Imperial Spain: New World Exploitation and European Power Struggles

Economic Exploitation of Indigenous Peoples

• Mining and Forced Labor

  Gold and silver deposits in Mexico (Zacatecas) and Peru (Potosí) were rapidly developed. This exploitation relied heavily on the mita system of forced labor, compelling indigenous populations to work in the mines.

• Agriculture, Livestock, and Encomienda

  The creation of large agricultural estates (haciendas) and livestock ranches (estancias) was widespread. Indigenous people worked these lands through the encomienda system, which consisted of distributing indigenous populations among the conquerors, who were tasked with Christianizing them in return for their labor.

• Transatlantic Trade Monopoly

  Trade with the Spanish Americas was a Castilian monopoly, exercised from the port of Seville. It was organized into two annual shipments, known as the Indies Fleets, which traveled to America escorted by warships and returned together to Spain after trading.

Phases of Spanish Conquest in America

• Early Conquests (16th Century)

  In the sixteenth century, the conquest of the American continent proceeded in an early stage, targeting the great American empires. Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire, and Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire.

• Later Expansion

  In a second phase, Spanish control extended to other parts of Central America (except Brazil), southern North America (Florida, Texas, and California), and the Philippines in Asia. Large areas of North America, however, remained unconquered.

External Challenges to the Spanish Empire

• Conflicts with France

  France, surrounded by European possessions of the Habsburgs, challenged Spanish dominance in northern Italy, leading to conflicts such as the Battle of San Quintín.

• Ottoman and Barbary Threats

  The Ottoman Turks threatened the empire in Central Europe and the Mediterranean. They were allied with North African pirates. This problem was not resolved until the decisive defeat of the Ottomans at the Battle of Lepanto.

• German Princes and the Reformation

  German princes, who converted to Lutheranism and desired autonomy, clashed with Emperor Charles V. The Peace of Augsburg eventually recognized religious freedom in Germany.

• Revolt in the Netherlands

  The Netherlands, embracing Protestantism and seeking autonomy, revolted against Philip II. The northern provinces became independent, while the southern Netherlands, predominantly Catholic, remained under Spanish rule.

• English Hostility and the Armada

  Protestant England supported the rebels of the Netherlands and its privateers also attacked Spanish trade with America. Philip II therefore planned an invasion of England by sending the Spanish Armada. Its failure was the first major defeat of the Hispanic Monarchy.