The Americas in Global Context: The Spanish Empire, 1600-1700

Catalina de Erauso

(1585-1650) Female Basque/Spanish explorer who, dressed as a man, lived the life of a soldier and adventurer in the Spanish colonial Americas.

Bartolome de las Casas

(ca. 1484-1566) A Spanish Dominican friar who argued for the humanity of Amerindians and and criticized Spanish mistreatment of them.

Mercury Amalgamation Process

A process used to increase the efficiency with which silver could be extracted from ore. The use of mercury was highly toxic and led to the death of many Amerindian mine workers.

Virgin of Guadalupe

An apparition of the Virgin Mary, with a dark complexion, said to have appeared to a Mexican farmer in 1531. The cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe exerted a powerful attraction to Mesoamerica's surviving Amerindians. She remains a symbol of Mexican identity.

From Conquest to Control

During the 16th century, the Spanish Habsbergs asserted increasing authority through a centralized bureaucracy headed by the council of the Indies. Four viceroyalties were eventually created: New Spain (with a capital at Mexico City), Peru (Lima), New Granada (Bogota), and La Plata (Buenos Aires). The Catholic Church was also another great institution of Spanish rule. However the Spanish took much from the American empire and invested little which meant they did not lay a foundation for long-term economical growth. They became reliant on mineral wealth and were challenged by the Dutch, English, and French effectively during the seventeenth and eighteenth century.

Haciendas

Large estates characteristic of colonial agriculture in Latin America.

Potosi

Located high in the Andes in modern Bolivia where the Spanish found huge quantities of silver. Silver exports from Potosi and other American mines helped finance development of the early modern economy.

Mestizo

Offspring of an Amerindian and Spanish union. Cultural and biologic blending became characteristic of Mexican society.

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz

One of the great literary figures of colonial New Spain. Wrote poetry, prose, and philosophy despite having been denied a university education. Best known for her defense of the intellectual equality of men and women.

Viceroyalties

Seats of power of the Spanish officials representing the king in the new world.

Colonial Society: Gender and Race on the Margins of the Empire

The basic patterns of life in Spanish-speaking America was set by 1750, and the subjugation of indigenous societies was well advanced. Large scale haciendas and mining operations were the foundation of commercial economies based on exploitation of the labor of Amerindians and African slaves. Officials from Spain dominated the upper ranks of both Church and state, while criollos became Spanish officials, hacienda landowners, and merchants. Yet Mestizos soon made "purity of blood difficult to maintain." The Catholic Church also had difficulty imposing religious orthodoxy. Wealthy Spanish men kept women away from the public realm and forced their daughters into arranged marriages that caused them to live restricted lives. Meanwhile poorer women had roles as farmers and artisans and due to said professions had dark ruddy complexions that marked them as inferior. Yet, some elite women also had access to education and the possibility to rise to positions of authority within their all-female communities.

Syncretism

The fusion of cultural elements from more than one tradition. In colonial Latin America religious syncretism was common, with both Amerindians and Africans blending their existing beliefs and rituals with Catholicism.

Casta System

The system of racial categorization in the Spanish Americas. Dozens of different "casta" terms were developed for various mixtures of European, African, and Amerindian descent. Though a flexible system that allowed movement "up" or "down" the racial hierarchy, markers of Spanish descent always carried the highest status.