RESPONSES TO COLUMBUS

Question 1

What were the names of some spanish colonies in americas?

Answer 1

• New Spain
• Viceroyalty of Peru
• Viceroyalty of New Granada
• Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata

Overall Gradual expansion

Question 2

Big problem for the Europeans: How do you administer a colony across the ocean?

Answer 2

*Replicate the power of the crown abroad

  *Balance between the local viceroy and the Crown  judiciary serves the Crown

    *Hierarchical system from the town council all the way up to the Council of the Indies in Castille, who reported to the king 

     *Garrisons of soldiers in and around town

Basically: Council of Indies (advised king)

Viceroy’s (got position once they conquered) (taxed ppl)

Judiciary (loyal to crown - checked Viceroys)

Question 3

Other big issue? (area based)

Answer 3

How do you determine the boundaries of the territory? How do you govern a region you don’t have any maps of?

Question 4

What was Relaciones geográficas project?

Answer 4

Map making project started by King Phillip II of Spain to develop accurate maps of New Spain

Asked Indigenous leaders to map out areas (idea was then to patch them together and get full map)

BUT

Hard for Spanish to understand

Indigenous maps explain history of land and features

Project fails (bro spent 6 years trying to get results)

Question 5

How did the colonizers try spread Christianity?

Answer 5

Ban on Jews and Muslims migrating to New Word

• Wanted specific priests
• subsidizing missionary work

  *Church and state go hand-in-hand
  
  *Missions become part of the colonial infrastructure to keep people in line
  
  *Inquisition makes it to America

Efforts to teach Indigenous ppls Spanish (if Baptized - gain a Spanish name

Question 6

What did the Spanish administrators extract from Indigenous peoples?

Answer 6

tribute

*Usually paid in form of cotton or maize, which were sold by the recipients for cash

*The encomienda and mit’a systems were intended to be forms of taxation/tribute

Question 7

What is the difference between Taxation and Tribute?

Answer 7

Taxation= (TO CROWN) Proportion of Weight of Silver is owed to the crown

Tribute = (TO VICEROY) Provided goods to local rulers (extorsion undertown)

Question 8

What were traded commodities?

Answer 8

*Silver (Peru & Mexico)

*Sugar (Caribbean)

*Agriculture
*Cacao as a consumer commodity
*Red cochineal dye (made from insects)

*Extracting commodities requires labour

Question 9

What were American Agriculture items?

Answer 9

• Potatoes

-Tomatoes

• Chilies
• Tobacco
• Maize (Corn)
• Squash (Funny story about it bring sexual)

Question 10

Who are targets for Enslavement?

Answer 10

1) Indigenous peoples
a) Encomienda: paying the debts of colonizers via the unfree labour of colonized non-Christians

b) Mit’a (specific to Peru): Inca system of mandatory labour as a form of taxation

2) African people

• Idea: brought to “spare indigenous ppl” (racial hierarcy)
• Indigenous depopulation due to disease (African ppl didn’t die cuz they had previous exposure to it)

Question 11

What were the requirements for enslavement in Encomienda system?

Answer 11

you could only enslave someone if :

1) they were your enemy in a just war,

2) they had rebelled against you,

3) enslaving them saved them from a worse fate

Question 12

What were the accusations of Savagery at this time?

Answer 12

Cannibalism:

• Can enslave someone if they were gonna be cannibalized (or if they’re a cannibal)

Human sacrifice:
- Human sacrifice = against nature = type of “just war” = enslavement
- Blood Libel comes back (same thing with Jewish ppl - accuse diff ppls of ritual murder and consuming blood)

Question 13

Who invented the word cannibals?

Answer 13

Columbus

Carri - Bean - Canni- Buls - specific term for Americas

Breaks down Indigenous societies into cannibalistic peoples (who need to be “civilized” or exterminated) & victims of cannibals (who need to be “protected”

Question 14

What is the Valladolid debate?

Answer 14

Debate:

Topic: what are the rights of Indigenous people in the Americas

PPl: Bartolomé de las Casa

and Juan Ginés de Sepúlved

Question 15

What did Bartolomé de las Casa believe was the rights of Indigenous ppls in Americas?

Answer 15

Main Idea: They are naturally free (free will & free ppl)

Cannot spread Christianity by force

Christianity requires us to protect peace

Cannot enslave and mistreat ppl

DREW ON: Drawing on first-hand experience of the encomienda system

Question 16

What did Juan Ginés de Sepúlved believe was the rights of Indigenous ppls in Americas?

Answer 16

Main Idea: Indigenous people were inherently barbaric

*Human sacrifice and cannibalism enable us to declare a just war on Indigenous people & enslave them

*Drawing on legal theory and Aristotle

Question 17

How did the big debate end?

Answer 17

Stalemate

Question 18

What were the big intellectual impacts on Europe?

Answer 18

• Land isn’t described in the bible (did god hide it?)
• Bible says Adam rules all land (why was this hidden?)
• Classic sources didn’t know this either (Aristotle)
• Indigenous people as a mirror to look at European society
  *Who are these people? Are they in a state of innocence or a state of fallenness

(Is the bible still true - Lost tribes theory from Asia (where they guessed Indigenous ppl came from)

Question 19

What caused the economic collapse in Spain?

Answer 19

Spain spends silver all over Eurpoe

More silver coming in at a faster rate then they can spend it (Surplus)

Crisis in Economy

Inflation= value of silver collapses