Spain, Portugal, France, Netherlands, and Britain
Conversion of Native Americans
Spanish
French
Religious liberty
Pennsylvania Quakers
Massachusetts Puritans
Fur trade
Quebec (France)
Farming
Small farms
British colonies
Plantations
Virginia to Brazil
Silver Mines
Spanish colonies
Mexican Amerindian population
13-25 million, ca. 1500
Under 1 million, ca. 1600
Encomienda
Slavery until 1542
*Bartolomé de Las Casas
*Mita
Northern Mexico
*Potosí, Bolivia
Silver mining and refining
Mercury (quicksilver)
Acapulco-Manila
Peru-Panama-Cadiz, Spain
"Pirates of the Caribbean"
Europe, Middle East, China
Old World Crops and Animals
Wheat, rice, bananas, sugar cane, citrus, onions
Horses, sheep, pigs, cattle, rats, rabbits
New World Crops
"Staples"
Beans, squash, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, peanuts
"Luxuries or vices"
Tobacco, chocolate
1. What were the different motives for European colonization of the Americas?
2. What effects did the Spanish conquest and colonization of Mexico and South America have on native Americans and the global economy?
3. What was the Columbian Exchange? What elements of the exchange had the greatest impact on the Americas? On Afro-Eurasia? (also refer to Hansen)
1. Compare the different types of economies and social hierarchies that developed as people of Amerindian, African, and European backgrounds interacted in the Spanish, Portuguese, French, and British colonies.
1. What were the work condition like for the laborers at Huancavelica and Potosí? Were they paid fair wages?
2. What was the mita system? What was its impact on the Amerindians of Peru?
1. Why is chocolate an example of the Columbian Exchange? How did the consumption of chocolate spread to Europe?
2. According to Pomeranz, what effect did Potosi's silver mine have on the surrounding region? On the world economy?
3. Why did Spanish silver mining encourage British piracy?