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Jul 3, 2023 · The fall in 1519 of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Mexica or Aztec Empire, as it was later called, laid the foundation for the Spanish colonial empire on the North American mainland. It was the first time that Europeans had subjugated a highly organized state outside the world they had hitherto known.
- Overview
- Treaty of Tordesillas
- Conquistadores and Spanish colonization
- The Spanish Golden Age
- What do you think?
The Spanish gained an early foothold in the colonies, quickly becoming the most powerful European power in the New World.
Columbus’s colonization of the Atlantic islands inaugurated an era of aggressive Spanish expansion across the Atlantic. Spanish colonization after Columbus accelerated the rivalry between Spain and Portugal to an unprecedented level. The two powers vied for domination through the acquisition of new lands.
In the 1480s, Pope Sixtus IV had granted Portugal the right to all land south of the Cape Verde islands, leading the Portuguese king to claim that the lands discovered by Columbus belonged to Portugal, not Spain. But in 1493, Spanish-born Pope Alexander VI issued two papal decrees giving legitimacy to Spain’s Atlantic claims over the claims of Portugal. Hoping to salvage Portugal’s holdings, King João II negotiated a treaty with Spain. The Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 drew a north-to-south line through South America. Spain gained territory west of the line, while Portugal retained the lands east of the line, including the east coast of Brazil.
Columbus’s discovery opened a floodgate of Spanish exploration. Inspired by tales of rivers of gold and timid, malleable native peoples, later Spanish explorers were relentless in their quest for land and gold. Spanish explorers with hopes of conquest in the New World were known as conquistadores. Hernán Cortés arrived on Hispaniola in 1504 and participated in the conquest of the Island. Cortés then led the exploration of the Yucatán Peninsula in hopes of attaining glory.
In 1519, Cortés entered Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec/Mexica Empire. He and his men were astonished by the sophisticated gardens and temples in the city, but they were horrified by the practice of human sacrifice. Above all, the Aztec wealth in gold fascinated the Spanish explorers.
Hoping to gain power over the city, Cortés took Moctezuma, the Aztec ruler, hostage. The Spanish then murdered hundreds of high-ranking Mexica during a religious festival, but the people of Tenochtitlán quickly retaliated. Cortés and his people fled for their lives.
Following his defeat, Cortés slowly created alliances and recruited tens of thousands of native peoples who resented Aztec rule. Only by playing upon the disunity among the diverse groups in the Aztec Empire were the Spanish able to capture Tenochtitlán. In August 1521, Cortés claimed Tenochtitlán for Spain and renamed it Mexico City. The Spanish also brought smallpox, which took a heavy toll on the people in Tenochtitlán. Illness played a much greater role in the city’s downfall than violence.
Cortés was also aided by a Nahua woman called Malintzin—also known as La Malinche or Doña Marina, her Spanish name—whom the natives of Tabasco gave him as tribute. Malintzin translated for Cortés and, whether willingly or under duress, entered into a physical relationship with him. Their son, Martín, may have been the first mestizo—person of mixed indigenous American and European descent. Malintzin remains a controversial figure in the history of the Atlantic World; some people view her as a traitor because she helped Cortés conquer the Aztecs, while others see her as a victim of European expansion. Regardless, without Malintzin’s help, Cortés would not have been able to dismantle the Aztec Empire.
Another conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, made his way to the Spanish Caribbean in 1509, drawn by the promise of wealth and titles. He participated in successful expeditions in Panama before following rumors of Inca wealth to the south. Although his first efforts against the Inca Empire in the 1520s failed, Pizarro captured the Inca emperor Atahualpa in 1532 and executed him soon thereafter. In 1533, Pizarro founded Lima, Peru. Like Cortés, Pizarro had to combat not only the native peoples of the lands he was conquering but also competitors from his own country—a Spanish rival, Diego de Almagro, assassinated him in 1541.
By 1600, Spain had reaped substantial monetary benefits from New World resources. Gold and silver began to connect European nations through trade, and the Spanish money supply ballooned, which signified the beginning of the economic system known as capitalism. The new riches ultimately created mass inflation and economic distress. However, Spain gained creative capital from their new global reach. These developments catapulted Spain into the Golden Age, or Siglo de Oro.
Riches poured in from the colonies, and new ideas poured in from other countries and new lands. The Habsburg dynasty—who ruled over the territories of Austria, the Netherlands, Naples, Sicily, and Spain—encouraged and financed a blossoming Spanish Renaissance culture, both in the colonies and in Spain.
One of this period’s most famous works is the novel The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, by Miguel de Cervantes. This two-volume book—1605 and 1618—told a colorful tale of a hidalgo, or gentleman, who reads so many tales of chivalry and knighthood that he becomes unable to tell reality from fiction. With his faithful sidekick Sancho Panza, Don Quixote leaves reality behind and sets out to revive chivalry by doing battle with what he perceives as the enemies of Spain.
Spain also produced impressive art at this time. Las Meninas, The Maids of Honor, painted by Diego Velázquez in 1656, is one of the best-known paintings in history. Velázquez painted himself into this imposingly large royal portrait—he’s shown holding his brush and easel on the left—and boldly placed the viewer where the king and queen would stand in the scene.
How did native people shape the course of Spanish conquest?
Why did many conquistadores fail to establish colonies in the New World? What factors lead to their demise?
How did the Golden Age of Spain communicate similar ideals to that of the Spanish colonization project?
[Notes and attributions]
May 30, 2019 · End of the Encomienda System The King of Spain almost lost Peru during these conquistador uprisings. Gonzalo Pizarro's supporters had urged him to declare himself King of Peru, but he refused: had he done so, Peru might have successfully split from Spain 300 years early.
Dec 6, 2023 · The roots of Independence. The extensive Spanish colonies in North, Central and South America (which included half of South America, present-day Mexico, Florida, islands in the Caribbean and the southwestern United States) declared independence from Spanish rule in the early nineteenth century and by the turn of the twentieth century, the ...
Learning Objectives. By the end of this section, you will be able to: Identify the main Spanish American colonial settlements of the 1500s and 1600s. Discuss economic, political, and demographic similarities and differences between the Spanish colonies.
The end of the 18th and mid 19th century saw the first era of decolonization, when most of the European colonies in the Americas, notably those of Spain, New France, and the Thirteen Colonies, gained their independence from their metropole.
