Spanish Empires in America

Michael Fowkes

Struggle and SurvivalDiego VasicuioNative Priest

• Diego had not taken it personally when his neighbor, Catalina paicaua, denounced him to their parish priest as the leader of a group of Indians who persisted in the Worship of the old God Soriano.

• From the beginning of the colonial period, the Spanish attempt to convert the Indians of Peru into sincere, observant Catholic had been by the tenacious survival of indigenous religious beliefs.

• Holy Office of the Inquisition was not authorized to move against Native American suspects, so the hierarchy had commissioned a series of visiting inspectors

Struggle and SurvivalFrancisco Baquero

Shoemaker and Organizer

• The city of Buenos Aires was a major beneficiary of Spain's eighteenth century imperial reform effort.

• Artisans immigrated to Buenos Aires from Spain and other European nations were horrified by the low status and impoverished conditions experienced by the majority of the city's artisans.

• Although the master shoemakers pooled their funds and hired a lawyer, Dr. Vicente Canete, this initial effort had little success.

Struggle and SurvivalAntonio de Gouveia

Adventurer and Priest

• Antonio de Gouveia spent his youth in the Azores, when the nine islands of the archipelago were already the nerve center of Atlantic shipping.

• If it wasn’t for the publications in 1905 of his dossier from the files of the Lisbon Inquisition, he would have been forgotten.

• Gouveia’s first encounter with the Inquisition was in Valladolid during this journey across Spain, but the details of his arrest are not known.

Struggle and survivalMiguel Hernandez

Master of Mule Trains

• Miguel Hernandez found success and love during an era of increasing social racial prejudice.

• Miguel can be recalled today because of his literacy and his knowledge of Spanish legal ways.

• Often mulattoes lived on the edge of the law.

Struggle and SurvivalHernando de Valencia

Tax Promoter

• An old man by the standard of his day, when he set out from Madrid to Lima at the end of May 1631.

• As reward for his services he obtained the life time grant of his salary to his wife, should he die on his errand.

• The contador meanwhile briefed the viceroy about his plans for Lima’s snow monopoly.

Struggle and Survival Enrico Martinez

Printer and Engineer

• A printer from Seville, stepped off the ship in Veracruz, Mexico,, in 1589

• Enrico's major public effort, serving as chief engineer of the drainage works designed to prevent the recurrent flooding of Mexico City.

• Germans like the Martinez family originally called Martin, were particularly influential in the printing trade.

Struggle and SurvivalMicaela Angela Carrillo

Widow and Pulque Dealer

• She as well as her daughter performed some of the tasks usually reserved for men in the everyday life of the community.

• Carrillo married a cacique, Juan Tapia Luna, and thereby strengthen her ties to the hereditary nobility of the town.

• One of her most valued possessions was a well, which Maria Antonia had paid to open and which was valued at twenty five pesos.

The Aztecs rise and Fall of an EmpireTula, the Mythical Beginning

• Tula, the erstwhile capital of Toltec civilization, left its mark on the entire history of ancient Mexico.

• Around ad 1000 Tula took over the Heritage of Teotihuacan.

• The Toltec heritage lived on Through the reign of the “God-Men,” who ruled their separate peoples

• In 1332 the Mexican discovered the sign they had been waiting for, and eagle perched on a cactus showed them the site where they were to settle: Tenochtitlan.

The Aztecs rise and Fall of an EmpireThe Empire Builders

• Moctezuma decided to Start a war with the people of Puebla and Tlaxala.

• Moctezuma set out to conquer the tropics and began by striking blows to the southeast, and in 1458 seized Coixtlahuaca, a city famous for its market.

• The triple alliance’s military expeditions displayed weakness as well as strength

• Payment of Tribute formed the backbone of the empire.

The Aztecs rise and Fall of an EmpireConquering Heroes

• In 1472, shortly after Moctezuma’s death, his great ally, the poet-king Nezahualcoyotl, died in his turn.

• The most serious crisis erupted in 1473 when Tlatelolco, the commercial capital of the Mexica, rose up against its immediate neighbor and twin city Tenochtitlan.

• The Aztecs did not invent human sacrifice, it had been practiced at Teotihuacan a millennium earlier.

The Aztecs rise and Fall of an EmpireThe Clash of Two Worlds

• The ancient Mexicans were extremely preoccupied with the day to day emergence of malevolent nonhuman forces looming outside the ritualized framework of the relationship between humans and gods.

• The presence of Spaniards increased the anxiety provoked by gloomy prophecies.

• In 1519 an expedition left Cuba to explore the coasts of Mexico. At its head was thirty three year old Spanish gentleman, Hernan Cortes.

The Aztecs rise and Fall of an EmpireFrom Resistance to Collaboration

• The arrival of Christianity shook the native societies to their very foundations

• By imposing a uniform system of marriage, the church destroyed the traditional practice of alliances throughout the empire.

• The ruling class was renewed, and some people took advantage of the opportunity to denounce the old Aristocracy.

The Aztecs rise and Fall of an EmpireThe Aftermath of the Conquest

• The pueblo authorities struggled desperately against those who tried to reduce their rights and interfere with their lives.

• While the dignitaries forged a new community identity, the masses survived in a colonial society.

• After the 17th century the Virgin of Guadalupe constituted a a widely popular cult.

History of Spain

• Modern humans entered the Iberian Peninsula about 32,00 years agao.

• During the next 750 years, independent Muslim states were established, and the entire area of Muslim control became known as Al-Andalus.

• The kingdom of Spain was created in 1492 with the unification of the Kingdonw of Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon.

• In 1936 Spain was plunged into a bloody civil war.

NEW SPAIN• The creation of a viceroyalty in the Americas was a result of the Spanish conquest

of the Aztec Empire

• A few years later the mainland Audiencia was created in 1527 to take over the administration of New Spain from Hernan Cortes.

• Upon his arrival Viceroy Antonio De Mendoza vigorously took the duties entrusted to him by the king and encouraged the exploration of Spain's new mainland territories

Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire

• The conquest of Peru was the historic process of military conquest of the Inca Empire by Spanish conquistadores and their native allies.

• When the Spanish arrived at the boarders of the Inca Empire in 1528, the empire spanned a considerable distance.

• Some scholars believe that while the Spanish conquest was undoubtedly the proximate cause of the collapse of the Inca Empire, it may very well have been past its peak and the process of decline.