European
Colonies in
the Americas
Spanish Colonies: economies of exploitation
• Mercantilism
Mercantilism: strict reg
regulation
lation of trade –
exclusively between colonies & home
• Conquistadors
C
i t d
– “conquerers”
“
”
– Hernán Cortés - Aztecs of Mexico in 1521
– Francisco Pizarro - Incas 1530s
• Largest indigenous empire
• West coast of South America (Peru+)
• Colonial rule in South America
– Commercial agriculture & mining economies
– Version of Spanish class hierarchy
Spanish Colonies
Use the terms provided to create a
graphic organizer that describes the
Spanish Colonial economy.
Conquistadors
Criollos
Debt Peonage
Encomienda
Enslaved Africans
Hacienda
Indigenous People
Mestizos
Mulattoes
Penins lares
Peninsulares
Repartimiento
Debt Peonage – A system that forces farm laborers
((aka “peons”)
p
) to work and live on large
g haciendas
until they have repaid their debts to the estate owner.
Conquistadors – “conquerors”, usually referring to the
Spanish conquerors of the indigenous people of the
Americas.
Hacienda – a large estate that generated income for
their owners through livestock and farming
Repartimiento – a labor tax in Spanish America that
required adult male Natives to devote a certain
numbers of days annually to the Spanish
Encomienda – a legal system used to control Native
people that granted Spanish colonists Native
l b
laborers.