraging technical education
Agriculture
curbing the privileges of the
Mesta (stockbreeders corporation)
settling Spanish or foreign
peasants in abandoned regions of the peninsula
Infrastructure
encouraged shipbuilding
built roads and canals
Decline of Clerical Influence
Expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767
restricted the authority of the
Inquisition
Public Service
fostered a new spirit of
austerity and dedication
Countervailing Tendences which limited the Bourbon Reforms
One-thousand bonds to the feudal nobility and Church
Never touched the basis of the
old order
land monopoly
of the nobility
corollaries of mass poverty
archaic agricultural methods
Lack of capital for industrial development
Debility of the Spanish middle class
Thus, despite advances in population and production Spain remained a
3rd-rate power at close of era
The Bourbon Reforms in Spanish-America
Crown moved to “reconquer” the colonies economically (as did the
English crown and parlia-ment, 1763-1776)
TRADE AND COMMERCE:
1. 1765: Open trade permitted between Cuba and other
Spanish-American ports;
2. Spanish ports other than Cádiz
allowed to trade with Cuba
3. Customs duties reduced
4. Not until 1790s were Spanish-Americans
allowed to trade with outsiders or neutrals; still controlled by Spain
and restricted to Spanish ships with 2/3 Spanish crew. Also institutes
mail system between Spain & America.
RESULTS:
1. HUGE increase in trade -- Prices fell volume makes
up for less revolutionenue from tax reduction;
2. Legal traffic may have taken smuggling
profits;
3. Increase in prosperity = increase in
population. Mexican silver mining increased b/c end mercury monopoly
(Peru has its own mercury) that is supplied from Spain.
MILITARY REFORMS
1. Most effective in Caribbean; colonies vulnerable
to attack,
embarked on massive program of shoring
up fortifications
2. Creation of a colonial army, not only many
troops but also colonists to be allowed to defend
themselves. In return, militia members given privileges (fueros)
special privilege not to be tried in ordinary court. Military set apart
from ordinary person.
Historiographcal issue: Did these reforms lead to a militaristic
tradition in Latin America? Some historians have argued that military
training led to armed uprisings against the Spanish regime. They point
to Tupac Amaru II (1782) revolutionolt in Upper Peru and the
Rebellion of the Barrios in Quito (1765); Communero rebellion,
Bogotá, in 1781
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM
1. New geographic divisions i.e. new viceroyalties
created
Added to Peru and New Spain, are Nuevo Grenada and La Plata.
Chile was made a capitancy general.
2. New trend toward centralization, central
government controls decision making. Best example: reigning-in the
Audiencias.
3. New layer of officials
Intendant, based on French model, vigorous,
well-educated, well paid bureaucrats
responsible only to the state.
Elsewhere the myriad officials (corregidores) often
local and corrupt replaced by
subdelegados
RESULTS
Revenue from Taxation increased – brought an end to tax farming.
But also led to long-term discontent because new officials were
peninsulares and into conflict with creoles.
Also trade and taxation laws led to revolution and rebellion esp.
agricultural tariffs
CHURCH REFORMS
EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS (1767)
The Jesuits’ influence was considerable in Mexico, where many
were related to great
landowning families; their expulsion caused
considerable resentment
On the other hand, other Church orders cared little for the fate of the
Jesuits as they were their
competition
In Brazil, landowners were delighted because Jesuits monopolized
the labor
of encomienda Indians
Once the Jesuits were expelled, large tracts of land became
available which many landowning
families would purchase.
IN GENERAL
While the privileges granted to the military were increasing, the power
of the Church overall was
decreasing.
The New Fiscal Policies of the Crown Effected the Church
Vales reales controversy.
Until the 18th C. the Church had been the largest money-lender
In 1782, the Crown established its first central bank, the Banco
de San Carlos, which was direct
competition for the money lending activities of the
Church.
The Crown did this by issuing vales reales, which were interest bearing
notes.
Took away some of the business of the Church.
Coincided with the change in administration from Charles III to Charles
IV. Hard times
descended upon the Spanish monarchy.
The traditional methods of paying up on the bonds proved insufficient.
By 1804 Crown had
issued the notes, but couldn’t pay.
Where does the money come from?
confiscation, esp the Church’s wealth, and in
particular from the chantries
Chantries = considerable sums of
money for pious works donated by wealthy
citizens, but also were a source
of extra finance capital, which the church lent out.
Church doubly hurt because the practice both
removed the principal as interest bearing
income and also because many
parish priests relied upon that source of
revenue for their income
Led to clerical discontent -- impact was
considerable especially in Mexico, where
interlocking network of church
loans nearly led to economic collapse.
Large landowners and mining interests
particularly hard hit
needed capital for
investment.
CREOLE-PENINSULAR CONTROVERSY:
Historians argue that competition between peninsulars &
creoles was one of the chief causes of
the discontent which led to the
independence.movement.
Though there was no legal distinction between Europeans and
Americans, peninsulars were
given preference in the awarding of public offices.
This practice was played up by nationalist
writers after independence.
To be sure a peninsular/creole controversy did exist, but its influence
varied greatly.
In Chile for example, it was less an issue than in
Mexico.
Cuba, it was not an issue at all, in fact just
the revolutionerse
But a notable example was Mexico, where a concerted effort to replace
positions that became
vacant with peninsular officials was instituted by
Minister of the Indies, Jose de Gálvez.
From 1751-1808, peninsulares received
73% of the appointments to the audiencia and the
judicial system in general
NEW LEGISLATION REGARDING RACE AND SLAVERY
Cédulas de gracias para sacar, a purchased dispensation
that allowed a family of mixed
blood to be regarded as white.
Increased racial tensions especially in
Venezuela.
New Slave Code of 1789
included the right of slaves to file complaints
so enraged the planter
class that it was never implemented.
Causes of Wars of Independence
Consequences of Bourbon Reforms
What are generally believed to be the causes of independence? Many see
these causes growing out of the Bourbon Reforms as applied to Spanish
America.
Did the Bourbon Reforms lead to the wars of Independence? And if they
didn’t, what did?
The answer depends upon the viewpoint of the observer.
The observer’s viewpoint may change as different ways of looking at the
world come into view. Thus we are back to the questions of ‘Why
study history?’ ‘What is it that historians really do?’, which brings
us to the relationship between the study of history and, in fact, all
scholarship (but especially the social sciences and humanities) and
culture itself.
LIKELY LINKS BETWEEN THE BOURBON REFORMS AND THE
WARS OF
INDEPENDENCE
1. Military
On one hand these reforms assuaged tensions and gave
ordinary
people a stake in the
system
on other led to the creation of people with military
training
2. Administrative
Made even more obvious the second class status of Creoles in their own
country. Emphasized how Creoles had no say in their country’s
governance and without any compensating factors. Crystallization
of a sense of national identity
Creole Nationalism emerged in such places as Colombia, Peru, and
New Granada -- less so in Cuba
3. Economic/commercial
Higher taxes led to increased resentment
BUT, modernizing the taxation system worked to increase
productivity, thereby increasing profits, and
many creole
family fortunes were made in the wake of tax reform
in
Mexico.
Silver productivity increased
sevenfold.
Cost of European goods were down, therefore, some benefit to
those consumers who had money to buy goods
Harmed American manufacturers -- especially textile industries &
wine growers.
government monopolies established to regulate the
production and distribution
of some products such
as tobacco.
4. Intellectual
debate over European superiority vs.
‘dissolute’ Creoles.
Europeans regarded Creoles as lazy
While
Americans claimed Europeans were degenerate while
Americans were more courageous and physically fit
5. Race legislation and slave treatment codes
Resented -- especially in Venezuela
but legislation was passed which allowed many
creole families of
color and/or unusual
circumstances of birth to purchase
legitimization
allowed such families am entre
into ‘polite’ society
7. Population increase
Some from natural increase -- especially Indian and mestizo Indians
experienced an increase in population on mainland
BOTTOM LINE: The effects were so varied that it’s really impossible to
say with certainty that one factor contributed more to the spread of
independence than another.
WHAT HISTORIANS BELIEVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE SPREAD OF THE
INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
An intellectual movement that had wide-reaching repercussions.
Enlightenment ideas entered Spain in the early 18th century as a result
of the alliance with France Historians identify two broad phases:
The first extended to the middle of the 18th century
-- truly French-inspired.
The second and greatest phase coincided with the
reign of Charles III, 1759-1788
Latest scholarship argues that many of the reforms were of
Italian origin
Enlightenment ideals were based on rationalism
discarded old ways of explaining things such
as revelation and reliance on classical texts.
Direct effects on bourgeois thought in Latin America
Led to the questioning of one of the fundamental cornerstones of
Spanish American society,
church teachings.
Many patriot leaders would become
free masons, particularly when they travelled
abroad to
England
Pervasive effects of the political ideas of John Locke, Montesquieu,
and Jean Jacques Rousseau.
Political ideals embodied limited monarchy,
enlightened despotism, republicanism,
representative government, and
the rights of man (Les droits de l’homme)
Their economic policies drew upon the theories of Adam Smith and
laissez-faire (“let it be”),
limited government interference in commerce
The Enlightenment was also concerned with science
During this time we see an increase in the use of
the scientific method
Societies such as the Sociedades económicos
de Amigos del Pais promoted scientific
knowledge, but also were
extremely active in promoting trade and scientific
missions to more advanced
countries to increase knowledge.
Eg. The Havana
Society. Also promoted the founding of colegios and
universities
in Spanish America.
THE EFFECTS OF OTHER REVOLUTIONS
American and French Revolutions-- people could see the Enlightenment
ideas of liberty,
fraternity, and equality in action.
Contact was significant between the US and Spanish America, especially
after 1780s
the U.S. secures the bulk of trade because
Europe is once again plunged into a general
war
Era from 1776 onward is often referred to as “the Age of Revolutions”.
i.e. American Revolution, French Revolution, Haitian
Revolution, Spanish American
Revolutions
American Revolution is the first
did affect Spanish American
revolutions in that it provided the example
Opened up
new trading partners for Spanish America,
provided meats, grain, lumber, and other products
U.S. bought sugar and other agricultural products,
especially from Cuba.
The first European revolution that affected Spanish America was the
French Revolution
Execution of Louis XVI frightened the
nobility, as the French nation plunged into a
bitter and bloody class struggle.
On one hand the French revolution was appealing because it removed a
despotic ruler
But on the other hand, the class war aspects frightened property-owners
because the underclass
acquired class consciousness
France was the example of how the mobilized the
masses could threaten private
property, i.e. slaves
That’s what happened in St. Domingue, a French Caribbean colony that
was the world’s leading
sugar producer and the most lucrative colony in the
world in 1791.
The destruction of St. Domingue represented
the extension of the French Revolution to
colonial society.
After the execution of the “legitimate” king,
the rebellion in St. Domingue started with
white planters, freed from their
lawful obligations and traditional loyalties,
seeking autonomy.
The underclass whites also sought autonomy and
equality, as did the large free colored
population
What developed was a race war compounded by a
generalized slave revolt
The revolt turned into a
full-scale revolution and led to the creation of the
independent nation of Haiti
in 1804, the second peoples to achieve independence
(after the North American
colonies) in the New World, and the first in Latin
America.
St. Domingue was transformed from the most lucrative colony in the
Western Hemisphere
into the poorest country in the hemisphere --
modern day Haiti.
Deeply affected the Spanish American bourgeois class, which was
unwilling to risk liberating the
slaves and underclass in their respective colonies,
even if such a move might lead to
their own political and economic independence both
as a class and as the leadership of a
new nation.
Thus, while the intellectual influences of both the enlightenment and
its ramifications (other revolutions) undoubtedly cultivated the ground
in which the seeds of revolution in Latin America could sprout, there
was a delayed response due to the fears of the bourgeois creoles for
their own immediate class privileges
Rebellions did occur, but were they the result of ideas or immediate
economic and perhaps ethnic
realities?
Tupac Amaru II in Peru
The Comuneros in New Granada
both were tax protests
Moreover these two instances that could have
developed into major confrontations did
not.
A British attempt to take over the La Plata region and Buenos Aires are
repelled by a militia
which professed loyalty to Spain
Miranda’s failure to mobilize the masses in Venezuela on the basis of
enlightenment ideology
Alternative Thesis:
By far the most important revolution affecting Spanish America was the
Industrial
Revolution. The industrialization of Europe and the marketing of
European products to
the colonial world led to the imposition of a new world system in which
industrialized
Europe (and later the United States) came to so dominate the colonial
environment as to
control not only the economies, but the polities of these
areas. This economic and political
control extended beyond the revolutions for independence and in most of
Latin America
throughout the National Period, and, indeed, up through the present day.
.
But even as late as 1806, the conditions were not ripe for revolution
in Spanish America
The Events which Led to the National Revolutions in Spanish America
Finally events in Venezuela, the home of
Simón Bolívar, begin to play out.
In 1806, Francisco de Miranda, a professional revolutionary
attempted to incite the Venezuelans
to revolution, but nothing happened;
He failed to rally any kind of support
whatsoever although the “dead heroes school” has
nicknamed him the “precursor”
Also in 1806, a British force invaded the LaPlata region, and succeeded
in getting the royal
governor to abandon the city but the local militia
organized and rose up & drove the
British from the city.
Just two years before the first revolution,
clearly the revolutionary spirit was still weak in
Spanish America.
There was not much long-term agitation in Spanish America until events
in Europe lit the fuse of
revolution.
Antagonism over taxes especially in plantation regions
Commercial sphere certain sectors especially those who are doing what
they should not be
doing,e.g. manufacturing
But the situation in the wake of the reforms was:
1. Creole resentment against peninsulares;
2. Creole resentment against increased taxation;
3. Creole resentment against legislation regarding
race & slavery;
4. Creole nationalism.
Bottom line: creoles were excluded from crucial areas in society
(except the military and they
didn’t want to be there).
Colonial Antecedents & Institutions
Note on usage: New Spain =Mexico until 18th c.
Mexico can mean entire country or
just Mexico City (to present times)
The Indies = the New World =
America
Spanish Imperial Institutions, in place by 1540, solidified by 1570
(though the Laws of the Indies were
not promulgated until 1681)
Government: reflected centralized, absolutist regime of Spain
little self government (crown wanted to stymie
development of a creole elite)
result; all communication
and response exceedingly slow
because of
distance from Spain local royal officials do as they please – (or
under pressure
from the encomenderos and hacendados -- as they are
told by local
elites).
Monarch “buen gobeirno” as an Institution,
buttresses by laws, Siete Partidas (13th c).
the seven-part book of law:
1st
Canonical code: defining
obligations of clergy and matters of dogma. Also includes Title I, on
Law in general (what it is,
who has power to make laws and why, who has power to amend
laws, etc.).
2nd
Emperors, kings & other
lords: The prerogatives, rights & duties of those who govern.
3rd
Justice and its
administration.
4th
Laws governing matrimony,
kinship, position of legitimate and illegitimate children,
adoption, paternal rights,
slavery and freedom, lordship,
5th
Commercial law: governing
loans, debts, contracts, purchases, exchanges, fairs,
markets, merchant marine,
and all other forms of commerce and dealings among men.
6th
Wills, inheritance,
guardianship of orphans and minors
7th
Criminal Law: crimes,
calumny, penalties, punishments, indemnities. Laws governing
Jews, Moors and heretics.
Recopilacion – recapitulation of Medieval Law adopted to modern
conditions
Council of the Indies created 1524 issued laws,
Gobernación (executive governance), functioned in Viceroyalies,
initially 2 then 4;
Viceroy, always a Spaniard arrived w/ huge retinue:
corregidores- royal
representatives under the viceroy
alcalde mayores- headed the
alcades or town councils
Justice
audiencia. High court (which was
also administrative body)
oidores- judges
letrados - lawyers
procuradores; 10 districts
–regulators of the professions
Administration:
Capitanía-general responsible for defense, took on additional
governance function in the
Caribbean, Captain general, naval personnel
Casa de Contratacción (1503) in Seville –body which governed all
trade and commercial contracts
Treasurer, revenue collectors, Tax farming til 1763
Because the ultimate authority lay in Spain, the mechanism was
exceedingly slow, Royal
officials sent to the Indies would circumvent Royal
dictates by “obedezco pero no
cumplo” I obey but I do not comply” and suspend the
implementation of royal orders in
their particular area.
Positions after 1570 staffed by Peninsulares
crown bankruptcy in 1577 b/c costly wars
sell offices to creoles into bureaucracy - changes
1763.
Accountability
1. Residencia of governors
2. Visita
Effectiveness of Imperial Administration
It worked despite meager military presence in the Indies, Why?
Crown sought to accommodate the local elites
Fine line between giving them too
much power and autonomy, which could lead
to loss of revenue and control,
and giving them too little, which could lead to
alienation and rebellion
Important concessions to the elite involved
relaxation of enforcement of laws pertaining
To the exploitation of the
Indians, thus despite protective laws, in fact, such laws
Were almost universally ignored.
Obedezco pero no cumplo.
Report to Phillip II, Alonso de Zorita stated (mid-16th c):
The wishes of Your Majesty and his Royal Council are
well known and are made very plain in the laws that are issued every
day in favor of the poor Indians and for their increase and
preservation. But these laws are obeyed and not enforced,
wherefore there is no end to the destruction of the Indians, nor does
anyone care what Your Majesty decrees.
The Spanish Church
Church enjoyed special status in Spain b/c of heritage of the
Reconqusta;
status was supported by legal privileges and
immunities called fueros,
enjoyed by nobility.
There were two types of clergy
secular = parish priests
regulars = orders monks, better educated, of noble
families organized around the
patronage of particular
saint. Franciscans; Dominicans; Augustinians; Jesuits,
How did Church get to the New World?
The Treaty of Tordesillas
pope divided the world
between Spain & Portugal.
justification was the
Bull of Donation (1493) which established that the pope
was the ruler of the world
and he had the right to anull property rights of
heathens and assign them to
Christian princes.
Pope did this with Spain
but the right of “just title” didn’t come without
obligations:
The primary responsibility was the conversion of the
Indians.
The task
was accomplished throughout Spanish America with varying
degrees of
success.
Every voyage after Columbus’ brought a priest
The requerimiento: Indians were
gathered together & read a document that
stipulated their duties as
vassals
In initial years conversion efforts dubious at best.
In many areas a synchretic
religion .
still
prevalent today: a Catholic saint carried in a procession may
bear a
remarkable
resemblance to an idol of traditional belief.
Particularly true in geographically isolated areas,
e.g High Andes.
but after 300 years of rule,
pretty safe to argue that the predominant religion in
Spanish America had become Roman
Catholicism.
Spain further negotiated the right of patronato real
To make sure the Crown had the powers to
accomplish the huge task.
Crown acknowledged the supremacy of the Pope but not
his authority in the New World
So it was that the Spanish
Crown came to administer religious organization:
appointing men to eclesiastical positions,
collecting
tithes and tribute for the maintenance of the Church;
distributing monies for Church maintenance.
The primary function of the Church in the New World was conversion and
the primary challenge came with
the conquest of Mexico.
The crown entrusted the task to the regular
orders (monks)- why?
1. virtuous
2. vow of poverty & humility
3. Teaching experience; well-educated
4. Already had in place an efficient
organization ready to embarque to the New World.
First into Mexico -
Franciscans. Number = 12 = Apostles Other orders come
later,(Dominicans, etc.)
And then the Jesuits - relatively
late - after 1570 and to the periphery.
1. Eliminate paganism , and esp Aztec priesthood,
practices,
temples; often reconsecrated w/
Catholic saints;
2. Problem = Indians did not speak Spanish &
friars didn’t speak Indian languages
3. Sometimes Indians were lured w/ food or w/
promises of protection from pillaging soldiers.
4. Developed two organizational forms to facilitate
conversion
a. doctrina= center or school for religious
instruction
b. congregación or compsiciones = new Indian
communities force-formed after 1570 to facilitate taxation and
policing.
Intermediate Role of the friars: entered into an intermediary position
between encomenderos (and later
hacendadoes and Indians in that they performed an
important brokering function between Spanish
and Indian worlds.
Often they were the only contact Indian society had
with the white world.
They quickly developed a paternalistic
attitude toward their charges (Indians as children –children
of God/children of their Spanish betters) but they
did often intercede against
exploitation by other Spaniards.
Thus they quickly came into contention with almost
every other interest in the Indies.
1. w/ econmenderos who’d exploited Indian population
to extinction in the Caribbean and brought them misery elsewhere.
Believed they had the right to do the same in Mexico
2. Crown had allowed the regular orders to be the
vanguard b/c there were not enough secular priests..
Intended to be temporary but
Crown distrusted orders b/c of their direct ties w/
Rome
questioned
their unwavering obedience to Crown.
As they came to have greater
influence over native populations, the Crown worried
that if push came to shove,
they’d influence the masses to side w/ Rome.
Plus undesirable behavior on part of orders,
fighting jealousy, etc., led Crown to act to bring the
regular orders under control.
In 1570, seculars are made representatives and
sent to administer the congragasiones,
regulars were sent to the
frontiers.
After this date the line of demarcation between
church & state becomes impossible to determine.
THE MATURE CHURCH IN COLONIAL SOCIETY--1620s onward
Church grew extremely wealthy -- cathedrals in viceregal capitals.
Elites, i.e everyone associated w/ Peninsulare
society located there
sent their younger sons into the
church
established nunneries for
daughters, preferred to have their children join the secular
priesthood:
1. Not as demanding (in matter of duties and
erudition) also don’t want sent to frontier; Keep them close to home to
keep an eye on the family business
2. Also b/c so much wealth became concentrated in
Church hands through donations, inheritances, money paid for masses
said for souls, church performed an important money-lending function,
thus power, prestige and wealth could accrue
INQUISITION: (late 16th century)
Initially founded to root out
heresy esp. conversos
Use of torture & punishment
First enforcers were bishops, later two tribunals
set up in Mexico & Lima
targeted foreigners & Jews;
only 30 executions in 250 years in New World - mostly
concerned w/ bigamy. blasphemy,
adultery. and witchcraft
excellent source of material for historians
The take-home message regarding Church/State relations in colonial
Spanish America:
Church was a handmaiden to the state, which in turn supported the
Church as one of its dependent departments.
THIS WILL BECOME ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES WHEN WE LOOK AT THE
EMERGENCE OF LIBERALISM IN THE 19TH CENTURY AND THE IDEOLOGICAL
CONFLICT BETWEEN LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES.
It’s also been asserted that the influence of Catholicism is the
most lasting heritage of Spanish colonial rule today.
Spanish American society : One of the most visible characteristics of
Spanish and indigenous interaction was the creation of a society unique
to Spanish America.
Relationships between Spanish men and Indian women resulted in the
birth of children of mixed blood, persons which occupied an ambiguous
position in the rigidly stratified society of peninsular Spain that was
transplanted to the New World.
As a result, a persons’s social status in Spanish America came to
be determined by his birth position and also further defined by blood:
.
1 Highest status = Spanish born peninsulares, top government officials,
international merchants;
2 Equal or just slightly below = American-born Spaniards
(creoles), whites born of Spanish parents or
Spanish heritage, could also be near-whites who
denied Indian blood.
3. Mixed bloods or castas, product of white male
relations with Indian women,
but by 18th century a complicated
color-based hierarchy had evolved in New
World
Castas could be White/Indian;
White/black-mulatto; varying combinations thereof
Pure Indians occupied a separate position apart from rest of society
“Dos Repúblicas” separate existence out
of towns
Slaves occupied lowest rung of ladder.
Colonial Culture and the Enlightenment, Creole Nationalism, and the
Revolts of the 1780s
Colonial culture a projection of Spanish culture in all respects
only a faint reflection of the American environment
medieval authoritarianism restricted the play of
intellect and imagination
Reflected the infirmities of Spanish culture without the breadth and
vitality of the
old and mature culture of the mother country.
But still left a valuable legacy
The Church and Education
The Church dominated education at all levels
Only white, upper class children
and those of the Indian nobility admitted
masses of castas left in ignorance
Universities and Colleges
even more
elitist (youths of ample means and pure white blood)
25 established
in New World by end of colonialism
Curriculum typically medieval
Bible
Aristotle
Church fathers
certain
medieval schoolmen (scholasticism)
Strict censorship of all published materials
fiction from abroad smuggled in
but heretical writings
effectively barred
Indian Studies
The one area of significant scholarship
several major ethnographic
studies still of value today
Also, Garcilaso de la Vega’s
Royal Commentaries of the Incas was most
widely read
book in Spanish throughout Europe at the time (early
17th c.)
de la Vega was
a mestizo
wrote in
beautiful, flowing Castillian prose
Literature
Gongorismo: the cult of an obscure, involved, and
artificial style
“Amid a flock of ‘janglish magpies,’ as one literary
historian” say appeared
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz – probably the greatest
Spanish-American
poet of the colonial era
was both a poet and a mathematician
rebuked by church authorities
“foolish men, why do you want them [women] to be
good
when you incite them to be bad?”
The Satirical Tradition
picaresque novel – engagingly
roguish hero
(in English
Tom Jones and Moll Flanders)
Juan del Valle
y Caviedes
satirized Lima society, especially doctors, but also
cast
the conquerors in a bad light
Science
generally suppressed until the last decades of the
18th c.
but in the late 18th c. advanced significantly in
Mexico
spurred on by practical
scientific interests related to the mining industry
geology,
chemistry, metallurgy, and mathematics
yet, withal, this spirit of scientific inquiry was
limited by strict Catholic orthodoxy
decried the “skepticism and
infidelity” of the French philosophes
As Spain herself liberalized, the colonies gradually
began to feel the breath of
new thinking
The Inquisition
Weakened, especially under Charles III
But regained some of its strength as France and
Spain drifted apart
With the French Revolution came a
swift reaction
Major auto-da-fe in Mexico City
at end of 18th c.
Yet, influence was ultimately weak as can be seen in
the writings of the leaders of
the independence movement, all of whom were familiar with and applauded
the writings of the philosophes
Creole Nationalism
As early as the 17th c. creole writers were glorifying the New World as
opposed to the
Europe.
Even digging into the history of the Toltecs and
Aztecs for sources of pride and
heritage (compared them favorably
to Greeks and Romans)
Two powerful myths exploited by creole nationalists in Mexico
The Virgin of Guadeloupe
appeared in 1531 on a hill near
Mexico City to an Indian, Juan Diego
through him
commanded Bishop of Mexico to build a church there
Bishop
demanded proof: winter roses enfolded in a cloak painted
with the image of the Virgin
from the 17th c. the Indita, the
brown-faced Indian Virgin (as opposed to
the Virgin of
Los Remedios who supposedly aided Cortes), was
venerated
throughout Mexico as the Virgin of Guadeloupe.
She was to become the rallying
symbol of the independence movement
under Miguel
Hidalgo, the priest, who in 1810 led the Indian and
mestizo masses
against Spanish rule
The Myth of Quetzalcoatl as St. Thomas
Creole Dominican Servando Teresa
de Mier preached that Quetzalcoatl
was, in fact, St. Thomas who had
centuries before come to the New World
to establish Christianity, which
he had done
therefore,
Christianity (in an altered form) had existed in Mexico
at the time of
the conquest
therefore, the
New World owed nothing to the Old
de Mier was immediately arrested
and exiled to Spain
The creole elite attempted to use the myths of the Indian masses as a
tool to create a new, national identity, and as a weapon against the
Peninsulares, but the sharp revolts that broke out among the masses in
the 1780’s revealed their true loyalties, i.e. to class rather than to
nation.
The Demographic Background
Changes in the composition and distribution of race/ethnicity/class
Huge growth of the castas
migration into towns
assimilation of the Indians
urban assimiladoes came to regarded as Spaniards
a few mestizo and mulatto families became wealthy
were able to buy ‘whiteness’
but parents could still legally forbid their
offspring from marrying a person of
another race
Rise of a wealthy merchant class
profited from export-import
invested in mining industry for which they supplied
much of the capital
also invested in haciendas as a
hedge against losses in other areas
invested in obrajes, flour
mills and retail sales in both cities and country
composed almost entirely of Peninsulares
purchased positions in government
as corrigidores
Revolt of the Masses
Indians not passive
fought Spanish oppression with
flight
laws (but often ineffective)
Bourbon Reforms were favorable to some elites, but not to the
underclasses
pressure on new economic entities to produce more
revenues passes down to
the peasants
Peru
Repartimiento de mercancias
Lima merchant advanced money needed by a corregidor
to buy his post
Merchant outfitted the corregidor with goods to
‘distribute’ ie. force-sell to
Indians
goods might cost as much as 6-8
times market price
some goods might be of no use to
Indians
Indians had to pay for goods within an allotted time
or go to prison
Indians forced to leave villages
and seek work in mines, obrajes, or
haciendas to earn money to pay the corregidor
Repartimiento de mercancias system forwarded two
objectives of the state
1. By eroding the traditional peasant economy, it
promoted the interests of the merchant class
2. expanded markets
a. internal market for goodss
b. labor market (by forcing the Indians into the
Spanish-colonial economy)
Mita burdens also increased
ore quotas doubled between 1740 and 1790
wages reduced
Visitador Jose de Areche sent by crown in 1777 to reform conditions
buy he tightened up revenue collections and thus
placed an impossible
burden on the curacas responsible for collection
Areche himself said
“The lack of righteous judges, the mita of the Indians,
and provincial commerce have made a corpse of this America.
Corregidores are interested only in themselves… How near
everything is to ruiin if these terrible abuses are not corrected, for
they have been going on a long time.”
Previous Revolts
between 1730 and 1780 there were
128 rebellions in Andean area
Tupac Amaru II
Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui started revolt by ambushing a corregidor in
November 1780.
Within a few months all of the southern highlands were aflame with
rebellion
Objectives unclear
professions of loyalty to King contradicted by his
claims to inherit the throne of
his ancestor
envisioned restored Inca empire but with creoles
(whose support he needed for sd
success)
Attacks against the church hurt rebellion
Both Church and creoles frightened by the ferocity of the Indian
rebellion
Rebellion failed due to inability to unite factions with one, clear goal
Spaniards mobilized a large force of yanaconas to break the siege of
Cuzco and rout the
rebel army
Tupac and other leaders executed
Communero Revolt in Nuevo Grenada
intolereable economic conditions
new taxes s
began in the town of Socorro in the north
basically reformist spirit
Viva el rey y muera el mal gobierno!
Army of artisans plus many Indian and mestizo peasants under creole
leadership marched
on Bogota and took city
Negotiations with archbishop to buy time
terms of treaty repudiated
All over by January of 1781
COLONIAL BRAZIL
http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/country/brazil.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/6497/frenchbrazil.html
Discovery:
Brazil was discovered by Europeans on January 26, 1500, by Vicente
Yáñez Pinzón,
Who could not claim the land for Spain (Tordesillas)
followed by Pedro Álvares Cabral in April of the same year.
Who did claim “the island” for Portugal naming it
Vera Cruz.
(Both discoveries were accidental results of being
blown off course by storms)
The first permanent Portuguese settlement—São Vicente, a coastal
town just south of the Tropic of Capricorn—was founded in 1532
WHY WAS BRAZIL RELATIVELY SLOW TO DEVELOP?
1. Americas not Portugal’s major focus: too much wealth to be had in
the East Indies
2. Portugal was a smaller country therefore with less domestic
population pressure & potentially fewer colonists than Spain and
later other European nations.
3. Precious metals, were not immediately obvious
5. Indigenous populations were semi-sedentary, not amenable to
exploitation. sparsely populated, semi-nomadic, non-tribute paying
therefore no surplus labor or other commodities available for
exploitation
The treaty Line of Tordesillas not important til the 18th century. No
competition or confrontation with Spain til mid-18th c.
Products of colonial Brazil included Brazilwood, dyewood, monkeys,
feathers,
with the growth of the bourgeoisie in Europe
came an ncreased demand for luxury
goods
also included sugar, cacao for
chocolate; but these produced in other colonies as well
CROWN’S EXPLOITATIVE MEASURES UNTIL 1530 “Period of Neglect”
The Crown leased the privilege to private merchants who set up
factorías as on the African
coast.
Obtained brazilwood through barter.
These are trading posts run by conversos, Jews
forced out of Spain.
Franciscans were the religious presence
Convicts (degradados) were employed as colonists
. Some probably were eaten others ‘went native’
French interlopers arrive in the 1500s to trade for dyewoods
they also raid shipments back to Portugal
Portuguese monarchy concerned that French could
establish permanent colonies
King John decides to act.
Europeans had heard stories of kingdoms of gold & silver from
shipwrecked sailors
legends of a mountain of silver.
1526-30 --John Cabot, sailing under the flag of
Portugal, had entered a river and found
silver trinkets -- named the
river, Rio de la Plata.
1530 Joao I authorized Martim Alfonso da Sousa to explore the coasts
from Maranao to the
Rio de la Plata,
wanted to find out if the Rio de
la Plata was on Portuguese side of the Treaty line.
explored coast, from N.E. Brazil to the Rio de la
Plata
determined that it was on the Spanish side.
established stone pillars on the line which
established Portuguese possession
Made contact with degradado Joao Ramalho in the Bay
of Santos
founded an adjacent village and
sailed back to Portugal to rewards and
thanks -- Brazil can be colonized.
Joao wanted to secure the land but didn’t want to spend money
Answer:
DONATORIO (donatary capitancy)
Private citizens would be granted capitancies
that they would settle at their own expense
in return for extensive political and economic
rights within these territories.
Joao established 15 capitancies, and awarded these to 12 men
-- some received multiple grants.
Purpose to colonize and establish trade.
In general these fidalgos, were minor members of the nobility
four had been to Brazil before their grant.
They encompassed extensive rights that were intended to be hereditary
.
Donatorios were largely a failure
*Too few settlers
*Cronicallly underfunded (settlers often starved due to poor
provisioning)
*Friction between captains & settlers
* Problems worsened when in 1535 when Brazil was made the penal dumping
ground, replacing Sao Tome
*Friction bet European & Indians. The Indians were usually friendly
to begin with, but friendship rapidly turned to hostility.
Of the fifteen, two were successful, Sao Vicente and Pernambuco
Sao Vicente, where da Sousa had met the degradado --
appointed capable lieutenants, had
600 settlers -- planted sugar, citrus, subsistence
crops
Pernambuco -- Duarte Cohelo did the same.
AROUND 1550 ECONOMIC CHANGE
1548 only two effective settlements
Crown recognized that more effective occupation was necessary, private
government not
effective.
Economic motivations come due to the increasing value of Brazil’s
primary crops
Increase importance of Sugar
Increase importance of tobacco
decrease imp of dyewood.
Boom and Bust Cycles based on a single product: A characteristic of
Brazil (in contrast to
Spanish American core areas) .
Products, in chronological order, are dyewood;
tobacco; sugar; gold; diamonds; cotton &
coffee.
1549 --Governor general sent to increase royal control over settlers
and curtail the power of the
donatary captains.
Appointed Tomé da Sousa to found a
royal colony at Bahia de Todos Santos, province of
Bahia, halfway between Sao
Vincente and Pernambuco. (Crown purchased
donatory rights).
He arrived in March with 1000 men and six Jesuits, the vanguard of
their order in the New
World.
This was the first true effort of the Portuguese to
implement conversion, the reason they
had been granted the land in the first place.
Successful rebuff of French colonization.
In 1565, French huguenot founded a settlement in capitancy of Rio de
Janiero, La France
Antarctique.
Was a direct invasion of Portuguese territory
also could attack Portuguese shipping
Portuguese crown sends ships and troops
Rio de Janiero founded
The capitancy was not occupied but instead of
purchasing the rights, the crown declared
them in default and created a royal colony
The Brazilian government system bears a striking resemblance to the
Spanish.
Governors were subject to residencias and visitas,
A single high court in Salvador, impeded the
administration of justice.
Graft & corruption normal
tax farming, especially the lucrative customs
duties.
The Portuguese even used word conquest although they
had hardly conquered anything
Overlapping authority of donatorios and royal
governors made for confusion in chain of
command.
One striking difference -- Portugal did not create encomiendas of
Indians
Why?
labor problem was addressed by the continual
importation of Africans.
Thus, the biological and cultural mix in Brazil was
between Portuguese and African
In Spanish America it was between Spaniard and
Indian.
Gives Brazil a whole different social flavor.
Brazil had a long tradition of
miscegenation.
The Coming of the Jesuits
1540: Jesuits founded in response to Protestant challenges in Europe
As with the conquerors, those who arrived in
the New World last got least. S
Jesuits were assigned to the periphery.
Jesuits had funds and were well- educated
They were the “shock troops” of the
Counter-reformation
Answered directly to the Pope --therefore, they
believe they owed allegiance only to the
Pope.
Less dependent upon the Crown
Were enterprising because they did not have vows of
poverty.
They try to launch a new policy toward Indians and instigate a
resettlement policy in Brazil like
those in New Spain & Peru.
The major difference is that in Brazil the Indian
resettlement initiatives were done
benevolently, as a means of
protecting Indians from the bandeirantes, whereas in
New Spain & Peru was
developed as a method of control and exploitation
Thus the Jesuits came into conflict with the
bandeirantes who wanted to enslave the
Indians on sugar
plantations.
Indians of Brazil were semi-sedentary
a tradition that
agriculture was women’s work, so men wouldn’t work and ran
away.
At mid-century (16th) the Jesuits instigated the
outlawing of Indian slavery in Brazil.
With the exceptions of the Just
War
Three simultaneous uses of Indian labor:
1. Crown, acculturate Indians into
Portuguese/Brazilian society
2. Colonists, only way to do this is to enslave
3. Jesuits, benevolently catachize and bring into
villages (aldeas) similar to congregaciones
The Union of the Crowns (review)
King of Portugal, Sebastian, died in military disaster in 1578
(El-Ksar-el-Kebir)
demoralized Portugal
Philip II of Spain, who had a distant claim, able to get himself
crowned by Portuguese nobles,
through invasion and distribution of Mexican silver.
Thus the administration of Portugal passed to Spain in 1581 along with
Portugal’s colonies.
Beginning of “Babylonian Captivity”
TRANSITION TO BLACK SLAVERY & SUGAR CULTIVATION
Changeover became rapid after 1570
Sugar cultivation in Brazil could not compete with Caribbean, which had
been introduced into
that region in 1519,
Until 1570 the economy of Brazil was not sufficient to support
the large-scale importation of
slaves.
Cost of transport could not be recouped
Triggering event was the destruction of the Portuguese colony,
Sao Tomé ,in 1570.
Portuguese shift enterprise across the ocean to
Brazil.
Why the turn to African Labor?
*Portugal had had long experience with Africa and slavery before Brazil
had been in slave trade to islands off the
coast of Africa for 60 years
* Male Indian resistance to agriculture -- women’s work.
* Indians died out rapidly from Old World diseases
* Portuguese colonists are few and refuse agricultural work.
* Characteristics of sugar production.
Labor intensive - need more workers (seasonally)
than for tobacco or cotton, so
demand for labor increases.
Special advantages of African Labor
• Immunity from Old World disease
• Long agricultual experience
• Plentiful, whole continent
• No theological problem, i.e. Indians couldn’t be
enslaved, Africans had had the chance to convert and had rejected
Christianity
CONTEMPORANEOUS DEVELOPMENTS
By the early decades of the 17th century the transition was
complete – African labor had
replaced Indian labor. The shift coincided with the
abolition of Indian slavery.
The development of four distinct regions in Brazil.
DUTCH OCCUPATION of the North
Spain was overextended in her worldwide empire
Opportunity for other European nations to move into
Spanish dominions.
Until then, Spain occupied with the blessing of the
Pope; doctrine of de jure possession,
countered by de facto possession.
With unification of thrones Dutch at War with
Portuguese
Dutch occupy Portuguese
settlements in Brazil, short lived 1624, in 1630s, esp
Pernambuco.
In addition, on the other side of the ocean, the Dutch capture the
Portuguese stations in Africa,
cut off the supply of slaves to Brazil,
Angola.
When Portuguese planters fought against Dutch and
they also arm slaves to fight.
By 1640 the Portuguese successfully oust Dutch
(who had advanced the Portuguese
planters credit and had carried
the sugar to Europe and brought back slaves)
In retaliation, the Dutch set up colonies in the Caribbean and
help other nations’ colonies to set
up sugar production, e.g. British.
The competition would ruin the Brazilian sugar
industry.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTHERN AREAS
Sao Paulo, original settlement Sao Vicente, moved inland about 40 miles
resettled alongside
Jesuit mission
Far removed from rest of the world, few
Portuguese women, the preferred brides were
the daughters of mixed
Portuguese and Indian parents
In the long run, society developed into a fusion,
Portuguese, Indian, smattering of other
Europeans.
The Paulistas had their own hierarchy, but could not
compare to that of the core areas or
the rich suga -producing
areas of the Northeast.
“Rough hewn local
aristocracies harboring strongly independent, localist
sentiments.”
But they were ambitious, heard of gold and emeralds in the interior
-the Sertao, they turned their
attentions there.
Organized into mobile columns of quasi-military
nature,
these bandeiranted began raiding
into the interior.
At first they have come to be associated with the
raiding interior villages for Indian
slaves,
As sugar cultivation
spread, trade in Indian slaves was very lucrative and
especially when the Atlantic
slave trade was cut off during the Dutch occupation
of the north and the Dutch wars
But by 1650, with the Atlantic routes open
again, the demand for Indian slaves
decreased.
They shifted from slaving to searching for mineral wealth.
Antonio Raposo Tavares (1648-52) led a column
into the interior through the Chaco, and
followed the
river systems to the mouth of the Amazon,
little resulted but he
staked a claim to the area for Portugal/Brazil.
By the 1670s crisis in Portugal, intensified
the search
1690s-- gold strikes in Minas Gerais
1700 Brazilian gold rush was on.
Opened up the interior, led to
the development of the
inland areas
Sao Paulo also benefitted in that
mining supplies had to shipped in.via Sao
Paulo.
A
casualty was the fugitive slave settlement at Palmares.
TURNAROUND: c. 1695:
Gold is discovered in Brazilian province of Minas Gerais,
Brazilian equivalent of the strikes at Zacatecas and
Potosi
In 1729 diamonds.
Beginning of a dynamic boom period which witnessed the opening of
the hinterlands of
the colony and a shift of the economic center
of gravity.
Two routes inland, one through Rio de Janiero, the other up the Sao
Francisco river
Road built from Rio, led to development of
that city.
Sao Paulo became a true boom town, immigrants pour
in, also bring along slaves
which add to population.
Imbalanced sex ratio common story
Paulistas (locals) clash with the newly arrived
Civil war 1708-09.
Consequence was fortunate for government
until then the government
was weak and ineffectual.
Portuguese monarchy -- steps in and takes control,
negotiates
a settlement and imposes its own
administrative structure.
Paulistas eclipsed by Portuguese immigrants with
more efficient techniques.
The real winner was the Portuguese state
effectively curtailed the
independence of the Paulistas
took control of the mining
centers to extract the quinto.
The gold and diamond boom peaked around mid
18th century and the economic
activity shifts once again
as the cattle industry develops in the Sertao
region
Unintended consequences of gold mining:
*Dependence on England with the Methuen Treaty , 1703, revival of
English alliance
(Thus Portugal threw off one ruler (Spain) for
another (England)
Portugal agrees to allow Britain to supply
manufactured goods
Thus Brazilians are unable
to develop manufacturing on their own
*Independence of monarchy - does not have to convene the cortes
(parliament)
THE SOUTH
As the Portuguese push further & further south conflict occurs with
the Spanish in the Rio de la
Plata estuary
During the Babylonian Captivity the boundaries
between Spanish and Portuguese
America were a moot point.
When the revolt against the
Spanish in Portugal begins in 1640 (lasts until 1665,
ultimately restoring a Braganza
family to the Portuguese throne.) boundaries in
Western Hemisphere take on new
significance.
Paulistas raided Spanish missions in present day Paraguay
In 1680, the Portuguese established a fortified post
upriver from Buenos Aires, Colonia
do Sacramento, that led to a
continuing armed struggle for the eastern bank,
(La Banda Oriental)
This struggle would continue throughout the 18th century and would
become one of the cronic
problems of the Portuguese in Brazil -- the
defense of the frontier
not only in the south but in the
north.
The southern portion of the country would little resemble the other
areas.
Regional Characteristics
http://www.brazil.studyintl.com/general/maps/maps_br.htm
Northeast –(Bahia, Pernambuco)- primarily sugar plantation --
predominance of slavery, goes
over to cotton late in the 18th/early 19th centuries
South-central –(Sao Paulo) Paulistas, raiding and invading,
fronteirsmen, uncouth
Rio de Janeiro/Minas Gerais: mining, immigrant society heavily
dependent upon slavery.
Gender imbalance makes for large mulattoes
population. but unlike other areas some rich
mulattoes.
Far South: cattle ranching, no need for slavery
Backlands (inland Northeast) Sertao
Amazon: Remains remote and pristine
Pantanal (Mato Grosso) Cattle (development limited by wet season
flooding)
British Alliance, beginning in 1786 created a deep dependency on
Britain for capital,
manufactureed goods, etc. (Portugal herself was
becoming little more than a British
colony – especially as Napoleon occupied Spain and
parts of Portugal)
The Culture of the Fazenda (17th-19th Centuries)
The Rise and Fall and Rise of Sugar
By 1600 Brazil producing 65 million pounds annually
(32,500 tons)
1612: 179 engenhos (mills)
1711: 528
The heart of the sugar-producing Northeast was in
the states of Bahia and
Pernambuco, and these areas
demonstrated the quintessence of fazenda
culture.
By mid 17th c. Brazil was becoming more important
economically to Portugal
than the East
Chief Characteristics of the Fazenda Culture (a blend of feudal and
commercial
elements)
1.large estates (the fazendas)
2.agriculturally monocultural
3.depended almost exclusively on slave labor
Principal Types of fazendas during the colonial
period
1. Sugar (enhenhos) (coastal N.E.)
2. Cotton (coastal N.E. and slightly inland N.E.)
3. Cattle (Sertao, inland N.E. and later South)
(exception to the above – fewer slaves)
The Engenho
absolutist ( O Senhor de Engenho)
self-contained (as much as possible)
food
estate chaplain and parish priest
as a satellite of the fazenda
rough, often impassable road leading to the
plantation
water transportation where available
Economic sub-categories
lavadores (similar to colonos in
Spanish Caribbean)
may have held
20 slaves
moradores: tenant farmers
foreiros: sharecroppers
Senhor de Engenho
100 plus slaves
15-20 Portuguese overseerers
each fazenda producing in range
of 110-125 tons
Reputation of Brazilian industry as backward
unjustified
result of Caribbean competition
and new techniques developed there
The Cattle Fazenda
even more absolutist if possible as more isolated
Made own laws and exacted
punishment accordingly
not slave-based (not labor-intensive once
established, therefore less need for
slaves)
vaqueiros
(cowboys)
centered in the Sao Francisco River Valley, inland
from ( “behind”) Bahia
Produced
meat for coastal population and
mining camps
draft animals for plantations
hides for export to Europe
Expansion of Cattle Industry to South
vast land grants made in Rio
Grande do Sul by govt. in attempt to
populate the region and repel
Spanish pressure along the southern border
this culture took on a somewhat
different flavor
gauchos
instead of vaqueiros
use of bolas (balls of stone attached to rawhide
rope)
borrowed from Pampas Indians
Color, Class and Slavery
Race mixture played a decisive role in the creation of a Brazilian
Peoples
1. scarcity of white women in the colony
2. freedom from puritanical attitudes
3. despotic power of the fazenderos over Black and
Indian women
The three possible combinations
1. White/Black
2. White/Indian
3. Black/Indian
First combination most common
vast majority outside of wedlock
Marquis de Pombal even issued a decree encouraging
White/Indian marriages
The “polite fiction” of white purity
English traveler reported this
story: A capitao mor, whom the traveler
suspected of being mulatto
(Black/White mixture) asked a servant if it
were true.
Response: “He was, but is not now”
Explanation: “Can a capitao mor
be a mulatto man?”
Slavery
corruption of both master and slave
denigrated labor
distorted economic development
few postions
available for whites
gave rise to a
class of vagrants “Poor Whites”
could not compete with slave labor
but – slave labor extremely inefficient
also, slavery
discouraged technological innovation
treatment of Brazilian slaves not as Gilberto Freyre
painted it
(he was speaking mostly of house
slaves)
failure to reproduce and suicide rate speak volumes
also the formation of quilimobos – esp. Palmares in
Alagoas
self-sufficient African kingdom
with thousands of inhabitants
in ten villages spread over a 90
square mile area
finally destroyed in 1694 after a
ten year siege
Ciudades/Campos (City/Country)
Towns and cities appendages of the country
Dominated by fazendeiros and
senhors de engenhos
Left
supervision of estates to majordomos (overseerers)
Also other segments of the elite
High colonial
officials
High
ecclesiastical figures
Wealthy
professionals
Lawyers
Merchants
(almost exclusively peninsulars (reinois vs mazombos)
Financed the planters
Social position of merchants not particularly high,
but they
Nevertheless often became
politically powerful
War of the Mascates (1710-1711)
Olinda vs. Recife
Petty war between merchants and
planters
Foreshadowing of Independence
Minas Gerais, most urbanized Brazilian region
most diversified economy (mining
and agriculture)
also an area of repeated
rebellions and unrest throughout the 18th century
Portugal attempted to enforce unpopular tax laws and
to collect a large amount
of delinquent taxes
O Inconfidencia
1788-1789 (What else was occurring in the world in
these years?)
Group of dissidents (mostly
highly-placed elites) led a revolt
attempted to
establish a republic on the lines of the North American
model
Only leading conspirator who was
not a member of the elite was Jose da
Silva Xavier –
a lieutenant in the army
he was a
part-time toothpuller, so he became known as Tiradentes
as, less
formally, has the movement itself
Da Silva had copies of the U.S.
Declarartion of Independence and state
constitutions
When conspiracy was uncovered, all were sentenced to
death, but every
sentence but that of da Silva’s
was commuted to exile.
Da Silva was execution, which he faced with great
courage, was barbarous, thus
he became a martyr for the
Brazilian independence movement over the
first two
decades of the 19th century.
Overview of the late 17th – early 19th Centuries
NOTE: You will be required to answer one question pertaining to Brazil
on your final.
1. Boom/bust cycles dominated and determined the course of Brazilian
history for this period and beyond.
2. These boom/cycles surrounded the fortunes of resource-exploitative
mining and agriculture.
3. Resource-exploitative mining and agriculture was not possible
without the intensive exploitation of labor as well, and this
exploitation was largely in the form of slavery.
4. In general, Brazil was more dependent on monocultural, export
agriculture than Spanish America, where subsistence farming of a
non-slave population played an important role.
5. The discovery of gold and then diamonds in the South around 1700
flipped the balance of power from north to south (Pernambuco/Bahia to
Rio de Janeiro/Sao Paulo/Minas Gerias).
6. With the decline of mining in the mid 18th century, by the
1780’s the coastal zone of the North/Northeast regained some of its
prosperity and power.
7. The chief mineral and agricultural products of this period,
each of which had its day, in order of appearance were
a. sugar N
b. gold S
c. diamonds S
d. sugar/cotton* N
e. coffee (which later dominated economy
1850-present?) S
*less important crops in this coastal revival era
were tobacco, indigo, rice, coffee,
and cacao
8. The reforms instituted by the Marquis de Pombal
(1750-1777) can be compared to the Bourbon Reforms of Spanish
America. Pombal’s principal aims were to
A. ‘Reconquer’ the Brazilian economy for Portugal,
just as the Bourbon
Kings sought to ‘reconquer’ their colonial economies, or to
renationalize the Portuguese/Brazilian trade, thereby increasing tax
revenues for the state
B. Assist the bourgeois merchant class to build
capital, thus making them
competitive with other national bourgeoisies,
especially that of Britain.
.
The Pombaline Reforms
Administrative (Political and Economic)
Many new administrative sub-divisions created, reflected the regional
changes in the economy
New captaincy-generals, captaincies, and comarcas,
especially in the South and
southwest
Special intendencies created in the mining districts
Relacoes were more or less equivalent to Audiencias
and were one of the few
local checks on the power of the
Governor General who was equivalent to
the Viceroy
The ministry of foreign trade (Ministry of the Navy and Overseas
Territories or Marinha e Ultramar) which had been created in 1736,
under Pombal was given complete control over colonial affairs.
Expanded authority of the Board of Trade (domestic – oversaw British
imports)
New royal treasury in 1761 headed by Pombal himself as Inspector-General
New treasury boards created in each captaincy to oversee the
departments of the royal exchequer. Double-entry bookkeeping
introduced.
The Church
Significant weakening of church, as seen in Spanish America
Poorly established church in the South
Expulsion of the Jesuits
Had major economic fallout
labor market
property values
chilling cultural effect
education
Effects of the Enlightenment in 18th Century Brazil
Effects promulgated mainly through sermons, pamphlets, graffiti, and
discussion societies
No university in Brazil
most students went to Coimbra
(Pombal modernized curriculum)
some to French universities
(which may have laid the groundwork for
France’s profound cultural
influence in Brazil which still exits today)
Physiocrat Thought and the importance of the natural environment
Enlightenment’s natural philosophers fascinated by
the unusual diversity of life
forms in Brazil
led to a growing pride among
Brazilians of their natural world
Political effects modified in Brazil as compared to Spanish America
argued for reform rather than revolution
But two conspiracies did occur
1. The Inconfidentia (Tiradentes Conspiracy) (1789)
2. The Conspiracy of the Tailors’ in Pernambuco (1798)
And a revolt in Recife,
Pernambuco in 1817
The Achievement of Independence in Brazil
1808: Arrival of the Portuguese court and government
Effects:
Rio de Janeiro becomes the capital of an empire
Brazilian ports open to English trade
o marked the economic independence of Brazil from
Portugal
o but also the economic dependence of Brazil on
Britain
British insisted that import duties be lowered from 24% to 15%
Joao VI had no choice but to agree as the British were in the process
of driving the French out of Portugal
The government made a number of other major
changes in Brazil
Encouraged the development of local industry
And in 1815 declared Brazil a Kingdom equal to
Portugal
Other changes:
printing press
judicial system
medical schools
national library
national museum
national botanical garden
Modernization welcomed
by creoles, but interference resented
15 thousand courtiers flooded Rio
When Portugal was liberated from Napoleon the court was expected to
return to Lisbon, but Joao preferred Brazil.
Tensions between the Portuguese and the Creoles mounted between 1815
and 1820
Peninsulars getting the best positions in government
The attitude of the peninsulars was haughty and
conceited
nothing in Brazil was good enough
to satisfy their effete, European
tastes
planters unhappy because Brazils new
best friend, Britain, was pushing for an end
to slavery
merchants unhappy because the British
were dominating trade
1820: Joao’s Dilemma
liberals on Portugal revolted and demanded a
constitutional monarchy
Joao could
A. return to Portugal and lose Brazil
B. remain in Brazil and lose his throne in Portugal
Result typically Portuguese
He did neither – in 1821 he sailed to Portugal
(taking the treasury with
him) and left his son,
Pedro, in charge in Rio
Actions of the Cortes
Cortes (composed of bourgeois merchants or their
lawyer representatives)
reinstated Brazil’s status as a colony (irony of a
liberal body attempting to
turn the clock of history backwards)
broke the colony up by limiting
Pedro’s jurisdiction to the South
sent troops to Salvador to
enforce it’s separate status
appointed military governors in
every province
Ordered Pedro to return to Portugal
Reaction:
Peninsulars urged Pedro to obey including the
commander of the troops
and the Portuguese merchants
But – the creoles insisted that he remain in Brazil
Jose Bonifacio de Andrada y Silva
of Sao Paulo pledged support of
that city – Rio joined
1822: Pedro acceded to the wishes of the creoles “Fico” (I remain)
and on Sept. 7, 1822 issued O Grito do
Ypiranga (The Cry or Declaration
of Ypiranga)
Afterward: Portuguese forces retain the North until defeated by
Lord Cochran
Pedro alienates the merchant class
1831: Pedro assailed by mob – abdicates and returns
to Lisbon
leaves the throne in hands of
infant daughter
The Events which Led to the National Revolutions in Spanish America
Review of underlying causes or contributing factors (take your
pick)
1. Creole-peninsular hostility
2. Growing creole self-consciousness (Americanism)
3. Trade restrictions
4. The Enlightenment
5. The American Revolution
6. The ideology of the French Revolution
7. The on-going dissatisfaction of the exploited
underclasses complicated by racism against the mestizos, pardos or
castas, and mulattoes
But Burkholder and Johnson insist that these were only contributory
factors rather than
actual causes
They see the actual causes as the events in Spain
from 1807 that sparked the
insurgencies in Mexico and South America.
Events in Spain (In a nutshell)
1788- death of Charles III
Charles IV was lazy, inept, irresponsible, and extremely unpopular
By late 1790s: Spain was forced to choose between
a land invasion by a now recovered revolutionary
France
and powerful Britain from the sea
Spain almost constantly at war from
1793-1808,
first in an anti-regicide coalition against France
then in alliance with France against Britain who had
attacked Spain when
Spain withdrew from the war
against France
Fleet destroyed at Cape St. Vincent and
Trafalgar(1805)
Major Problems faced by Spain
1. Cost of war was leading to overwhelming debt and
bankruptcy
2. Neutral trade was (as we have seen before)
undermining revenues
a. British blockade of Cadiz
b. colonial ports forced to trade with neutral nations
3. Consolidation of Vales Reales
a. forced sale of institutional property (mainly the
Church)-repayment at 3%
b. proceeds were supposed to pay off debt, but used
for current expenses
c. loss of property and income by Church was was a
major blow to the propertied classes as Church served as chief lender
(bank)
4. Royal family and Godoy
Effect of Napoleon’s Occupation and Domination over Spanish affairs:
fractured the monarchy, which allowed latent
liberalism to
come to the fore
Napoleon’s two major decisions
affecting Iberia and the empires of Spain and
Portugal
1. Demanded that Portugal declare war on Britain –
resulted in the removal of the Court to Brazil
2. Withheld recognition of Ferdinand VII in order to
clear Spain of the Bourbons
Junta takes power in Spain
called for a Cortes
Constitution of 1812
contained many liberal elements, but some
conservative as well
Led to politicization of the colonial elites
Issue of American representation in the Cortes
American representatives soon realized the cold
truth – they were
still colonials
1814: With withdrawal of Napoleon’s forces Ferdinand returns
Ferdinand is bedrock and “muleish” absolutist monarch
Used military force against the rebellious colonies
1815: sent 10,500 troops to Venezuela
destruction pushed creole elite toward
pro-independence stance
1820: Military revolt of forces of embarkation in Spain is death
knell of the empire
Ferdinand reluctantly and insincerely pledges
support to
constitutional monarchy
Some generalizations regarding the Wars of Independence
1. The theatre of operations was vast and varied.
a. every climate and type of topography was included
in the theatre of war
b. these variations produced widely varying economic,
political, and social
conditions that sharply affected the outcome of regional military
operations
2. The numbers of combatants was always small
compared to say the numbers involved in European wars of the day or
even the American Revolution
Venezuela, the home of The Liberator, Simón Bolívar, was
the early center of
revolutionary activity
Who was Bolivar?
class background
intellectual influences
In 1806 Francisco de Miranda had attempted to incite the
Venezuelans
to revolution, but he failed and fled to
England.
1810- creole party in Caracas forced the abdication of the
Captain-General
creole-dominated junta pledged to support Ferdinand
(The Mask of Ferdinand)
Following year creole junta framed a republican constitution, abolished
fueros and Indian
tribute but retained black slavery, made Catholicism
the state religion, and limited
the rights of full citizenship to property
owners (which eliminated the free pardo
(mulatto) population.
creole elite alienated many would-be allies against Spain
(pardos and llaneros)
(the crux of the dilemma)
Miranda brought back from London by Bolivar, but his military efforts
fail and he is
executed by the Spanish – Venezuela returns to the
imperial fold
Bolivar goes to Colombia
manifesto
command of small unit to clear Rio Magdelena
swift movements
aggressive tactics
promotion regardless of race,
ethnicity
promoted to general in Colombian army
invasion of Venezuela
slave revolts and the llaneros
under Jose Tomas Boves drove the liberators
out
Bolivar returns to Colombia then flees to Jamaica – issues famous letter
his predictions re. the future (political units and
type of government
After brief stay in Haiti, Bolivar established a base on the Orinoco
this time enlisted the support of the llaneros under
Jose Antonio Paez
took back Venezuela
Audacious march over the Andes into Colombia
2500 men up the Orinoco and Arauco Rivers, across
the llanos, and up through
the cordallera of the high
Andes descending into the fertile valley of
Boyaca where he defeated the
Spanish at the Battle of Boyaca sealing
the liberation of Nueva Grenada
Sent Antonio Jose Sucre to Quito
The Southern Continent
In 1806, a British force had invaded the La Plata region, and succeeded
in getting the
royal governor to abandon the city but the local
militia organized and rose up &
drove the British from the city. (illustrative of
ambiguity of the colonial elite)
yet the result was creole control of Buenos Aires
(default)
weak Viceroy acceded to every creole demand
1810- with word of events in Spain, a junta took control in the name of
Ferdinand
makes repeated attempts to liberate Uruguay,
Paraguay, and Peru – all fail
1816- Jose de San Martin appears on scene to break the military
stalemate in South
America
Who was San Martin?
Bold military strategist like Bolivar
The attack on Chile
another dramatic march over the Andes
liberates Chile for Bernardo O’Higgins
Attacks Peru with combined force by sea (Lord Cochran) – lands below
Lima – city surrenders
1821- Independence proclaimed in Peru though final battle not for two
more years
Famous meeting between Bolivar and San Martin in Guayaquil???
Bolivar and Sucre ultimately liberate Peru
Last of the Spanish forces defeated by Sucre at
Ayacucho on the altiplano of Peru
in 1823.
Mexico
Keen and Hayes state that “…in Mexico the movement for independence
took and unexpected turn. Here the masses, instead of remaining
aloof, joined the struggle and for a time managed to convert it from a
private quarrel between two elites into an incipient social revolution.”
What did the creoles want?
1. Abolition of the inquisition
2. An end to ecclesiastical fueros
3. Free trade
4. Economic reforms in agriculture, mining, and
industry
Peninsulares offensive
ousted the Viceroy
creoles did not respond, but …
The marginal elite of the Bojio region did
upper-class of Queretaro
Why the Bojio?
Europeanized population
few traditional Indian communities
free blacks and castas
agriculture dominated by large, irrigated wheat
estates producing for the elite
textile industry using highly exploitative
putting-out system
mining industry where strikes had been suppressed by
militia
economy of Bojio based largely on free wage labor
which was under increasing
pressures due to a number of
factors
Revolt of Miguel Hidalgo
well educated parish priest
used mask of Ferdinand
followers ‘got out of hand’
Hidalgo excommunicated and shot
Jose Maria Morelos
coastal Pacific lowlands
land reform program
but had links with creole elite
abandoned guerilla warfare – mistake
failed and executed in 1815
Insurrection continued
Vicente Guerrero chief leader
reached an accord with Iturbide
Sept. 28, 1821 Mexican independence proclaimed and
Empire established under
Iturbide (Augustin I)
* Parts of these lectures are taken from Keen & Haynes, History of
Latin America as well as other texts