The Spanish Empire in the Americas Essay

Chapter 1 Study Guide The Spanish Empire in the Americas 1. Three arguments’ that Juan Gines de Sepulveda used to justify enslaving the Native Americans were for gold, ore deposits, and for God’s sake and man’s faith in him. 2. Three arguments that Bartolome de las Casas gave in attacking Spanish clonial policies in the New World were the Indians eating human flesh, worshiping false gods, and also, he believed that the Indians were cowardly and timid. 3.

For comparisons that Sepulveda used, in lines 1-7, to express the inferiority of the Indians was their prudence, skill virtues, and humanity were inferior to the Spanish as children to adults, or even apes to men. Comparisons he used to dismiss the significance of the Indians “Ingenuity for various works of artisanship” were the animals, birds, and spiders that could make things humans could not replicate. In either situation, there was no appropriateness. 4.

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Las Casas may have weekened his case by requiring that the Spanish must restore what had been taken unjustly from the Indians because the Spanish ultimately modernized them and if they were given back what had been taken, they would again become ‘retro’. If the Indians had been given back their bow and arrows, then they would have no use for them because they have guns. 5. The bias that Las Casas expressed in the last paragraph in his book was that Muslims are savages. The Encounter 1. What kind of existence did the first people who came to North America live?

The kind of existence that the first people who came to North America to live was very icy, cold and rugged. They were hunters and gatherers so they were a nomadic people. This means hay regularly picked up and moved making life even harder. 2. What is the dominant theory as to how the first people came to North America? The Dominant theory known as to how the first people came to North America was that they crossed on a land bridge formed by the ice age over the bearing strait. Also well argued is that the nomads came by boat and hugged the coast on their way. 3.

What was significant about farming groups when compared to nomadic groups? Farming groups were able to stay in one place and this enabled them to do a lot of things more than the nomads. They were able to harvest crops, have more babies, build cities, build populations, and create better housing. 4. What were the “three great empires” according to the article? What were the dominant features of each? The three great empires were the Maya, Aztec, and Incas. The dominant features of the Maya were the advanced intellectual aspects of the cities as well as the water system that they made.

The dominant features of the Aztec were their means to live off the land, which in their case proved the desert, and also able to build a large city with mass trade and a great army. The dominant features of the Inca were their ability to stretch their empire more than any other and to harvest 100’s & 1000’s of different potatoes and corn. 5. What is a common belief among many of the groups in North America? A common belief among many of the groups in North America is that there is a creator and also the bond between humans and nature. 6. Why were Europeans looking for new trade routes to the Indies?

The Europeans were looking for new trade routes to the Indies because they wanted to increase their countries wealth. 7. What were two misperceptions that the Europeans formed about the Native Americans and thier lands? Two misperceptions that the Europeans formed about the Native Americans and their lands were that they had discovered a new world and also that the Europeans had “discovered” the Americas. 8. What plan did Columbus have for the Native Americans? Columbus wanted to harvest all the goods he could from the Native Americans and then make them his slaves. Notes First People * Came from Asia across land bridge * Nomadic * Came after animals * How? * Boats * Kayaks * Close to shore * Walk * Inuit * Arrived first * 3000 bc * Settled in coastal tundra * Nomadic * Hunters/fishers * Temporary permanent homes * Turf and stones * Clovis * 9500 bc * Effigy mounds * 700-1150 * Called the late woodland * Nearly 1000 mounds in Wisconsin alone * Emergence of coin culture * More elaborate pottery * Keyhole houses * Mississippians * Largest population concentration in Cahokia * Different social classes * Public buildings * Moved into Wisconsin around 1100 Extensive trade networks * Warfare dominated culture * Why was it abandoned? * Around 1250 * Maybe… * War with neighboring Oneota * Normal Abandonment * Trouble at Cahokia * Aliens * Anasazi * Present day New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado * Farming * Very productive in their conditions * Desert * Elaborate protection system * Mesa Verde * Kivas: Circular worship places * Rock art and pottery * Olmec * Mesoamerica * About 1200 bc * Large stone heads * Maybe religious * Maybe wealth * Large cities * Collapsed around 400 bc * Teotihuacan * City-state * First major city 200 000 people at its height * Kingdom from 250 bc- 800 ad * Extensive trade * Mayans * 200-900 * Cities built around a central pyramid * Cities like Tikal * 100 000 people * City- states ruled by hereditary ruling class * States warred with each other * War captives sacrificed * Rulers claim to be descendants of gods * Writing * Very complex * Each glyph a combination * Still being deciphered * Most writing destroyed by Spanish * Too much to completely destroy * Calendars * Long star calendar * World created in 3114 bc * World will end on December 21, 2012 365 day calendar * Priest used religious calendar * 260 days * Future and omens * Culture * All life in hands of divine powers * Itzamna * Central god * Human Sacrifice practiced * Ball game * Court, two baskets, ball * Losers willingly were sacrificed * Aztec * Capital is Tenochtitlan * Floating island on lake Texacoco * Very large * Had temples, public buildings and an extensive road system * Kingdom * Collection of semi-independent territories * Aztec ruler supported lords in return for tribute * Spain: God, Glory and Gold * More close ties with North Africa Spain crusades against Muslims * Defeats Muslims at Grenada 1492, final battle * Also, final kick out of Jews * Spanish Inquisition * Watches those not practicing * Execution for them * Technology * Caravels, Lateen sails, Compass and Astrolabe improvement * Tells latitude * Portuguese * Colonize the east primarily * Also, canaries and Madeira * Sugar cane * Plantation economy * African slave trade * Later taken over by the Spanish * 3 commonalities between all nations * Mercantilism * Control more gold and silver * The Columbian exchange * Disease killed 90% African Slave Trade * Christopher Columbus * 1492-1504 * Thought world was smaller than most believed * Wrong * Isabella supported him * Took 4 voyages * Reason to believe he knew he reached the new world * Results * Ecological disaster * Human disaster * Over 1 million or 19 of every 20 people dead * Within generation * Work, disease, attack * Depopulates * Consequences * Devout Christians in Spain speak out * Loss of potential converts * African Slaves brought in to replace the decimated Native Workplace * Decimation prompted Spain to intensify explorations Papal Bull * Ruling * No questioning * Viewed the world as the rightful inheritance of Christianity * No rights for all non-Christians in lands known or unknown * Divided the world between two Catholic powerhouses * Spain and Portugal * Treaty of Tordesillas * Pope, leader of Portugal and Spain sat down together * Split up world Hernan Cortes| Francisco Pizarro| Conquers Aztecs in 1521| Conquers Incas in 1532| Establishes estates in the new world| Comes back with Infantry| Dies a wealthy man| Kills all of them| How did he do it? Aztecs thought he was a god * Had advanced technology * Talked with enemies of Aztecs and had them help in fight against Aztecs, in return for freedom (false) * Used smallpox as a weapon * Spanish war methods were very brutal * Didn’t try to capture Aztecs, but brutally killed them * Aztecs tried to capture Spanish for sacrifice| | * Economics of Spanish Colonies * Established plantations with Indian Islands * Silver and gold mines of central and south America * More prestige, less wealth * Both required brutal labor * Pirates * Spanish transported a lot of wealth Opened the door to privateers and eventually pirates * Channel between Florida and the Bahamas was the best place to go after Spanish Merchant ships * Spanish founded St. Augustine * 1565 * Oldest city in the U. S. * Labor System * Encomienda * The expedition commander would give trusteeship over parcels of lands and that land’s inhabitants to his conquistadores. * Encomiendero collected taxes from the natives and forced them to work. * Encomiendero would provide protection and Catholicism * Used on the mainland * African Slavery * Used primarily on the islands of the Caribbean Sugar, coffee, tobacco plantations * Natives had died from disease * Much easier to keep African slaves in isolation and rebelling * Didn’t have the knowledge of the land and the area * Colonial Government under Crown Control * Crown must control colonies * Not other way around * Caste System * Peninsulares * Born in Spain * Spanish decent * Rich * Creoles * Spanish decent * Born in New world * Rich * Mestizos * Mixed ancestry * Spanish and Native Americans * Wealthy * Mulattoes * Mixed ancestry * Spanish and Africans * Eventually slaves * De Las Casas Catholic Priest: was a conquistador * Left because of his experiences * Came to Americas shortly after Columbus * Critic of the American conquest and Encomienda system * Fought to preserve rights of Native Americans * Wanted to convert them to Christianity before persecution * Didn’t feel the same for African slaves * Desoto * Unleashed violence through the south east and Florida * Died while on a campaign * Cornado * Unleashed violence through the great plains * The city of Cibola * Looks for the lost city of gold * Instead finds windy plains and shaggy cows * Buffalo

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