SUMMARY

COLONIZATION OF GUATEMALA
The Colonial Era is a term that refers to the colonization of Guatemalan territory and its inhabitants -
indigenous - by representatives of the Kings of Spain, as part of their colonization process in America.
Colonization goes from the Conquest of Guatemala in 1524 to the Independence of Guatemala in 1821.

Conquest of Guatemala
The voyages of Christopher Columbus - from 1492 to 1504 - changed the geographical concepts of the time.
Europeans were surprised at the discovery of lands and people whose existence they had no knowledge of.
Columbus landed on American soil for the first time in 1492.
The aborigines of Guatemala did not come face to face with the bearded invaders until three decades after
Columbus's first voyage to the Antilles.
Alvarado left Mexico City on December 6, 1523, with an army of about 420 soldiers, cavalry and infantry,
equipped with muskets and small cannons -falconetes-. 300 Tlaxcalan Indians also came, as porters and
auxiliaries.
The first skirmish was fought in Zapotitlán.
In the Llanos de El Pinal, he faced a strong Quiche army.
After conquering most of the Guatemalan territory on July 27, 1524, Alvarado founded the first town hall called
Santiago and it was in Iximché.
Pedro de Alvarado was the first Adelantado and Captain General of Guatemala from 1527 to 1541.
He died on July 4, 1541 in Mexico.
The city of Santiago was transferred to the Almolonga valley on November 22, 1527, by Jorge de Alvarado.
After the eruption of the Fuego volcano in 1541, Bishop Francisco Marroquín and Francisco de la Cueva were
appointed interim governors, who on March 10, 1543 moved the city of Santiago to the Panchoy Valley, where
the city of Antigua Guatemala is today. .

Authorities During the Colony

The oldest government body in Guatemala was the City Council.
The most important government institution in the early years of the colony, however, was the Audiencia, which
was made up of a president, several oidores or judges and their clerks or secretaries.

The most notable president of the Audiencia was Alonso López de Cerrato, who ruled from 1548 to 1555.
During his administration, the taxes paid by the Indians were reduced, the slaves were freed and they were
exempted from other abusive burdens that the conquerors had imposed on them.
The Captains General were the most important local officials. They presided over the Audiencia, and were civil
and military governors of the Kingdom. This was divided into Corregimientos and Alcaldías Mayores, both
territories that had their local governors - corregidores and mayors mayors.
Other colonial officials were the Royal Officers, who were in charge of the administration of the Royal Treasury
- the state finances.

The Catholic Church during colonization.

The Catholic Church played a very important role in the tasks of discovery, colonization, government and
education in the Indies.
In 1493, Pope Alexander VI recognized the kings of Castile as lords of the Indies - that is, of the lands
discovered in America -, on the condition that they convert the natives to Christianity.

In 1530, Alvarado brought from Mexico Francisco Marroquín, who was the first Bishop of Guatemala. When he
assumed this position, in 1537, he only had the help of four clerics: Godínez, Martín de Zuleta, Francisco de
Peralta and Pedro Rodríguez.

Society during colonization:

The great social divisions during the colonial era basically depended on the racial origin of the people. At first
there were only two ethnic groups: Spanish and Indians.
Throughout the colonial era, the Spanish occupied the highest social position. The children of Spaniards born
in the new colony were given the name criollos or Creole Spaniards.
Over the years, the mixture between ethnic types diluted the physical differences and everyone who was not
Indian or Spanish ended up being called Ladino.
The economy during colonization.
In the colony, agriculture was the most important economic activity.
The friars taught the Indians to cut, spin and weave sheep wool, and thus the industry of weaving that material
arose, on the native looms.
Among the most important guilds were those of silversmiths, beaters, painters, sculptors, carpenters, tailors
and bricklayers.
Cultural life during colonization.
The Catholic Church was the most important element in the cultural life of the colony, and was linked not only
to customs and popular ways of life, but also to the plastic arts, literature, charity centers and education.
In the beguinages and convents, the daughters of the Spanish and Creoles were prepared for married life or
for monastic life.
In the first phase of the conquest, an attempt was made to conquer the Quiché, achieving that objective, thus
initiating a new phase in which it now attempts to subjugate other peoples of Guatemala: the Cakchiquels and
the Tzutuhiles.
The Quiche kings, fearing the conquest of their people, devised a plan to lock Alvarado and his troops in the
city and then burn it down, but that plan was not carried out since Pedro de Alvarado found out about it and
ordered it to be burned. the two Cakchiquel Kings.
After this, the indigenous people fled, hiding in nearby ravines and the Spanish army thus began their “raids”
(burning and destroying everything in their path) to force the indigenous people to come out and begin to pay
taxes.

To subdue the indigenous people, they were presented with two alternatives:
 Submit voluntarily

Consequences:
Tribute in men.
Tribute in gold.
Food tribute.

 Being subdued by weapons:

Consequences:
Forced slavery.
Tribute in gold
Confiscation of goods and food

With the conquest, latifundism began, since the conquerors took over a large part of the land, whether
belonging to indigenous people or not, a situation that increasingly expanded during the Colony, both in the
number of "owners" and in the increase in large areas of land for each Spaniard.
Two basic elements emerge in society:
The dominators or possessors of the land.
Slaves, forced to work and pay taxes.

Taxes or Tributes:
The Spanish crown having the need for money, mainly when it went to war with another European power, and
in order to collect profits and bring them quickly to that country, it implemented a tax system of tributes in all its
American colonies, here it arises:
Alcabala: collected 2% on purchase and sale operations, transfer of assets, inheritances and other income or
collections from individuals. It was a tax for the Creoles, since the indigenous people paid the tribute.
Tribute: personal contribution that was paid by the indigenous people to the King of Spain as vassalage, the
amount of which was generally one peso of silver per year.
Almojarifazgo: Paid for products that entered or left through the kingdom's ports.