Spanish Colonialism Essay

767 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on the colonisation of mexico

Before the European and Spanish occupation in the America’s, there were many Indigenous groups that had well-structured organizations. This is seen in the Indigenous ruling nobility, and in their traditions of local ethnic states. An indigenous empire known as the Aztecs had complete control of busy markets such as Tenochtitlan’s Tlatelolco. On major market days, over 50,000 people visited this market. This particular market system drove the Aztec economy, which consisted mostly of trade and various types of currency (Aztec Civilization). The Aztec civilization followed a strict caste system that consisted of having the nobles at the top, followed by commoners, and at the bottom serfs and finally slaves (Aztec Civilization). Upon the arrival of the colonialist, there were mega social changes in the Indigenous community. Men such as the Spaniards maintained their beliefs with high regards that upon their arrival to Spanish America they belittled all Native cultures. Any power that was in control during this time was replaced and exploitation was justified in the name of God and the King. Spanish colonizers maintained a negative view of all Native beings that institutions like the encomienda and repartimento were created in order to keep …show more content…

One major contradiction was that Spaniards used religion as a means to justify their actions. The Spanish believed that their faith was superior, so they continued to regard the Indigenous population as savages. It is hard to believe that a truly faithful population would be so willing to kill and rape at extreme levels. There is no question that the emerging mestizo population would grow tired of unjust treatment that they would want to overthrow the ruling parliament. Institutions like the encomienda and repartimento, as well as a bias ethnic/racial hierarchy, were some of the main contributors of the indigenous population seeking

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between The Aztec And Spanish Empires

    432 Words  | 1 Pages

    Spain, as one of the most powerful nations in the old world, had a great influence on many events in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Spanish also had an influence on many other empires/nations' fate. One of the empires that suffered a grave fate at the hands of the Spanish was the Aztec empire. The Aztec empire was not the oldest Mesoamerican empire and it was formed from an agreement between three city-states. The Aztec's class system had the emperor on top, then the priests, and everyone else below them. The priests were responsible for keeping the gods happy. The sacrifice of goods and people was a commonplace in the Aztec culture, and it was often the goods/people of other nations that were taken for sacrifices. As one can imagine,

    Read More

  • The History and Culture of the Aztec Empire

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Aztec Empire was the most powerful Mesoamerican kingdom of all time. They dominated the valley of Mexico in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Aztecs were an advanced and successful civilization that built beautiful, sophisticated cities, temples, and pyramids. They also created a culture full of creativity with mythological and religious traditions. Aztecs lead a structured and evocative life that let their society to become a very superior civilization. The Aztec’s communication skills were very well developed for their time; through religious beliefs, government involvement, and family life they lived a full and productive life. Until in 1519 when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, and defeated the Aztecs.

    Read More

  • Aztecs and Incas

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    Both the Aztec and Incan civilizations used trade, tribute, redistribution of goods, and agriculture to balance out their economy. However, the Aztecs had a more mixed organization, the use of more than one functions, used trade markets, and had a merchant class, unlike the opposing Incan economy. The Aztecs were more engaged with trade than the Incans, shown with the trade markets at Tlatelolco. Tlatelolco was a trade market controlled by the merchant class, or Pochteca and the development of currency was put in place using beans and or gold dust. On the other hand, the Incans did not have trade markets due to their trade being more informal, along with no merchant class or currency. To help specifically long distance trade, advanced road systems were put in place as way stations. Both civilizations used tribute and was an important aspect to the economic organization, but the Aztecs collected goods and the Incans collected labor, mita. ...

    Read More

  • Native Americans - Aztecs and Indians

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    Two of the biggest and greatest civilization in the Americas were the Aztecs and Incas. These two civilization were both said to be conquered by the Spanish, but it wasn’t just the Spanish who conquered them. These two civilizations both fell from a combination of a weak government, lack of technology, new disease introduced by the invaders, and not being prepared for the invaders. For many centuries the Aztec civilization revolved around a ideological, social, and political system in which expansion was the cornerstone. Expansion was the cornerstone of their whole civilization, because their religion requested that a large number of human sacrifices where to be made to the gods.

    Read More

  • Hispanic American Culture Essay

    1496 Words  | 3 Pages

    The increase and changing demography in the United State today, with the disparities in the health status of people from different cultural backgrounds has been a challenge for health care professionals to consider cultural diversity as a priority. It is impossible for nurses and other healthcare professionals to learn and understand theses diversity in culture, but using other approaches like an interpreter is very helpful for both nurses and patients. In this paper of a culturally appropriate care planning, I will be discussing on the Hispanic American culture because, I had come across a lot of them in my career as a nurse. The Hispanic are very diverse in terms of communication and communities and include countries like Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, South and Central America, and some of them speak and write English very well, some speaks but can’t write while some can’t communicate in English at all but Spanish.

    Read More

  • Spaniards Vs. English Colonization

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    Looking back into history, at around the 1500s to the 1600s, people were very much the same in the sense that many countries were looking to aggrandize their economy and appear the greatest. It was this pride and thinking that motivated many of the superpowers of the world’s past. Two such monarchies in the European continent included England and Spain, which had at the time, the best fleets the world has ever seen. Because both were often striving to be the best, they conflicted with one another. Although England and Spain had their differences, they both had a thirst to see new things and it was this hunger that led them both to discovering different parts of the “New World” and thus, colonizing the Americas.

    Read More

  • Mexican American History Essay

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    For many years, unjust treatment of Mexicans and Mexican Americans has occurred in the United States. Over the years, people like Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Emma Tenayuca have fought to improve civil rights and better treatment for farm workers. The textbook that I have been reading during the semester for my Chicano History class, Crucible of Struggle: A history of Mexican Americans from Colonial times to the Present Era, discusses some of the most important issues in history that Mexicans and Mexicans Americans have gone through. Some of these problems from the past are still present today. Not all of the racial problems were solved, and there is a lot to be done. I have analyzed two different articles about current historical events that have connections between what is happening today and what had happened in Mexican American History.

    Read More

  • Latin American Independence Essay

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    Latin America’s independence kicked of with the independence of Haiti. Before the the independence movement that overtook Latin America, Haiti had gained independence twenty years before the movement. The Spanish Empire had been in decline for a period of time after the rise of the English empire and many failed battles on the Spanish (class notes). The French Revolution and the American Revolution had inspired many of the Latin American countries to fight for independence (Chapter 3). They were inspired by the Enlightenment that washed over Europe. Of the inspired, one man stood out and took the movement by heart.

    Read More

  • Imperialism Essay

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nationalism is being patriotic towards one’s own country. It took place in the nineteenth century to those people who shared a language, history and culture. Nationalism led to creation of new powers, which are Italy and Germany. As these countries became united and stronger, they created war against other countries.

    Read More

  • Imperialism Essay

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 1800's were a renowned era in European history. With the rise of imperialism came the ruthless desire to seek new land through the use of authoritative implications. Whether it be the discovery of the Americas, where Christopher Columbus discovered various islands, which were clustered with indigenous people that were eventually completely wiped out for the pure desire of Spaniard power. This craving to "assimilate" indigenous people and to convert them to Christianity was an element, which rooted 19th century Europe. Although the actual question to whether these actions were good or evil are up for debate. Imperialism has been viewed as an expansion that serves only ones "object" and that it has no purpose beyond the benefit of the "self". This paper will explain Imperialism through a sociological perspective, while blending in notions of capitalism and modern day Imperialism that may now be viewed as Globalism.

    Read More

  • Mexican American Culture Essay

    2010 Words  | 5 Pages

    The culture I was born and raised on was that of Mexican-American culture. My parents were born and raised in Mexico, and when they came to America and had kids, they instilled a hybrid of their culture, and American culture, in us. They were each raised in the Mexican culture, but wanted us to be raised as Americans also, and added this to our upbringing.

    Read More

  • Spanish American Imperialism Essay

    2526 Words  | 6 Pages

    Immediately following the war with Spain, the United States had both the political will to pursue imperial policies and the geopolitical circumstances conducive to doing so. But the way in which these policies would manifest was an open question; was the impulse to actively remake the world in America’s Anglo-Saxon image justified? Hence, there were several models of American imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century. In the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Samoa, the United States asserted unwavering political control. In Cuba, and later throughout most of the Caribbean basin, the economic and political domination of customarily sovereign governments became the policy. Ultimately, the United States was able to expand its territory

    Read More

  • Mexican Culture Essay

    594 Words  | 2 Pages

    What is culture? Many people ask themselves this question every day. The more you think about it the more confusing it is. Sometimes you start leaning to a culture and then people tell you you’re wrong or they make you feel like a different person because of your culture. I go through this almost every day. Because of the way I was raised I love Mexican rodeo but I was born and raised in Joliet. This can be very difficult trying to understand culture. I live in this huge mix of culture. Culture is personal. People can have many cultures especially in America and because of globalization. Cultural identity is not one or the other, it is not Mexican or American. Cultural identity is an individual relevant thing.

    Read More

  • Modern Colonization Essay

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ed Okonkwo, “[The white man] says that our customs are bad. But how can he understand our customs when he does not even speak our tongue?” This powerful line from the book Things Fall Apart, captures the very essence of the negatives of colonialism. The Europeans did not see the cultures that once flourished or the ancient traditions embedded in the local tribes. They did not see the sense of community and belongingness that their victims once shared. Instead of taking their differences as unique, the Europeans saw them as a threat to their economic progress. They took so much away from the civilizations that will never be regained, simply for their own imperialistic, monetary purposes. European nations may have reached an all time high in terms of economic prosperity, but it was not and will never be worth the loss of humanity and morality necessary to achieve it.

    Read More

  • African American Colonialism Essay

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Western world European colonialism is hailed as an accomplishment. It is the time where Europeans flourished economically after finding and taking control of the lands of the New World. Because of European colonialism and the need for free labor, millions of Africans were forced from their homeland and were forced into slavery. Years later the Europeans came back to colonize and take the rich resources of Africa without any regard to the native people who lived there. Though colonialism ended in the United Stated in the 1700’s and other parts of the Americas in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, many of its racial and injustices are still an ingrained in society today There have been many instances where groups of people within African

    Read More

More about Spanish Colonialism Essay

Open Document