The Spanish Empire

Caravela by Elena Petrova Gancheva

Christopher Columbus initiated the first sustained contact between the "Old World" (Europe, Africa, and Asia) and the "New World" (the Americas.) The consequences of this contact, known as the Columbian Exchange, were enormous and far-reaching.

There were significant exchanges of goods. Sugar, potatoes, corn, chili peppers, and tomatoes, native to the Americas, became staples of European cusine. Old World products like wheat, coffee, bananas, and citrus were introduced to the Americas, becoming staple crops there. Very few animals had been domesticated in the Americas, with the Spanish introducing cattle, pigs, horses, chickens, and other livestock.

The most dramatic consequence of the Columbian Exchange by far was disease. Through thousands of years of trade and interaction, Old World populations had built up immunities to many diseases against which people in the New World had no defense. In the century after Columbus' voyage, the largest pandemic in human history swept through the New World. Diseases like smallpox and measles wiped out over 90% of the American population. Entire civilizations, with all their history, vanished. European explorers found once-great cities silent and empty.

Arrival of Cortés at Veracruz, Library of Congress

Against this weakened remnant of "Amerindian" civilization (the Spanish called America the "West Indies"), conquistadores were sent to conquer land for Spain, establishing viceroyalties governed by a "viceroy" ("assistant king.") Hernán Cortés launched a campaign against the Aztec Empire in 1519. Spanish soldiers were horrified to learn the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice, but the conquistadores committed many atrocities themselves. The Aztecs resisted for two years, but disease and European technology led to a Spanish victory. The former Aztec Empire became the Viceroyalty of New Spain, modern-day Mexico. Francisco Pizarro led a similar campaign against the Incan Empire in South America from 1529 - 1533, which became the Viceroyalty of Peru.

Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Léon reached North America in 1513, naming the land "Florida." Hernando de Soto returned to this territory in 1539, and the city of Saint Augustine was founded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in 1565, becoming the first permanent European settlement in North America.

The Portuguese mariner Ferdinand Magellan launched a voyage to circumnavigate the Earth in 1519, and although Magellan himself died en route, the trip was successfully completed in 1522. Spain claimed territories as far away as the Pacific Ocean, which were named the Philippines after the Spanish king.

At its height, the Spain ruled the largest empire in world history, with territories across the globe. A system of castas, or social classes, developed in Spain's colonies:

Casta	Description
peninsulares	A person of European descent, actually born in Europe.
criollos	A person of European descent, born in America.
mulatos	A person of mixed European-African descent. (African slavery will be discussed in more detail in a future lesson.)
mestizos	A person of mixed European-Amerindian descent.
zambos	A person of mixed African-Amerindian descent.

Social distinctions between these castas became systematically integrated into the Spanish Empire's economy, leading to sustained and systematic discrimination. This was immediately opposed by voices back in Europe, especially Church leaders. Pope Paul III wrote in 1537, "The Indians are truly men... they may and should, freely and legitimately, enjoy their freedom and the possession of their property, nor should they be in any way enslaved." Theologians such as Francisco Vitoria argued that native Americans had all the same rights as any other people. The missionary Bartolomeo de las Casas said of the indigenous peoples in 1550, "With every kind of music they charm the ears of their audience with wonderful sweetness," arguing that their musical aptitude proved their rationality and human dignity.

Despite these first arguments for universal human rights, these voices were largely ignored, and race-based social stratification remained entrenched in the Spanish system for many years. Over the next few centuries, African and Amerindian cultures began to blend with Spanish culture (which, though thoroughly Christian, was itself a mix of European and Islamic culture) to create a unique Latin American culture.