Brazil Brazil is the largest country in South America, known for its diverse culture, history of Portuguese colonization, and significant role in the transatlantic slave trade. creoles American born Spanish aristocrats, they owned most of the land but were treated like second-class citizens, and were denied political rights Labor Labor refers to the effort people exert to produce goods or services, a fundamental aspect of economic systems throughout history. Peninsulares These were Spanish and Portuguese officials who had been born in Europe and held all important government positions. Mestizos Europeans and Native Americans’ offspring Mulattoes the offspring of Africans and Europeans Mitas The mita was a labor system used in the Inca Empire, later exploited by Spanish colonial authorities in South America. Draft A draft is the compulsory enlistment of individuals into military service during wartime. Juana Inés de la Cruz A nun who wrote poetry and prose and urged that women be educated. Main Ideas 2. List in order the social classes in colonial Latin America. Use a chart like the one below to make your list. Social Classes in Colonial Latin America 1.mulattos 2.mestizos 3.enslaved africans 3. Explain how the Spanish Empire maintained a supply of labor in the Latin American colonies. To maintain a supply of labor, the Spanish Empire in the Americas continued to make use of the encomienda system.Native Americans were forced to pay tribute and provide labor to Spanish landowners in this system. In Peru, the Spanish made use of the mita which allowed authorities to draft native labor to work in the silver mines. 4. Identify the actions of the Catholic Church in colonial Latin America. Catholic missionaries which run by Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits created villages/missions to convert Native Americans. They taught trade skills and farming skills, also built cathedrals, hospitals, orphanages, schools. The Catholic Church provided an outlet other than marriage for women. They could enter convents and become nuns. Critical Thinking 5. The BIG Idea Evaluating In return for natural resources and products, a parent country provided its colony with manufactured products. How could this affect the colony’s economy after it became an independent state? This may lead to over-dependence of the colony on finished products from the mother country, hindering the development of its own manufacturing and industrial sectors. Upon gaining independence, a colony may find it difficult to establish a self-sufficient economy, as it will need to transform itself from a supplier of raw materials to a producer of manufactured goods. Such a transition could be challenging and could affect the economic stability of the colony. 6. Determining Cause and Effect How did expansion of the Spanish Empire affect demographics in Latin America? Diseases introduced by Spanish explorers killed much of the indigenous population. However, the expansion of the Spanish empire increased the demographics of Latin America too. Spanish rulers permitted intermarriage between Europeans and Native Americans. Their offspring became known as the mestizos. In addition, over a period of three centuries, possibly as many as 8 million enslaved Africans were brought to Spanish and Portuguese America to work on the plantations. Mulattoes, became another social group. Other groups emerged as a result of unions between mestizos and mulattoes and between Native Americans and Africans. 7. Analyzing Visuals Examine the illustration on page 446. What does it tell you about Native American laborers in the encomienda system? The illustration on page 446 provides a visual representation of the harsh working conditions endured by Native American laborers in the encomienda system. It depicts Native Americans toiling in a Spanish silver mine in 1600. The laborers are shown in grueling, back-breaking work, extracting valuable resources for the Spanish colonizers. Their physical strain and the oppressive environment are evident from the visual, highlighting the strenuous nature of their forced labor. This image aligns with historical accounts that describe the exploitation and mistreatment of Native Americans under the encomienda system.
