Unit 7, chapter 17, lesson 3

Colonial Empires in Latin America

1. What were the results of spanish and portuguese conquests in South America?
Spain and Portugal profited from the gold, silver and other natural resources from
the South american colonies. The interactions between the indegenous people.
Enslaved Africans and European colonists led to the formation of new social classes.
Catholic church had a great influence in these new settlements.
The spanish empire constituted most of south america and parts of central
america. Portugal became the ruler of Brazil. The new civilizations in central and south
America were together called as Latin America because the principal languages spoken
( spanish and portuguese) were derived from Latin.
Social classes:
Top: Peninsulares: Spanish and Portuguese officials born in Europe. They were
called peninsulares because they came from the Iberian Peninsula, the part of Europe
containing Spain and Portugal. They held important government positions.
Under Peninsulares: Creoles:descendants of Europeans born in Latin America.
The creoles resented the peninsulares, who retained power and regarded the creoles as
second-class citizens
Bottom: multiracial groups- conquered native americans, africans
The exploitation of Native Americans for the labor in the mines and farming
estates in very poor living conditions led to the drastic decline of Native American
population. The population decline of Native Americans spurred the importation of
enslaved Africans as a major labor force.

2. Who are mestizos? The offsprings from the intermarriage between Europeans and
Native Americans
3. Who are mulattoes? The offsprings of Africans and Europeans
4. What are the sources of prosperity to Spain and Portugal after South American
colonization? Resource extraction, farming using forced labor, and trade
5. What is resource extraction and how did it help the growth of Spain and Portugal?
One source of wealth for the Portuguese and Spanish came from resource
extraction, or the removal of natural resources from the land. The most important
resource extraction was the mining of gold and silver. The abundant supply of those
precious metals exported from Latin American colonies financed Spain’s wars and
stimulated further colonization
6. What is the encomienda system? System in South America where Spanish landowners
forced Native Americans to pay taxes and provide labor. In return, the landowners were
expected to protect them and ensure they were instructed in the Catholic faith
7. What is Mita? An arrangement made by spanish in Peru which allowed authorities to
draft indigenous labor forces to work in silver mines.
8. How did Portugal and Spain govern their colonies to promote economic gain and exert
their authority?
 When it was difficult for european monarchs to keep a close watch on the
colonies, colonial officials took the liberty of carrying out imperial policies. The Monarchy
of Portugal appointed a governor general to Brazil to assert imperial control over its
colony, Brazil. The Governor general or Viceroy was the head of the bureaucracy that
governed the colony. The governor general had a loose control over the lesser officials
who ruled the districts. Spanish monarch also appointed viceroys in South America.

9. What role did the Catholic Church play in the colonization of Latin America?

From the very beginning, religion influenced the colonization efforts of spanish
and portuguese. The rulers want to christianize the indegenous people. Spanish
missionaries brought native americans together into villages or missions to convert them
into christianity, teach them trade and farming. While Jesuites made missions, catholic
church made cathedrals. Hospitals and schools in the colonies.

Chapter review questions

1. Explain how the social status of mestizos changed over time.
Spanish rulers permitted intermarriage between Europeans and Native
Americans. Their offspring became known as the mestizos.The peninsulares and creoles
considered all these multiethnic groups to be socially inferior. However, over a period of
time, mestizos grew in status due to their increasing numbers. Some mestizos became
artisans and merchants in cities, and others became small-scale farmers or ranchers.
2. summarize the political and economic features of colonial latin america
Through resource extraction, forced labor and trading, colonialists flourished
whereas the native americans perished due to harsh living conditions and diseases like
smallpox. Colonial farming practices damaged the environment as a result of
deforestation, overgrazing and over cultivation of single export crops.
Encomienda system: spanish landowners forced native Americans to pay tax and
provide labor. In return they offered protection and catholic faith.
mita : system in Peru which allowed authorities to draft indegenous labor to work
in silver mines
Europeans shipped gold, silver and other products to Europe and in return
supplied manufactured goods to their colonies.
3. What were the social characteristics of colonial Latin America?
Peninsulares: at the top
Spanish and portuguese officials born in Europe
Held important government positions
Creoles: Under Peninsulares
Descendants of Europeans born in Latin America
Mixed races: Mestizos and mulattoes
Native americans and africans : worked in mines and plantations

4. How did Portugal and Spain govern their colonies to promote economic gain and exert
their authority?
5. Indigenous populations of colonial Latin America were forced to work for years under the
encomienda and mita systems. Write three paragraphs that explain how these systems
were the result of economic and political expansion.