Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Western SIV, Episode four hundred and
Speaker 1: forty seven, The New World Exploited. It's been a while
Speaker 1: since we've talked about the original discovery of the New World,
Speaker 1: and so before we start to dig back into some
Speaker 1: more memorable colonial experiments today, let's give a quick rehash
Speaker 1: and bring ourselves up to date about what the colonial
Speaker 1: system was really like between fourteen ninety two and the
Speaker 1: year sixteen hundred. Now, of course, mostly when we're talking
Speaker 1: about that time period and the New World, we're really
Speaker 1: talking about Spain. Spain's colonial efforts in the America between
Speaker 1: fourteen ninety two and sixteen hundred were ambitious, expensive, and
Speaker 1: often ruthless. Driven by a combination of religious zeal, economic ambition,
Speaker 1: and imperial competition, these efforts reshaped the Americas, leading to
Speaker 1: the establishment of one of the largest empires in history.
Speaker 1: Of course, Spain's colonial colonization began with Christopher Columbus's voyages
Speaker 1: under the sponsorship of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. Columbus's
Speaker 1: arrival in the Caribbean in fourteen ninety two marked the
Speaker 1: beginning of European contact. We're not counting the vikings in
Speaker 1: Newfoundland Following his expeditions, Spain moved quickly to claim vast territories,
Speaker 1: motivated by the promise of wealth and the spread of Christianity.
Speaker 1: The early decades of Spanish colonialization focused on the Caribbean islands,
Speaker 1: including Hispaniola, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. These islands served as
Speaker 1: bases for further exploration and conquest. Indigenous populations such as
Speaker 1: the Taiano and Aruak were quickly subjugated through violence, forced labor,
Speaker 1: and disease. Spanish settlers established and comiendes, a system that
Speaker 1: granted colonists control over indigenous communities and their labor in
Speaker 1: exchange for the promise of Christianization, a promise which often
Speaker 1: never was kept. The most dramatic phase of Spanish expansion
Speaker 1: occurred with the conquests of the Aztec and Incan empires.
Speaker 1: In fifteen nineteen, Pranan Cortes led an expedition into Mexico
Speaker 1: with fewer than six hundred men. He formed alliances with
Speaker 1: indigenous groups resentful of Aztec dominance, such as the Taclacans,
Speaker 1: using their superior weaponry, military tactics, and of course, a
Speaker 1: devastating smallpox outbreak that weakened the Aztecs cort Has captured
Speaker 1: Tenoshti Klon in fifteen twenty one, dismantling the empire and
Speaker 1: claiming its wealth for Spain. Similarly, Francisco Pizzaro's conquest of
Speaker 1: the Inca Empire in Peru between fifteen thirty two and
Speaker 1: fifteen thirty three followed a comparable pattern. Pizaro exploited internal
Speaker 1: divisions caused by a civil war between the Inca brothers
Speaker 1: Atta Julpa and Huascar, capturing and executing Atta Juelpa. The
Speaker 1: conquest though, if you'll recall from the episodes, there were
Speaker 1: quite a few rebellions and a lot of back and
Speaker 1: forth here, but ultimately it gave Spain access to the
Speaker 1: immense wealth hidden beneath the Andes, including the silver mines
Speaker 1: of Patassi, which became a cornerstone of the Spanish colonial economy. Now,
Speaker 1: most of this we've already discussed on the show, but
Speaker 1: it's time to talk a little bit more about Spain's
Speaker 1: administration of its overseas empire. So to manage these vast holdings,
Speaker 1: Spain established a colonial administration centered on viceroys and voice royalties.
Speaker 1: And these are essentially, if you want to think about them,
Speaker 1: like large Roman style provinces, each who have a vice
Speaker 1: royalty governor that's in charge of them. So there's a couple.
Speaker 1: The Vice Royalty of New Spain, which was established in
Speaker 1: fifteen thirty five, included Mexico, all of Central America, and
Speaker 1: the entirety of the Caribbean. These are going to develop
Speaker 1: over time, by the way. Then there's the Vice Royalty
Speaker 1: of Peru, which governed South America. Local governance was handled
Speaker 1: by audiencias, which were royal courts and governors ensured that
Speaker 1: the crown maintained centralized control. We've talked talked about all
Speaker 1: of this before, but Spain was, in a lot of
Speaker 1: ways when the exploration of the New World went into place,
Speaker 1: still kind of a medieval kingdom and a kingdom still
Speaker 1: focused on the idea of the reconquista, and in a
Speaker 1: lot of ways, Spain simply takes that idea and circumplants
Speaker 1: it all over the New World. Clearly, it's a woeful
Speaker 1: inadequate structure for any sort of governance that's going to
Speaker 1: accomplish anything other than what the main goal of the
Speaker 1: Spanish is, which is extract as much wealth, ideally gold
Speaker 1: and silver from the New World as humanly possible at
Speaker 1: the lowest cost possible to the Spanish crown. Because remember,
Speaker 1: throughout this period, even though the gold and silver, particularly
Speaker 1: silver of the New World is flowing into Madrid, the
Speaker 1: crown in that same kingdom is still hemorrhaging money as
Speaker 1: a result of all the endless wars that the Spanish
Speaker 1: crown finds itself embroiled in. So it's amazing that even
Speaker 1: though they get this huge influx of wealth, the Spanish
Speaker 1: monarchs are never able to turn a positive budget. Now,
Speaker 1: a lot of that has to do with inflation and
Speaker 1: the fact that when you bring in millions of pounds
Speaker 1: of silver, the price of silver's going to plumme it.
Speaker 1: But this wasn't something that medieval Spain, or even New
Speaker 1: World Spain and New World Europe in general, really understood
Speaker 1: at this point about how economies functioned. The other thing
Speaker 1: I want to point out, though, is remember that from
Speaker 1: the perspective of other European kingdoms, Spain's real economic situation
Speaker 1: didn't really matter that much. What mattered was the perspective
Speaker 1: or the belief that Spain had this atm called the
Speaker 1: New World that it could just draw on endlessly that's
Speaker 1: what countries like, at least initially England, France, the patchwork
Speaker 1: kingdoms in Italy, the Holy Roman Empire. That's what they believed.
Speaker 1: It wasn't true, but it's what they believed, and a
Speaker 1: lot of that gets packed into the idea of the
Speaker 1: unbeatable Spanish juggernaut, which the Thirty Years War is the
Speaker 1: event that finally just pulls the wool down from everyone's
Speaker 1: eyes and there and behold, the Emperor has no clothes. Now.
Speaker 1: Of course, Spanish colonization extended beyond Mexico and Peru. Explorers
Speaker 1: ventured into Florida, the American Southwest, and the Rio de
Speaker 1: la Plata in modern day Argentinia. These efforts faced resistance
Speaker 1: from indigenous groups that often led to violent clashes. The
Speaker 1: Spanish also explored the Pacific, with expeditions reaching the Philippines
Speaker 1: and establishing a trans Pacific route via the Manila Galleons. Essentially,
Speaker 1: the Spanish economy that was in the New World between
Speaker 1: fourteen ninety two and roughly sixteen hundred was shaped by
Speaker 1: the goals of the Spanish monarchy, the exploitation of indigenous
Speaker 1: African labor and the extraction of wealth, particularly precious metals.
Speaker 1: It was a highly regulated system designed to benefit Spain
Speaker 1: operating under mercantilist principles. First, we should note that, as
Speaker 1: I mentioned, Spain followed a mercantilist policy, which essentially was
Speaker 1: the idea that you accumulate well through a favorable balance
Speaker 1: of trade. Mercantilism is an idea that's going to dominate
Speaker 1: throughout the early colonial period. Mercantilism if you think about
Speaker 1: it from the perspective of the colonies, the colonies are
Speaker 1: there really for two purposes. One, they're there to serve
Speaker 1: as a source of raw materials for the home or
Speaker 1: mother country. Two, it's there to serve as a market
Speaker 1: for the mother country to export finished goods. And that's
Speaker 1: exactly what was the case here for Spain. The colonies
Speaker 1: were expected to provide raw materials to Spain and to
Speaker 1: serve as markets for Spanish manufactured goods. The Casa de
Speaker 1: la Contracion the House of Trade, was established in fifteen
Speaker 1: oh three the control trade between Spain and the Americas,
Speaker 1: enforcing monopolies and regulating commerce strictly. This was not free
Speaker 1: market principles. Please keep that in mind. Now. The other
Speaker 1: hallmark of Spanish colonial administration was the extraction of precious metals,
Speaker 1: and I really mean mining, mining, particularly silver, was the
Speaker 1: backbone of the Spanish colonial economy. The Spanish discovered vast
Speaker 1: silver deposit in Patoisse in present day Bolivia in fifteen
Speaker 1: forty five and Zacatecas in present day Mexico in fifteen
Speaker 1: forty eight. These minds provided immense wealth funding Spain's military
Speaker 1: and empire building efforts throughout Europe. And now, how did
Speaker 1: they get the people to work in the minds? And
Speaker 1: the answer is, really, especially when we talk about Pataca
Speaker 1: and Bolivia, is what we call the meta system. The
Speaker 1: meta system was actually a system that was inherited from
Speaker 1: the Inca and then adapted by the Spanish. It was
Speaker 1: a means of forced indigenous labor. Indigenous people were compelled
Speaker 1: to work in minds under harsh conditions. Now, the crown
Speaker 1: got wealthy through all of this through what we call
Speaker 1: the Quinto Real. The Quinto real is a twenty percent
Speaker 1: tax on all precious metals collected by the crown. And
Speaker 1: so it's important to point out that the thing I
Speaker 1: mean you have to keep in mind here is that
Speaker 1: Spain was trying to do all of this as cheaply
Speaker 1: as humanly possible. So what the Spanish crown endeavored to
Speaker 1: do was to grant a monopoly on the extraction of
Speaker 1: silver in a given region, the control of the mines
Speaker 1: to a given company or to a given individual, and
Speaker 1: then that individual would turn over twenty percent of everything collected.
Speaker 1: The Spanish crown didn't have to spend anything, and it
Speaker 1: got a chunk of it in return, albeit a reduced
Speaker 1: rate that it would have gotten had it just made
Speaker 1: the investment itself. All of this went back and forth
Speaker 1: from Spain to the Philippines, also in China by a
Speaker 1: system that was called the Manila galleon trade. Essentially, in China,
Speaker 1: the only import that China was interested in from Europe
Speaker 1: was silver was highly valued, and so what Spain was
Speaker 1: engaged in throughout this period, particularly if you take a
Speaker 1: look at the mines in Bolivia and previous ink and
Speaker 1: territory was you would extract the silver, you'd put it
Speaker 1: onto galleons, get it over to China. We would trade
Speaker 1: it for porcelain, silks, other desired luxury goods, and that
Speaker 1: allowed China, quite frankly, to have the most favorable balance
Speaker 1: of trading all of this, but Spain wasn't really competing
Speaker 1: with China, so they didn't care. Now, the other way
Speaker 1: that these colonies were able to produce for Spain was
Speaker 1: through the encomenda system. The encomendo system was established in
Speaker 1: the early fifteen hundreds and granted Spanish settlers and comienderos
Speaker 1: the right to collect labor and tribute from the indigenous
Speaker 1: people in exchange for quote unquote protecting them and converting
Speaker 1: them to Christianity. Now, this system led to widespread abuse
Speaker 1: and near slavery conditions. This system wasn't used as frequently
Speaker 1: when it came to mineral extraction and mining. When you
Speaker 1: think the encomenda system, you need to think mostly about
Speaker 1: the production of food stuffs and then of course those
Speaker 1: highly coveted crops things like sugar cane, that are going
Speaker 1: to become such a hallmark of the Caribbean economy going forward. Now,
Speaker 1: by the mid fifteen hundreds, the new labor laws of
Speaker 1: fifteen forty two, promoted by Bartolome de las Casas, sought
Speaker 1: to curb the worst abuses and phase out the encomendo system. However,
Speaker 1: new labor systems like the Ripartimiento continued to force indigenous labor,
Speaker 1: with now the added benefit of some wage compensation, though very,
Speaker 1: very very little. As the economy expanded, haciendas, which were
Speaker 1: large estates developed in Mexico, Peru, and the Caribbean. These
Speaker 1: were self sufficient agricultural estates producing goods like wheat, cattle,
Speaker 1: and sugar. While originally worked by indigenous labors, increasingly African
Speaker 1: slaves replaced them, particularly in sugar pre reducing regions like
Speaker 1: the Caribbean and Brazil. Brazil, of course being run by Portugal,
Speaker 1: we should point that out. With the decline of indigenous
Speaker 1: populations due to disease and exploitation, the Spanish turned to
Speaker 1: African slavery, particularly in sugar plantations and mining. As I
Speaker 1: mentioned before, this was also something that Portuguese were highly involved,
Speaker 1: and in fact Portuguese are going to be more involved
Speaker 1: in the slave trade and for longer than the Spanish are.
Speaker 1: By the late fifteen hundreds, the Transatlantic slave trade was
Speaker 1: well established, with enslaved Africans arriving in Spanish colonies via
Speaker 1: Portuguese and Spanish traders. So how did the trade and
Speaker 1: commercial networks work and function then, Well, there's a couple
Speaker 1: of things to point out. The first is what's called
Speaker 1: the Floata system. Because not all of the silver is
Speaker 1: going in the direction of China, some of it is
Speaker 1: coming directly back to Spain, and Spain needs did a
Speaker 1: way to get that silver back to Europe safely, and
Speaker 1: so the flow to system was a fleet system in
Speaker 1: which ships traveled in giant convoys to protect silver and
Speaker 1: goods from pirates and privateers, notably the English and the Dutch.
Speaker 1: Generally speaking, there were two convoys that would go back
Speaker 1: and forth every single year, one in the spring and
Speaker 1: then one in the fall. The crown also restricted colonial
Speaker 1: trade to ensure only benefited Spain, using trade monopolies to
Speaker 1: prohibit direct trade with other European nations. The last thing
Speaker 1: that the Spanish did was to try to establish key
Speaker 1: ports like Verta, Cruz, Havana, and Seville, which dramatically controlled
Speaker 1: the flow of goods back and forth. So there wasn't
Speaker 1: unlimited places that you could go if you wanted to
Speaker 1: trade in the Spanish Empire. They restricted it to a
Speaker 1: couple of key points, again allowing them to run this
Speaker 1: whole system more efficiently and more cheaply. The Catholic Church
Speaker 1: was deeply involved in economic activities religious orders owned vast lands,
Speaker 1: rand missions, and controlled significant wealth. The Church also played
Speaker 1: a role in lending money, collecting tithes, and acting as
Speaker 1: a stabilizing force in colonial society. Overall, the Spanish colonial
Speaker 1: economy was extractive, exploitive, and highly regulated. It relied on
Speaker 1: forced labor systems, mining and agricultural to generate wealth for Spain. However,
Speaker 1: its rigid structures, monopolistic practices and policies, and dependence on
Speaker 1: enslaved labor created economic and social tensions that are going
Speaker 1: to dramatically shape the later period. Next we will deal
Speaker 1: with the Catholic Church and how its institutions helped to
Speaker 1: shape the new world in conjunction with the Spanish crown,
Speaker 1: but that will be right after this now. As you
Speaker 1: might expect, the Catholic Church played a central role in
Speaker 1: Spain's colonization up to the year sixteen hundred, serving as
Speaker 1: both a spiritual and political force in the expansion of
Speaker 1: Spanish rule across the Americas and eventually other territories. Its
Speaker 1: influence was deeply intertwined with Spain's imperial ambitions, acting as
Speaker 1: a means of cultural transformation, governance, and justification for conquest.
Speaker 1: The Spanish monarchy, particularly under Ferdinand and Isabella, saw the
Speaker 1: spread of Catholicism as a divine mission. The patronato reale
Speaker 1: royal patronage, granted by the Pope, gave the Spanish crown
Speaker 1: control over the appointment of clergy and religious oversight in
Speaker 1: the colony. The fourteen ninety three Papal Bowls of Donation,
Speaker 1: particularly the Interkita, issued by Pope Alexander the sixth, granted
Speaker 1: Spain the right to conquer lands in the New World
Speaker 1: under the condition that indigenous peoples were converted to Christianity.
Speaker 1: Catholic missionary orders, including the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, and later Jesuits,
Speaker 1: played a significant role in evangelizing. These missions sought to
Speaker 1: convert indigenous peoples to Christianity, often using a mix of persuasion, instruction,
Speaker 1: and coercion. They established missions which functioned as centers of
Speaker 1: religious instruction, economic production, and cultural assimilation, introducing European agricultural
Speaker 1: techniques such as education and social organization. Indigenous religions were
Speaker 1: systematically suppressed with idols, temples and rituals just simply destroyed,
Speaker 1: oftentimes replaced with Christian churches just right on top of
Speaker 1: them and Christian practices, the church was closely linked to
Speaker 1: Spain's colonial administration. Bishops and clergy often served as advisors
Speaker 1: to colonial officials and were sometimes involved in governing indigenous populations.
Speaker 1: The encomenda system, which granted Spanish settlers control over indigenous
Speaker 1: labor in exchange for christianizing them, was justified in part
Speaker 1: by religious motivations. However, it often led to severe exploitation,
Speaker 1: as I'm sure you guessed. While many clergy participated in
Speaker 1: the oppression of indigenous peoples, there were some notable figures
Speaker 1: who spoke out against abuses. The most famous of these
Speaker 1: was Bartolemy delas Casas, a Dominican friar who advocated for
Speaker 1: indigenous rights and criticized Spanish mistreatment in his work A
Speaker 1: Short Account of the Destroyer of the Indies, published in
Speaker 1: fifteen fifty two. His efforts contributed to the passage of
Speaker 1: the so called New Laws of fifteen forty two, which
Speaker 1: sought to regulate the incomendo system and reduce indigenous enslavement. Unfortunately, however,
Speaker 1: enforcement of this legislation in far off Madrid was weak.
Speaker 1: The church played a key role in education, founding the
Speaker 1: first schools and universities in the Americas, such as the
Speaker 1: University of Santo Tomas in Bogota and the Royal and
Speaker 1: Pontifical University of Mexico, founded in fifteen fifty one, often
Speaker 1: cited as the first university founded in the New World.
Speaker 1: Missionaries developed indigenous language and grammars and dictionaries to facilitate conversion,
Speaker 1: which helped to preserve native languages in written form, even
Speaker 1: as they worked to replace indigenous religious traditions with Christianity.
Speaker 1: The Church became one of the wealthiest institutions in Spanish America,
Speaker 1: owning massive tracts of land and receiving donations, tribute, and
Speaker 1: taxes from settlers and indigenous people. Religious orders operated plantations, ranches,
Speaker 1: and mining enterprises, sometimes leading to conflicts with colonial officials
Speaker 1: over economic power. Spain's colonial efforts had far reaching consequences.
Speaker 1: The massive influx of wealth from the Americas transformed the
Speaker 1: Spanish economy, funding the Crown's European ambitions, but also contributing
Speaker 1: to inflation and economic instability. The forced labor systems and
Speaker 1: diseases decimated indigenous populations, leading to demographic collapse. Culturally, Spanish
Speaker 1: colonization imposed European language, religion, and customs on the Americas,
Speaker 1: while also giving eyes to a unique blend of cultures
Speaker 1: known as the Mestize, which combined Spanish, indigenous, and African elements.
Speaker 1: The Spanish language and Catholicism both became defining features of
Speaker 1: Latin America. By sixteen hundred, Spain had established a vast
Speaker 1: colonial empire, stretching from modern day California to Argentina and
Speaker 1: from the Caribbean to the Philippines, setting the stage for
Speaker 1: centuries of Spanish influence in the Americas. Next week, we
Speaker 1: turn our attention to the other main colonizing power on
Speaker 1: the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal,