Spanish colonization History: We explain what Spanish colonization was and what its characteristics were. In addition, its causes and consequences.
What was Spanish colonization?
Spanish colonization was the process by which the Spanish Empire appropriated territories in different parts of America, Africa and Asia. It took place in the political context of European colonialism, in which the different kingdoms competed with each other for territorial growth and control of resources outside Europe. You should read this Hierarchy!
At its moment of greatest expansion, in the 18th century, the Spanish Empire became one of the largest in the world, with an area of 20 million square kilometers.
During the reign of the Catholic Monarchs (1475-1516), Spain conquered the Canary Islands, occupied territories in North Africa, promoted maritime exploration that led the first European navigators to America and began its conquest of this continent. Later, it colonized a large part of the American territories, along with the Philippine Islands, its surroundings and some specific regions of Africa.
During the 16th century, the Spanish Crown carried out an intense colonization process. The Spanish founded hundreds of cities, settled permanently in them, and formed a complex system of government that allowed the Crown to maintain its authority and control from a distance.
They also organized a caste system that preserved the social hierarchy and privilege of the Spanish and Creole population over the indigenous population. This system was reinforced by the economic organization, which was based on the extraction of natural resources (especially minerals such as gold and silver) and their export to Spain. Maybe you should read that Eclogue!
KEY POINTS
Spanish colonization was the process by which the Spanish Empire expanded its dominion in America and subjugated local populations to exercise political, economic, and cultural control over the conquered territories.
It was characterized by absolutist political domination, the subjugation of the American populations, the founding of colonial cities, the support of the Catholic Church, the mercantilist economy, and the creation of a society of racial castes.
The causes of Spanish colonization included the rise of absolutism and European expansionism, the search for territory and wealth, and the influence of the economic theories of mercantilism that promoted the accumulation of precious metals.
Its most important consequences included the demographic decline of American populations, the enrichment of Spain at the expense of American resources, the development of the African slave trade, and the expansion of Christianity and the power of the Catholic Church.
Characteristics of Spanish colonization
Spanish colonization was characterized by absolutist political domination (with the King of Spain at the head), the creation of a hierarchical system of colonial authorities, the support of the Catholic Church, the colonial social order of castes, and an extractive economic organization based on the ideas of mercantilism.
In summary, the main characteristics of Spanish colonization were:
System of colonial domination
The conquered territories were incorporated into a system of colonial domination that integrated different institutions. The aim of this system was to maintain the authority and control of the Spanish Crown from a distance and prevent the growth of local power centres.
Foundation of Spanish cities and centres of power in the colonies
The Spanish founded hundreds of urban centres in the conquered territories and established a permanent Spanish population. With the creation of a network of cities, the American domains were connected. This allowed the consolidation of Spanish rule in America, in the face of threats from other European kingdoms and the resistance of Native American societies.
Support from the Catholic Church
Since the arrival of the Spanish in America, the Catholic Church supported the conquest and colonisation enterprises. The different Catholic popes of the time agreed with the kings of Spain to evangelise the Native American population in exchange for the political and spiritual support of the Church for the colonialist initiative. Thus, alongside the political institutions that were founded in America, religious centres were created for the Christianisation of the population.
Racial Caste Society
The Spanish colonization of America created a society divided between whites of European origin, indigenous people, and black Africans. This division granted political, economic, and social privilege to white Spaniards and relegated work, the production of goods, and the exploitation of resources to indigenous people and Africans. The interbreeding between these groups led to the creation of a stratified and hierarchical caste system based on ethnic differences.
Colonial Mercantilist Economy
The economic system established in the Spanish colonies was based on the principles of mercantilism, which established that the wealth of a State was measured in the quantity of precious minerals it could accumulate. In this context, the Spanish Crown established a monopolistic commercial system in its colonies that ensured the extraction of gold and silver, and their direct export to Spain.
Exploitation of the native population
In order to carry out the colonization process and the exploitation of the resources of the colonial territories, the Spanish Crown imposed a work system based on the caste system. The subjugated indigenous American population had to provide forced labor (through different systems such as yanaconazgo, mita, encomienda and porteo) destined especially for the extraction of precious minerals.
African slave trade
Faced with the demographic decline of the indigenous population as a result of the conquest, the Spanish Crown established the transatlantic slave trade from Africa. Between the beginning of the 16th century and the middle of the 19th century, around 10 million Africans were enslaved and forcibly transported to America.
Causes of Spanish colonization
Spanish colonization occurred in a context of the rise of absolutism and expansionism of the European kingdoms. The monarchies of Europe sought to increase the territory under their control, as this increased the number of subjects and, therefore, the income that the Crown received from the collection of taxes.
In addition, these kingdoms based their economic organization on the ideas of mercantilism, which established that the wealth of a kingdom was measured by the accumulation of precious metals.
In this context, both Spain and the other European kingdoms saw in the conquest of territories a possibility of appropriating valuable resources and, in this way, increasing their power.
In the case of Spain, there were a series of events between the 15th and 16th centuries that made possible the conquest and subsequent colonization of foreign territories. Among the most important are:
- Spanish Reconquest: Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile (known as the “Catholic Monarchs”) managed to complete the Spanish Reconquest, which consisted of the expulsion of Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula. In this way, they centralized the Spanish monarchy under a single dynasty.
- Overseas expeditions: The Catholic Monarchs continued the expansion of the kingdom outside the Iberian Peninsula: they conquered territories in North Africa and financed overseas expeditions with the aim of finding new trade routes.
- Support from the Catholic Church: When the first news of the existence of America arrived, the kings financed the conquest expeditions with the support of the Catholic Church.
Conquests of the Spanish Empire
The Spanish colonization, at its peak, included the following territories:
In Africa:
- The protectorate of Morocco: It was made up of two regions: the Rif area, which occupied the Moroccan Mediterranean coasts from Melilla to Tangier; and the area of Cape Juby, which bordered the Spanish Sahara and Algeria.
- The colony of Ifni: It was located in the south of Morocco. It was occupied by Spain in 1476 and returned to Moroccan hands in the 20th century, after the Ifni War.
- The colony of Spanish Sahara: Initially known as “Río de Oro”, it was located in the northwest of French West Africa, opposite the Canary Islands.
- Spanish Guinea: It was located in the Gulf of Guinea, now Equatorial Guinea. Its boundaries, drawn in the Treaty of Paris in 1901, extended to the islands of Fernando Poo, Annobón, Elobey and Corisco.
- The Canary Islands: This is the only Spanish colony in Africa that is still held by the European nation. It is made up of eight islands: El Hierro, La Gomera, La Palma, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and La Graciosa, as well as five islets: Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Este and Roque del Oeste. Originally, these territories were populated by the Guanche people. The conquest culminated in 1496.
- Ceuta: This was a Spanish city located on the Tingitana Peninsula, on the African shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. Founded by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC, it became part of the Spanish Crown in 1580.
In Asia and Oceania:
- The Philippine archipelago: It was conquered by Spain in 1565, when the Captaincy General of the Philippines was established, which also included the Palau archipelago, the Caroline Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Mariana Islands and the Gilbert Islands. All became part of the Spanish West Indies, but evangelization and Spanish population really began to take place in the mid-17th century.
- The island of New Guinea: It was located on the Doberai peninsula, now Papua New Guinea.
- The protectorate of Cambodia: Ceded to Spain by the Portuguese in 1597, it was briefly managed by the Spanish Empire. It ended up being returned to Portugal in 1599.
- Other settlements in the region: Some territories such as Indochina, Macao, Malacca, Goa, Indonesia and Nagasaki were inherited from the Portuguese Empire and later lost, when the Iberian union was dissolved.
In America:
- The Viceroyalty of New Spain: It was founded in 1519, after the defeat and conquest of the Aztecs and the other cultures of Mesoamerica. It covered the current territories of Mexico and the American provinces of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Utah, Florida, Nevada, and part of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
- The Captaincy General of Guatemala: It included the territories of the current countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, and the Mexican state of Chiapas.
- Spanish Louisiana: It was ceded to Spain by France in 1762 and kept until 1801. It covered the current American territories of Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Missouri, and Iowa.
- The Captaincy General of Venezuela: It covered the territories of the current countries of Venezuela, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and part of Colombia.
- The Viceroyalty of New Granada: It was one of the last viceroyalties to be created. It covered the current territories of Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador.
- The Viceroyalty of Peru: It was founded after the defeat of the Incan Tahuantinsuyu (Incan Empire) in 1542. It covered the territories of the current states of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and part of Brazil. Before the creation of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador were also part of it.
- The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata: It bordered on aboriginal Patagonia, which was never controlled by Spain. This viceroyalty was the last to be created, in 1777. It covered the current territories of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and part of Bolivia.
- The Captaincy General of Chile: Originally, it was called “Nueva Extremadura”. It covered the core of the current Chilean territory, since the southern half of the country was in the hands of the Mapuche peoples until the 19th century.
- Caribbean island territories: These included some islands such as present-day Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas (until 1670), Antigua and Barbuda (until 1632), Grenada (until 1674), Jamaica (until 1655), Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominica (until 1783), Barbados (until 1624) and Saint Lucia (until 1654).
Consequences of Spanish colonization
Among the main consequences of Spanish colonization are the demographic decline of the native American population, the enrichment of Spain at the expense of the expropriation and exploitation of American natural resources, the emigration of the European population to America, the expansion of Christianity, the growth of the power of the Catholic Church and the development of the transatlantic trade of African slaves.
In summary, these consequences were:
Demographic decline of the American population
After the wars of conquest, Spanish colonization violently imposed new ways of life and work on the native American populations. This generated a sharp demographic decline. Specialists estimate that during the 16th century, nearly 70 million indigenous people died.
Growth of the Catholic Church
Spanish colonization involved a process of acculturation and evangelization of indigenous societies. These tasks were initially the responsibility of the encomenderos, but later different Catholic orders settled on the continent to Christianize the local population.
Enrichment of Spain
The expropriation and exploitation of American resources by the Spanish generated rapid enrichment of the Spanish Crown, especially from the extraction of precious minerals such as gold and silver.
Transatlantic slave trade
American colonization established the insertion of slave labor from Africa. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, it is estimated that nearly 10 million Africans were subjugated and sent to America as slaves.
Expulsion of the Spanish
The Spanish were militarily expelled from their colonial territories during the American wars of independence of the 19th century. Between 1809 and 1829, different movements of revolutionary Creoles (called “patriots”) rose up against Spanish rule and achieved independence.
On the other hand, in Africa, the Spanish authorities were confronted by Moroccan forces in several conflicts during the 19th and 20th centuries: the African War (1859-1860), the First Rif War (1893-1894) and the Rif War (1911-1926).
