Spanish Colonization Influence

“One of the great themes of historical literature over the past five centuries has been the assessment of the European discovery of the Americas as one of the two greatest events in human history.” (2). A similar, better-known pronouncement was penned by Francisco Lopez de Gomara, Hernan Cortes’s private secretary

Originally of the Italian descent Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Spanish were the dominant group of settlers in the New World for over a century or so. They were also abundant with natural resources like silver, as well the labor provided by the Native Americans created an immense amount of wealth for Spain. Excluding Brazil, the Spanish expanded throughout Central and South America even including Southern and Western parts of today’s United States, and the Caribbean Islands as well. However, due to the sheer amount of wealth created from the New World, forced European countries to eventually develop their own interests in settlements. In the late 1500’s, the English began their own mild exploration but their first permanent settlement was

It all started with “El grito de Dolores” in 1810. Mexico wanted independence from Spain because they shared their wealth with them, unfair taxation without representation(Menchaca ch. 5) and were treated as second class citizens simply because they were not born in Spain. The term used for Spaniards born in Mexico is “Criollos.” After Mexico gained its independence, it went through a series of governments and most of them consisted of one head of state. Times did not change dramatically and colonialism influenced a lot of the culture and ways of life of post-independence Mexico.

From the mid 1500’s to the 1700’s, people from all over Europe flocked to the vast lands of North America. Spain and England quickly became the most dominant European presences in the Americas. Citizens of the two countries had very different experiences in the New World. This was partially due to their different interactions with Native Americans, religions and their different motivations for coming to the New World. Although rivals at the time, Spain and England’s colonization efforts shared many similarities.

Francisco Pizarro: Spanish explorer who discovered and conquered the Inca Empire, nowadays Peru. Hernán Cortés: Spanish explorer who discovered and conquered the Aztec Empire, nowadays central Mexico.

1). The Nations of Europe sought to expand their empire because they were on the verge of overpopulation.Between 1550 and 1600 the population grew from three million to four million people. Also, England and Spain were at a war for power. The Spanish attempts at colonizing the New World had been extremely successful, for they had gained both wealth and power. The English did not see such success, as their ships would crash, be lost to the seas, or their colonization efforts would cease to be useful. Through the Spaniards control over the Americas they had gained a massive naval army, noted as the Spanish Armada. The Spanish attempt to invade England in 1588 failed which lead to the beginning of the fall of the Spanish empire in the New World.

By the early 1900’s the United States had become a world power. After the annexation of Hawaii to the US, there was a strong naval base for protection and they got valuable sugar cane. The Panama Canal helped trade to become easier. The Spanish American War gave the Americans more territories like Guam and Puerto Rico.

The United States defeated Spain very quickly, and took control of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Midway, Guam, Wake Island, and Samoa. They also annexed Hawaii at the same time, but unrelated. This was the United States expanding into areas that gave the United States influence in the caribbean and other

The word enconmienda means the Spanish going to the New World. The Spanish tried to designate the status of the Indian population in the American colonies. The original plan of encomienda was to cut down on the unwilling labor assigned after the discovery of the New World. 'The encomienda influenced several kinds of colonial economic relations, although it varied geographically in Spanish America, and chronologically between 1493 and the early nineteenth century.(Baskes)" The first encomienda in the Americas, was distributed by Christopher Columbus. The conquistadors accepted rewards from a number of Indians. The rewards that the conquistadors received were in gold. The encomienda system severely rooted in Spanish American history. It is considered by many historians as one of the most damaging institutions that the Spanish colonists implemented in the New World(Busbin). The Spanish crown approved of the grants of the encomiendas because the conquistadors needed to be rewarded.

The Battle of Santiago Bay decimated the Spanish fleet and killed almost 1,800 Spaniards. The aging Spanish fleet was no match for the Americans, two weeks later the Spanish forces in Santiago surrendered and on August 11th, 1898 Spain accepted America’s terms of peace. From the war America gained four new territories, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam, and Cuba. Consequently Cuba gained its freedom, yet it was the American flag that flew over Havana in triumph, not Cuba’s.

When the European explorers/conquistadors such as Hernán Cortes found the Americas which they referred to as the New World, Catholic missionaries flooded the land. Catholic monarch Isabella believed that the Indios were naive people who needed to be saved. She didn't want the Spanish men going to the New World to mistreat or enslave the Indios because she believed that God wanted them to become Catholics. The priest sent to the New World believed that the Mayan hieroglyphics were evil and that they worshiped the Devil. So during the Spanish conquest the Spaniards destroyed a lot of the hieroglyphics and burned their books. Also Cortés had caused the fall of the Mechica capital Tenochitlan and Pizaro caused the fall of the Inca empire. Millions

When the Spanish first came to the Native American civilizations, they brought along infectious diseases with them, that the Natives were not used to, which ended up killing most of the Natives. The Europeans had better weapons as well, so it was easier to enslave the Natives and succumb them to more disease. So, it was an epidemic of the highest

Throughout history there has been perhaps no greater impact worldwide than the age of European colonialism or expansion. Almost every country in Europe that had some economic or military power was spreading their sphere of influence through economic and military force. Two nations that took completely different tactics on colonization are England and Spain. Spain began their exploration of the Caribbean in the 15th century after building their naval fleet to one of the biggest in the world. England started colonizing in 1599 with the creation of the East India Company whose goal was to develop worldwide trading, especially in the East (India).

Because the Indians and Spanish lived in different areas in Latin America, the Indian culture and society did not change significantly. Or did there society change?

What does this mean globally? Does this mean the English language will slowly take over America as the Spanish influences its way into America.