During the period of 1500 to 1750, Latin America largely influenced from the Columbian Exchange as it became one of the main regions for slaves to migrate to and different goods to be exported. Despite these changes, Latin America continued to rely on agriculture and Western Europe for luxury and goods. Initially, slavery in Latin America consisted of Latin Americans working on plantations and relying on a cheap system of forced labour to produce goods. After the Columbian Exchange took place, Latin America needed more slaves due to high demand of crops such as spices, beans, corn and etc. Many Native slaves died of diseases which they had very little immunity to and small efforts to abolish slavery was brought up by men like Bartolome de las Casas. This led to Latin America to import African slaves and overtime, this number outgrew because of the desirability of African slaves and the profit each region was able to gain. Latin America did heavily rely on Agriculture and as the demand of crops and goods rose in the 1500s, more slaves were needed to make such high profits. …show more content…
Initially, following the conquest of the Aztecs, the main goal of settlers was to extract gold and other raw materials such as silver and lumber. But, this soon changed when the land was found to be fertile and the demand of cash crops such as tobacco, sugar, and cotton became increasingly popular in Europe in the early seventeenth century. The Columbian Exchange not only led to an exchange of animals, diseases and people, but crops such as sugar and tobacco and luxurious items such as silk and beer that were highly desirable. Latin America traded crops such as sugarcane and cotton in return for African slaves and luxurious items because slaves were largely needed to work on sugar plantations and produce crops to be traded for reasonable
Europeans introduced chattel slavery, primarily involving the forced labor of Africans, which had a profound impact on social structures. The transatlantic slave trade depopulated regions of West Africa and resulted in the enslavement of millions of Africans. Slavery replaced or supplemented existing indigenous labor practices, such as tribute systems or coerced labor. For example, in the Caribbean and Brazil, sugarcane plantations relied heavily on enslaved Africans, leading to the establishment of plantation economies and hierarchical social structures based on race. Slavery and the racial caste system that emerged had long-lasting consequences for social hierarchies and economic development in the Western
Starting in the years immediately preceding 1500, Latin America became connected with the rest of the world. Some aspects of this land, including the dependence on agriculture to support itself and epidemic diseases—like smallpox—killing scores of natives, remained the same. However, between the years 1500 and 1750, changes, like the rearranging of social hierarchies/ social classes brought on by an influx of European and African peoples, dramatically reshaped the course of Latin American history. Latin America continued to depend on agriculture to support itself between 1500 and 1750. Large-scale agriculture supported urbanization in Latin America.
The Columbian Exchange, the transportation of plants, animals and diseases, had a dramatic impact on the agriculture and environment of both the Old World and the New World. For the New World, the foods and plants that were brought over were species that had never been seen before. The Europeans brought many grains such as wheat, barley, oats and rice. These products flourished in the rich, fertile soil of the new world. There were endless acres of land in which to grow these plants.
Starting in the Americas, sugar cane brought over from the Old World became the mainstay in Caribbean and Brazilian economies which, along with rice and cotton production, was the foundation for slavery in the Americas. Columbus also brought over fundamental crops, mainly wheat which was, and still is, a highly
The 15th century, significantly the year around 1450 to present day, was a very momentum one for that of Latin America. Latin America During the time around 1450,began to transition at the arrival of the Spaniards. Polytheism disappeared as Christianity arrived, human sacrifice saw an abrupt termination, and the religions of Voodoo and Santeria began to form. Despite these changes certain trends remained the same such as continuities in the religion and practices of Latin America began to only be seen in the changes that developed and continued to present day.
The Columbian exchange was a sort of bridge between two very different cultures and, as Alfred W. Crosby said, it was very hard to find any crops that the two civilizations (the Old World and the New World, so to speak) shared. Horses, wheat, pigs, sugar cane, rice, and grape vines -- along with many other things -- could only be found in the Old World. Likewise, corn, sweet potatoes, alpaca, peanuts, and tobacco were all from the New World. Some of these things, wheat, rice, and corn in particular, are staples nowadays and we would be in trouble if something happened to one of those things. As Crosby said, “[Wheat] is one of Europe’s greatest gifts to the Americas”.
The history of what we know today, as Latin America is a very debatable subject in the field of the humanities. Notably, in the field of history, where Colonial Latin America posit a myriad of theoretical approaches. In like manner, Latin America in Colonial Times by Mathew Restall, an English historian, professor of Latin America, and his colleague, Kris lane, a Canadian-American researcher, professor who centers his attention in Latin America history, developed a textbook with a unique approach to the colonization in the New World. As a starting point, they query the encounter within several cultures, at the same time, pose the question by virtue of what capacity Europeans
Some states thrived under the trade, while others economically deteriorated so drastically that they continue to suffer today. Despite the consequences, the trade connected the world closer than ever before. A main reason why Europeans colonized the New World with such swiftness and determination lay in the drinks of nobles and the soil of peasants. Sugar was in high demand during the 1500s and 1600s, and the fertile coasts of the Carribean and Brazil made for a perfect environment. Sugar cane was just the tip of the iceberg: Europeans soon discovered crops native to the Americas that heavily impacted world economy, a prime example being the potato.
When the settlers went to start up the agricultural industry in the rural areas of Latin America, there was obviously a smaller population of both natives and Europeans in that region. Colonisers needed workers and locals needed work; both parties had no choice but to interact with one another. Ortiz states that everybody was “snatched from their original social groups, their own cultures destroyed and crushed under the weight of the cultures in existence here” (Ortiz 1947: 98). As the Europeans needed to raise funds in order to pay for their transportation costs from home, they required gold, silver and sugar for export. For the workers gathering these resources, the indigenous people supplied them food and clothes.
In the Americas, the main exports were silver and cash crops, both of which required work that was terribly tedious and exhausting. This led to the overwhelming predominance of slavery in the Americas, since the Europeans were not willing to carry out the hard work themselves. When the Europeans found they lacked a workforce, the sought slaves elsewhere. While the people who were called slaves changed, the institution never did. The same mistreatment, torture, and horrible conditions were evident in American slavery until it was abolished centuries later.
Lastly, with the expansion of the country to the west and into what we now know as Texas drove the need for more slaves to work the land. With the decrease of demand for tobacco and rice, plantations turned to the new crop cotton. In 1800 less than half a million bales of cotton
In order to fulfill the extremely large demand for labour, planters purchased slaves. When they wanted to trade slaves, they would offer certain goods such as gold, spices, rum, tobacco, etc. They wanted the enslaved people to work in mines and on some tobacco plantations in South America and also on sugar plantations in the West Indies. Millions of Africans were enslaved and forced across the Atlantic to labour in plantations in the Caribbean and
At the beginning, most of the slaves were indentured servants, who chose free labour in the colonies for several years over a death penalty. Those were mostly European, but in the seventeenth century, Africans were sent to Virginia to work as indentured servants. While some were able to gain freedom, others fell into permanent servitude, and by 1661, all black people in Virginia were considered slaves, and their numbers raised significantly. Nonetheless, slavery started as early as the 1530s in Meso-American colonies, as their aims with agriculture were much larger, and they had difficulty employing natives outside the areas where there had been large empires, such as Peru and Mexico. It can be argued that slavery in Latin America was not only more common; but also more brutal.
These newly discovered resources caused Spanish trade and commerce to flourish. Silver was the main source of wealth in the Spanish colonies in the Americas. However while this was nice for the Europeans initially, the surplus of silver flooding European markets, as well as some Asian markets caused inflation where the value of silver decreased while the prices for products increased. The colonization of the Americas also led to the Columbian exchange. While this had a profitable impact on the Spanish, it had a detrimental impact on the Natives.
Between the time periods of 1450 to 1850, Latin American societies have shifted their original native rule to European rule because of the contrast between both societies’ advancements and beliefs and then reverted back to native rule primarily because of the influx of enlightened ideas which created the prospect of obtaining native rule again possible. Even with the shifts in power, Latin American societies stayed constant in terms of having autonomous rulers because of the persistent problems of poverty and confusion.