Treaty of Tordesillas

Spain and portugal split up the new world. Spain got most of the Americas, Portugal got Brazil.

Spanish Colonial Reign

Conquest of Mexico & Peru were not initially the ambitions of the Spain government, but rather ambitions by freelance adventurers.

By 1570, though, the Spanish monarchy had control

Francisco Pizarro

• Led a 1530 Spanish expedition from Central America to Peru
• Trojan horsed & murdered the Incan ruling elites

Mining and Agriculture in the Spanish Empire

• Mined silver
• Mostly voluntary work but sometimes forced work called the mita system
• Powered the Spanish economy
• Spanish government took one-fifth of all silver production - the quinto

1688 - The Empire of Silver

Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz

• A nun from Mexico City
• Today, she is recoginzed as one of the great Spanish-Speaking poets
• She was a secluded nun but was also a great philosopher
• Some considered her beliefs to be heresy or borderline heresy
• She built up a library of 4000 books
• She was good friends with the marquis of Laguna
  • When they left, she was forced to renounce her writings
• She died in 1695 after caring for her sisters in the convent during an epidemic

Doña Teresa

• Beautiful 15-year-old
• The object of Count of Olmos's love

Potosí

• Modern day Bolivia
• High in the mountains
• Home to massive silver deposits
• Population of 100k-200k

Sonora Desert

• Mexico

Mining in the New World

• Gold drove the explorers motivation
• Silver was even more desireable in the long run
• Silver was used to trade for asian goods

Manila Galleion

• transported silver to near the Phillipines