Final - November 12 - Under the king's authority: Indian labor, african slavery and the emergence of the colonial state

Question 1

How did the Spaniards manage to control a continent after the conquest?

Answer 1

Urbanism (there were cities (mexico) but not common before colonialism)and the creation of the colonial State
The creation of political and cultural legitimacy
The Division in “two republics”: The Republic of Spaniards and the Republic of Indians (separation done on moral basis and self-interest)
The introduction (and control) of writing
The political and administrative division of Spanish America (became a tool controlled by crown and to keep indigenous in check)
The Introduction of Slavery

Question 2

A Continental Revolution: Urbanism and the Creation of the Colonial State (full slide)

Answer 2

Cities in America before the Conquest
The creation of cities and the colonial project
The “traza:” Renaissance Urbanism and the consolidation of political power
The Reducciones and the transformation of Indigenous culture, institutions, and demography
From Nomadic/Semi-Sedentary Societies to a colonial agricultural society

Question 3

In Search of Legitimacy: A New Legal Framework (full slide)

Answer 3

An (Ephemeral) Indigenous Nobility/elite: Spanish/Indigenous Interaction and the question of Political Legitimacy
A Pragmatic Pact: Royal Authority and the Conquistadors’ Privileges
A New Order: The “Republic of Indians” and the Republic of Spaniards
Indigenous “Autonomy” and “Communities” in the Spanish Empire: Caciques, Kurakas, and Corregidores
Under the Supervision of the King and the Church: The Legal and Religious Status of the Indigenous Population
Working for the King: Tax and Conscripted Labor. The case of the “Mita”of Potosi.

Question 4

From Orality to Literacy: The Conquest of America and the Written Word (full slide)

Answer 4

Writing and Empire: Words, Documents, and Books as instruments of Empire
From Oral to Written Record? The Transition to Western Forms of Literacy
Petitioning the King: Legal Interactions of Indigenous Communities
Remembering the Past: Indigenous peoples and the Writing of History

Question 5

The Political and Administrative Consolidation of Colonial Spanish America (full slide)

Answer 5

Proyecting the King’s Power: The creation of the Viceroyalties
Managing and Empire (in triplicate): the Creation of an Administrative Structure
The Local Seats of Power: The “Audiencias”
Bound and Tied: the Role of the “Visitadores”
Death and Taxes: Setting up a Tax Structure
Knowledge and Power: Dictionaries, Relaciones Geográficas, and Social and Natural Knowledge.

Question 6

African Slavery in Early Colonial Spanish America (full slide)

Answer 6

Slavery: An Ancient Institution
Slavery in the Mediterranean Sea and Sub-Saharan Africa
”Just War” and the Medieval Justifications of Slavery
Portuguese Exploration and the Beginnings of the Atlantic Slave Trade
A “humanitarian” solution? The Prohibition of Indigenous Slavery and the Start of the African Slave trade in Spanish America
Slavery in Spanish America before 1700: the Urban/Rural divide
Mining for Silver: The Limits of African Slavery and the “Indian” Mita in the Andes.