Spanish
America
to 1610
Goals of Spanish
Colonization
 Gold of course, but also real colonization
 Sent men to establish outposts and cities
 Intermarried with native population
 Children of mixed and Spanish blood were called mestizo
 Goal Change: from military conquest to
Catholicization (around 1598 with Onate’s journey to
NM)
 One example is missions in California
 Results:
 Spanish imposed their laws, religion, and culture
on the area + reduced resistance (mostly)
Juan de Onate
 One of the first explorers with the goal of
Catholicization
 Took over the Pueblo in New Mexico and
imposed Spanish beliefs
 In 1598, after the Pueblo killed 11 Spanish when
the Spanish demanded supplies the Pueblo
needed for the winter, Onate retaliated with the
Acoma War.
 800 villagers were killed . The remaining adult
men had a foot amputated and the women
were enslaved
Spanish Mission System
 Founded earlier in Mexico and then
spread throughout the Americas
 Settlements for the spreading of
Spanish culture and Catholicism
 Planted many crops from Europe
 Spread disease too…
 Enslaved the surrounding Native
Americans (required tribute and
work on the Spanish lands) and
harshly punished them for retaining
traditional beliefs
Mission San Francisco de
lea Espada 1690
Pueblo Revolt of 1680 /
Pope’s Rebellion
 Forced the Spanish out of
New Mexico for 12 years
 When the Spanish
returned, the Pueblo
were able to maintained
more rights:
 Pueblo were able to practice
their traditional religion
 A public defender was
appointed to argue for
Native Americans in Spanish
courts
Maroons / Cimarróns
 The Portuguese brought the
earliest slaves to the New
World beginning in 1502
 Some of these slaves began
to run away from their
enslavement and join /
intermarry with the Native
populations
 Large groups of these
began to form on Caribbean
Islands and these colonies
became known as Maroons
Cultural Adaptation of
African Slaves
 The Atlantic Slave Trade brought Africans from many
different backgrounds together under Christian
Spanish (and later other Christian European) rule
 An amalgamation of different African traditions
along with Christianity became the new culture of
African slaves in the New World
Cultural Change for Those
Under Spanish Rule
 In the areas of direct colonization, many of the
women Native Americans who survived the early
years of Spanish rule were married into the new
Spanish society and became a part of the culture of
New Spain; many of the men were enslaved
 Native Americans who existed outside the colonizing
area of Spain (like the Pueblo) were coerced into
assuming the Spanish culture, but many traditional
parts of their Native American culture remained