Chapter 5 Flashcards
a. One of several diseases brought over from the Old World to the New World.
b. Served to devastate native populations
c. One of the hidden weapons of the Spanish
d. In some areas (the Caribbean and Mexico), over 90% of the population died in
this manner.
Smallpox
a. Sugar is the most produced crop
b. It is unlike tobacco and cotton because it is so labor intensive that the slaves often
die and are simply replaced (cheaper to let the slaves die off and replace them,
than to try and keep them alive).
c. Everything about it sucked… from the harvest to the boil and press.
Sugar Plantations
a. The exchange of diseases, ideas, food crops, populations, and cultures between the New World and Old World after the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492.
Colombian Exchange
a. People of European-African descent
Mulattoes
a. People of European-Indigenous descent
Mestizos
a. Spaniards born back in Spain on the Iberian Peninsula
b. Most respected people, and normally the best off
i. Hint for remembering the difference: Mulattoes has an “a” like African; Mestizos has an “I” like Indigenous.
Peninsulars
a. Spaniards born in the Americas
Creoles
a. Every European was involved… by the end of the 1400s, 75,000 Africans already in the New World
b. In total, 10-14 million enslaved Africans were brought over
i. About 2 million die on the Middle Passage
c. Slavery began by the Portuguese in 1441 in Madeira
i. Africans actually didn’t mind it because it was a way for them to get rid of
their enemies and get guns, money, and food out of it.
d. Nevertheless, being African didn’t necessarily mean you were enslaved… their
were hundreds of thousands of free colored people that gained their freedom or were simply born free.
i. Not uncommon to purchase your way out of slavery, but it was ironic because by giving your owner money for your freedom, you were essentially buying
another slave for him
Slavery – A Peculiar Institution
a. The passage from Africa to the Americas where an estimated 2 million Africans died.
b. Ridiculously bad conditions for Africans on the boat
Middle Passage
a. Since Europeans were not strong enough to go into the heart of Africa and get slaves themselves, they set up sites like Elmina Castle; where native Africans would bring others to sell to the Europeans.
b. Elmina Castle was where the forced journey to the New World began.
Elmina Castle
a. “Maroon” – cattle that would wander off their ranch were called marooned.
b. Society of formerly enslaved people.
i. Escapees
ii. Sometimes indigenous people joined the communities
c. Existed everywhere that slavery was present
d. Known as Quilombos in Brazil and Palenques in Cuba.
e. Normally far from plantations (deep in the forest or high up in a mountain)
f. Largest Maroon Society was Palmares in Brazil
Maroon Societies
a. Brazilian Quilombo
b. Lasted for about 100 years (1605-94)
c. Perhaps held as many as 20,000 people (at least 11,000)
d. Wasn’t comprised of solely former slaves; held natives, mulattos, poor whites,
and outlaws
e. Organized society w/ its own government, schools, production, military, trade,
and churches (Catholicism was still embraced)
f. Biggest crop was honey… they were bee keepers
g. Ultimately destroyed by the Portuguese because it was becoming too large and
plantation owners (especially) feared a rebellion
Palmares
a. Cuban name for a Maroon society
b. Pinar del Río one of the largest
i. It was built w/n a mountain
Palenques
a. Purchasing one’s own freedom (inadvertently perpetuating slavery)
b. Free person purchasing one’s freedom
c. Escaping
d. Reward for special service (fighting in the conquest perhaps – as in the case of
Juan Garrido and Juan Valiente)
e. Being born free
Paths to Freedom (for Africans)
a. An encomienda was a grant of native land and labor - something that could be perpetually far more valuable than a small find of gold. In exchange for providing care, protection, and Christianity to the Native people living within a given area of land, Spaniards were authorized to collect tribute in the form of labor, gold, or anything else they desired.
b. Began on Hispaniola with Columbus and formalized under Nicolas de Ovando.
c. Moreover, many conquistadors never got an encomienda, something they thought
they deserved (roughly 5% actually got one)
d. Helped form an elite class
Encomienda
a. BEST Friend of the Natives
b. Dominican Priest and former “encomendero” who had a change of heart
c. He advised everyone to give up native slaves
d. Prompts the “New Laws”
i. Another crown set of laws that basically said, “no more passing on encomiendas” (no more giving the encomienda to your son and so on)
ii. The Crown didn’t like encomiendas because they didn’t get anything from them, and the Church hated them because they were horrible
e. At first he supported African enslavement in order to burden indigenous less, but rescinds this idea before his death
Bartolomé de las Casas (1485-1566)
a. Peru’s mining center in Bolivia (1533)
b. At its height, 40,000 people worked there mining silver.
Potosí
a. They were laws (by the Spanish Crown) that attempted to regulate encomiendas in 1512
b. Aimed at giving people (natives) the basic necessitates of life
c. Don’t do much
Laws of Burgos
a. Goal: Protect Indigenous People by:
i. Banning native slavery
ii. Regulating tribute more tightly
iii. Eliminating compulsory service (the idea of just randomly making natives do
tasks for you)
iv. Release slaves
v. Cannot pass on encomiendas through generations
b. Able to enforce in Mexico City and Cuzco/Lima, but difficult in the rural areas.
New Laws of the Indies (1542)
a. Mit’a Under Spanish Rule
i. Under the Viceroy Francisco de Toledo, communities were required to provide one seventh of their male labor force at any given time for public works, mines and agriculture. The system became an intolerable burden on the Inca communities and abuses were common. Complaints and revolts occurred and Philip III passed new laws but they only had a limited affect.
b. Important in context of this unit because it was very similar to Repartamiento (explained later)
Mit’a
a. “The Spanish Requirement of 1513 (“El Requerimiento”) was a declaration by the Spanish monarchy of its divinely ordained right to take possession of the territories of the New World and to subjugate, exploit and, when necessary, to fight the native inhabitants” –Wikipedia… using Catholicism to justify their conquest
The Requirement
a. “The Repartimiento was a colonial forced labor system imposed upon the indigenous population of Spanish America and the Philippines. In concept it was similar to other tribute-labor systems, such as the Mit’a of the Inca Empire: the natives were forced to do low-paid or unpaid labor for a certain number of weeks or months each year on Spanish-owned farms, mines, workshops (obrajes), and public projects.” –Wikipedia
Repartimiento
a. “Viceroy Toledo’s process of relocating and resettling about 1.5 million natives; he raised villages, and then those villages were sent to Spanish towns.” –K-Rod
b. Toledo saw that it was easier to control people by moving them to bigger cities.
Congregación
a. “The Council of Castile, known earlier as the Royal Council, was a ruling body and key part of the domestic government of the Crown of Castile, second only to the monarch himself. It was established under Queen Isabella I in 1480 as the chief body dealing with administrative and judicial matters of the realm.” –Wiki
b. In times of an absent monarch, it would rule in his place
c. Honestly we never went over this in class so I don’t know if he’ll put this on the
quest.
Council of Castile
