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5. Political Transformations

Comparing Colonial Societies in the Americas

did not simply conquer and govern established cities

generated wholly new societies

from decimation of Native American populations and introduction of European and African peoples, cultures, plants, animals

European societies: based on mercantilism

governments best served economic interests by encouraging exports and accumulating bullion (precious metals)

colonies provided closed markets for manufactured goods of “mother country”

colonies also sometimes supplied great quantities of bullion

fueled European wars, colonial rivalries

reversal of long-established relationships between northern and southern continents

for thousands of years, major centers of wealth, power, commerce, innovation was in Mesoamerica and Andes

pattern continued for much of colonial era as Spanish and Portuguese colonies seemed far more prosperous and successful than North American colonies of Britain or France

19th-20th: balance shifted; “dregs” of colonial world became the United States

more politically stable

more democratic

more economically successful

more internationally powerful

Differences

Empires

contrasting societies of colonizing powers

semi-feudal Catholic Spain

rapidly changing Protestant England

kind of economy established in particular regions influenced development

settler-dominated agriculture

slave-based plantations

ranching

mining

character of Native American cultures

densely-populated, urbanized Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations

sparsely-populated rural villages in North America

Gender

Native American, enslaved African women had to cope with additional demands

conquest accompanied by transfer of women to new colonial rulers

Cortés marked alliance with Tlaxcala against Aztecs by exchanging of gifts

received hundreds of female slaves

eight daughters of elite Tlaxcalan families (distributed to soldiers)

demanded to Aztec ruler: women with light skins, corn, chicken, eggs, tortillas

after conquest: many Spanish men married elite native women

long-standing practice in Amerindian societies

encouraged by Spanish and indigenous male authorities for cementing new relationship

advantageous for some women

one of Aztec emperor's daughters (mistress to Cortés, eventually married several other Spaniards) wound up with largest landed estate in Valley of Mexico

far more experienced sexual violence and abuse

rape

dependent, enslaved women frequently required to perform sexual services

tragedy, humiliation for native and enslaved men (unable to protect women)

Ethnic composition

Ethnicity

Highland Spanish America

Portuguese America (Brazil)

Europeans

18.2%

23.4%

Mixed-race

28.3%

17.8%

Africans

11.9%

49.8%

Native Americans

41.7%

9.1%

There are no rows in this table

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Aztec and Inca lands

Spanish conquest of Aztecs/Incas in early 16th gave them access to most wealthy, urbanized, densely-populated regions in Western Hemisphere

within century, well before British, Spanish in Mexico and Peru had established:

nearly a dozen major cities

several impressive universities

hundreds of cathedrals, churches, missions

elaborate administrative bureaucracy

network of regulated international commerce

Economical

foundation:

commercial agriculture

silver and gold mining

much on large rural estates

native peoples (not African slaves or European workers) provided most of labor

despite diminished numbers

forced labor not far removed from slavery

often directly required by colonial authorities under encomienda (legal regime)

by 17th: hacienda system developed

private owners of large estates directly employed native workers

peons who worked estates had little control over lives or livelihood

low wages

high taxes

large debts to landowners

Social

replicated some of Spanish class and gender hierarchy while accommodating racially/culturally different Africans and Native Americans, as well as racially mixed people

Spaniards, mestizos, indigenous represented major social categories in what was Inca and Aztec Empires, while African slaves and freemen were less numerous than elsewhere in Americas

some movement possible

Native Americans who got education, wealth, some European culture could “pass” as mestizo

more fortunate mestizo families may be accepted as Spaniards over time

colonial Spanish America was laboratory of ethnic mixing, cultural change

dominated by Europeans but more fluid and culturally blended than in racially rigid British North America

Spaniards

top: male Spanish settlers

politically, economically dominant

sought to become a landed aristocracy

viewed selves as residents of Spanish kingdom (not colonials)

subject to monarch yet separate and distinct from Spain and deserving of some self-government

chafed under heavy bureaucratic restrictions imposed by Crown

“I obey but I do not enforce”

Spanish minority was divided community

descendants of original conquistadores sought to protect privileges against immigrant newcomers

Spaniards born in Americas (creoles) resented pretensions to superiority of those born in Spain (peninsulares)

landowning Spaniards felt threatened by growing wealth of commercial and mercantile groups with less prestigious occupations

Spanish missionaries, church authorities sharply critical of how settlers treated native peoples

Women

shared racial privilege but subordinate in gender terms

unable to hold public office

viewed as weak and in need of male protection

"bearers of civilization” and essential link for transmitting male wealth, honor, status to future generations

strict control of sexuality

continuation of Iberian obsession with “purity of blood”

Mestizo population

mixed-race population developed

very few Spanish women to keep pure blood

initially unions between Spanish men and Native American women

facilitated by desire of surviving Native American women for relative security of life in Spanish household

women and children not subject to abuse and harsh demands on native peoples

became majority of Mexican population sometime in 19th

divided into separate castas (castes) based on precise racial heritage and skin color

largely Hispanic in culture but looked down on during colonial era

regarded as illegitimate for not being born of “proper” marriages

eventually recognized as distinct social group

growing numbers

economically useful as

artisans

clerks

supervisors of labor gangs

lower-level officials in church and state

Mestizas (women of mixed racial background)

roles

were domestic servants

worked in husbands’ shops

wove cloth

manufactured candles and cigars

performed domestic duties

some became wealthy

identity blurred sense of sharp racial difference between Spanish and Native American peoples

became major element in identity of modern Mexico

Indigenous

bottom of Mexican and Peruvian colonial societies

known to Europeans as “Indians”

traumatized by Great Dying

subject to gross abuse and exploitation

primary labor force for mines and estates of Spanish Empire

required to pay tributes to Spanish

many gravitated towards Spanish world

causes

empires dismantled by conquest

religions attacked by missionaries

diminished numbers forcibly relocated to larger settlements

effects

learned Spanish

converted to Christianity

moved to cities to work for wages

ate meat of cows, chickens, pigs

used plows and draft animals instead of digging sticks

took grievances to Spanish courts

women were minors instead of adults under Spanish legal codes

increasingly excluded from courts or represented by menfolk

difficult to maintain female property rights

1804: Maya legal petition identified 8 men and 10 women from a particular family as owners of a piece of land; Spanish translation omitted women’s names

indigenous aspects persisted

local male authorities retained autonomy, traditional markets operated regularly

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