Units 9 and 10 Connections Across Land and Water
The “Mountain of Silver” and the Mita System
Comp:
Name: __________________________________________________ Date: _________________ Period: _______
Cont:
You will need to use your assigned copy of The Human Record – Vol. I to complete the following:
Instructions: Start by reading the following introduction, The “Mountain of Silver” and the Mita System - then read the following
source document itself: Antonio Vasquez de Espinosa, Compendium and Description of the West Indies (pp. 465-470). DO NOT
WASTE YOUR TIME – YOU MUST FINISH THIS IN CLASS TODAY. Answer the following questions FULLY --- however, it is not
required that you answer in complete sentences. Before answering questions about the source document itself, answer the following
questions (info found in the introductions).
Intro:
1. According to the introduction, although Queen Isabella of
Spain was not in favor of enslaving the native American
population, it was done. Why?
10. What do you conclude about these figures (6 – 9)?
2. Potosí – where was it located and what was its significance?
11. What were the major hazards of the work connected with
the extraction and production of mercury and silver?
3. How did Potosí contribute to Spain’s growing political and
military ambitions in Europe?
12. What evidence does Espinosa provide of Spanish concern
for the welfare of the Amerindian workers?
4. Who was Antonio Vazquez de Espinosa and what was his
connection to Potosí?
13. What evidence is there of unconcern for these workers?
Document:
6. What was the range of annual wages for each laborer at
Huancavelica?
7. How did this amount of money compare with the annual
salary of the royal hospital chaplain?
14. Where does the weight of the evidence seem to lie
(concern vs. unconcern)?
15. Wherever huge profits justify the risks, there will be
people who function beyond the constraints of the law. What
evidence does Espinosa provide of such a phenomenon in
Spanish South America?
8. How did the annual sum of their wages compare with the
cost of tallow candles at Potosí?
16. How did the mita system work?
9. Compare the wages of the mita workers at Potosí with the
wages paid those Amerindians (native Americans) who freely
hired themselves out?
17. What appears to have been the impact of the mita system
on native Peruvian society?
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