Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 Colonial Losses, 1550-1650






The Establishment of the Spanish Colonial Empire



The history of Spain's overseas empire actually had begun in 1404, when the Norman Kingdom of the CANARY ISLANDS accepted Castilian suzerainty. In 1478/97 it became Spanish territory. When Columbus arrived in the Caribbean, before returning to Spain he established the settlement LA NAVIDAD on Hispaniola. Although it was burnt down by the native Tainos, Spain continued to build cities in the areas discovered and claimed by the Spanish crown, most importantly HAVANA and PANAMA (1519). They became the bases from where more ambitious enterprises, the conquest of the AZTEC EMPIRE by HERNAN CORTEZ in 1519/1521 and of the INCA EMPIRE in 1532/33, undertaken with extremely small forces, relying on the element of surprise (the natives had never seen horses, shining armour and artillery before) and on trickery. Spain established a firm hold of the conquered lands and peoples, establishing (or taking over) a network of cities, most importantly MEXICO CITY (Aztec Tenochtitlan), BOGOTA, LIMA, further QUITO, POTOSI (where rich silver mines were found, so rich that Potosi became the world's 5th largest city in the 17th century) and BUENOS AIRES. The native religion (both the Aztec and Inca cults included human sacrifice) was suppressed by Catholic missionaries.
Spanish explorers (PONCE DE LEON, VERRAZANO, DE SOTO), always looking for another EL DORADO (mythical land rich of gold) ventured much of the North American continent but found little worthy to take a hold of. Spain also explored the Pacific, where it took possession of the PHILIPPINES.
The Spaniards were predominantly interested in bullion, ruining the economy of the Caribbean islands and contributing to the depletion of the native population by overworking them.




EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of the Conquest of Peru, by William Holding Prescott, from Project Gutenberg, 1298 K (!)
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 9th 2004

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