| LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Explain the factors that moved Iberian first attempts at colonization in the Americas. 2. Explain the Churches role in Iberian early colonization efforts. 3. Explain why early colonization efforts in the Caribbean and Brazil focused on sugar and the plantation complex. Oxford History Timelines: West Africa | Caribbean | Brazil |
I would like to begin this section by noting that many of the challenges that present-day Latin America faces had its origins in the colonial period. For example, colonial governments created highly unequal systems of landholding. Independence in the nineteenth century removed colonial rule but did not automatically redistribute land. Studying the colonial era is important because it helps explain how many of Latin America’s present-day social, economic, and political structures developed over time. It is important to note that colonialism should not be treated as the sole cause of modern problems. However, research shows that institutions established during this period often created patterns that later governments inherited, modified, or struggled to overcome.
Table 1: Present Day Connections to Colonial Developments
| Colonial-era development | Present-day connection | Why studying it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Large estates and unequal land distribution | Land remains concentrated in parts of Latin America, while Indigenous and rural communities continue to experience land disputes. | It shows that contemporary land conflicts have a long history rather than appearing suddenly. |
| Racial and caste hierarchies | Indigenous and Afro-descendant populations continue to experience socioeconomic disparities in many countries. | It helps explain how historical ideas about race became embedded in institutions and social relationships. |
| Enslavement and coerced labor | Inequalities in wealth, employment, and land ownership can overlap with racial and ethnic divisions. | It connects contemporary inequality with earlier systems that distributed labor, wealth, and opportunities unequally. |
| Extractive economic systems | Many economies remain strongly connected to exports of minerals, oil, and agricultural commodities. | It helps explain why debates about resource extraction, environmental damage, and economic diversification remain important. |
| Political power concentrated among elites | Wealthy landowners and economic elites have historically exercised substantial political influence after independence. | Colonial history helps explain the development of institutions in which political and economic power was initially distributed very unequally. |
| Displacement of Indigenous peoples | Indigenous communities continue to pursue territorial rights and greater control over natural resources. | It provides historical context for contemporary Indigenous political movements and territorial disputes. |
| Unequal development between regions | Rural and geographically isolated communities often have less access to infrastructure and public services than major cities. | Colonial settlement patterns help explain why economic and administrative activity became concentrated in particular places. |
| Unequal access to education and institutions | Educational and socioeconomic disparities continue between different classes, regions, and ethnic groups. | It demonstrates how unequal access to institutions can reproduce inequality across generations. |
Today’s discussion will begin exploring how the colonial era provides historical context for understanding present-day Latin America. As you read this topic, reference our previous topics and consider the following:
- Do you see the manifestation of Spain’s medieval experience present in its early ventures into the Atlantic and Caribbean?
- What role and function did the Church play in the conquest and colonization of the Americas?
EXPANSION INTO THE ATLANTIC
Spain’s Atlantic enterprise began with the occupation of the Canary Islands in 1480. However, in 1492 Spain’s ventures shifted beyond this part of the world with the arrival of Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). This was made possible when Columbus successfully convinced Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon to subsidize his voyage of exploration thus launching a new Spanish venture into the Atlantic.
A charter was drawn up between the Catholic Monarchs and Columbus that would define his relationship with the Kings of Spain and with any lands he claimed for Spain in his expedition. The name of that charter was the Capitulaciones de Santa Fe (1492).
In return for undertaking leading this move into the Atlantic, the Capitulaciones de Santa Fe granted Columbus the titles of viceroy, admiral, and governor of any new claimed lands. In addition, Columbus was given one-tenth the value of the sale of “pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, spices,” along with other commodities secured in this expedition. Finally, he was awarded the title of Don and his family was allowed to hold the endowments of the capitulaciones in perpetuity.
Table 2: Main Provisions of the Capitulaciones de Santa Fe
| Main provision | What it meant | Why it was important |
|---|---|---|
| Authorization of Columbus’s enterprise | The Crown accepted Columbus’s proposed westward expedition in the service of the monarchs. | It provided the legal agreement underlying Columbus’s 1492 voyage. |
| Title of Admiral | Columbus would become Admiral of the Ocean Sea in territories associated with his discoveries. | It gave Columbus a prestigious position modeled on an established Castilian office. |
| Viceroy and Governor | Columbus would become viceroy and governor of islands and mainland territories he discovered or acquired for the Crown. | The agreement envisioned Columbus not simply as an explorer but as an administrator of territories brought under royal authority. |
| Hereditary privileges | Important titles and privileges granted to Columbus were intended to pass to his heirs. | Columbus was attempting to establish lasting wealth and status for his family. |
| 10% share of wealth | Columbus was entitled to one-tenth of specified profits or valuable commodities obtained through activities connected with the territories, after expenses. | This gave him a substantial personal financial interest in successful exploration and commerce. |
| Commercial participation | Columbus could contribute one-eighth of the cost of certain commercial ventures and receive a corresponding one-eighth share of their profits. | He could participate as an investor as well as an explorer and royal official. |
| Role in appointments | For certain offices in the territories, Columbus could propose candidates from whom the monarchs would make appointments. | This potentially increased his influence over the administration of newly claimed territories. |
| Judicial authority in commerce | As admiral, Columbus claimed authority in certain disputes connected with commerce arising from the expedition and territories. | This further combined Columbus’s economic interests with governmental authority. |
| Territories for the Crown | The expedition was undertaken for Ferdinand and Isabella, and territories acquired through it were connected to their royal authority. | It established the relationship between Columbus’s personal privileges and the expansion of the Spanish monarchy. |
On August 3, 1492, Columbus sailed from the port of Palos in a westerly direction. In the meantime, the Portuguese motivated by the search for gold, trade opportunities, enslaved people began sailing down the west coast of Africa. Portuguese sailors established trading relationships and posts along the African coast which would contribute to the growth of the Atlantic slave trade. With the two wings of expansion in full force, the stage was set for Europe’s first encounter with the lands across the Atlantic thus beginning a new chapter in Atlantic history.
When Columbus returned in March of 1493, he brought news of lands and peoples he had encountered on his first expedition. The question raised by the information Columbus brought from his voyage was who was to justly rule over indigenous populations encountered and who would oversee bringing Christianity to them. For answers to these questions, the Catholic Monarchs turned to the Papacy.
From Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) the Spanish monarchs secured the Inter Caetera in 1493. Precedent for this document had already been established when the Portuguese received a formal papal donation of right of sovereignty for territories in Africa claimed beyond Cape Bojador through the Romanus Pontifex issued by Nicholas V on January 8, 1455.
Table 3: Papal Bulls Authorizing Spanish and Portuguese Expansion into the Atlantic
| Papal bull | Main provisions | Historical significance |
|---|---|---|
| Dum Diversas – Nicholas V, 1452 | Authorized King Afonso V of Portugal to wage war against designated non-Christian enemies and to conquer their territories; it also authorized the reduction of captured persons to perpetual servitude. | Provided religious and legal justification used to support Portuguese expansion and enslavement in Africa. |
| Romanus Pontifex – Nicholas V, 1455 | Confirmed and expanded Portuguese privileges in territories reached along the African coast and supported Portuguese control over navigation, trade, and conquest in these regions. | Strengthened Portugal’s claims to an exclusive sphere of expansion along the African coast and became an important justification for Portuguese imperial activity. |
| Inter Caetera – Calixtus III, 1456 | Confirmed Portuguese religious and ecclesiastical privileges in territories acquired or to be acquired through overseas expansion. | Reinforced Portugal’s privileged position in African and Atlantic expansion and linked expansion with Christian evangelization. |
| Aeterni Regis – Sixtus IV, 1481 | Confirmed arrangements associated with the Treaty of Alcáçovas (1479), recognizing Portuguese rights over Madeira, the Azores, Cape Verde, Guinea, and territories south of the Canary Islands, while Castile retained the Canaries. | Helped define Portuguese and Castilian spheres in the Atlantic before Columbus’s voyage. |
| Inter Caetera – Alexander VI, May 3, 1493 | Granted the Spanish monarchs claims to lands discovered by their representatives that were not already under Christian rule, while recognizing existing Portuguese rights. | Provided papal support for Spanish territorial claims following Columbus’s first voyage. |
| Inter Caetera – Alexander VI, May 3, 1493 | Established a line 100 leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands; Spain received claims to newly encountered non-Christian lands west of the line, subject to qualifications concerning prior Christian possession. | Attempted to establish separate Spanish and Portuguese spheres of expansion. |
| Eximiae Devotionis – Alexander VI, 1493 | Granted Ferdinand and Isabella privileges in their newly claimed territories comparable to privileges previously granted to Portugal. | Placed Spanish overseas expansion on a similar religious and legal footing to Portuguese expansion. |
| Dudum Siquidem – Alexander VI, 1493 | Expanded the earlier grants to include territories that Spanish expeditions might reach by sailing westward, including lands toward Asia. | Broadened Spain’s interpretation of its papal claims and increased tensions with Portuguese interests. |
The Papal Bull Inter Caetera played a instrumental role in facilitating the Spanish conquest of the Americas. The document supported Spain’s strategy to ensure its exclusive right to the lands encountered by Columbus one year before. It also established a demarcation line one hundred leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands and assigned Spain the exclusive right to acquire territorial possessions and to trade in all lands west of that line. All others were forbidden to approach the lands west of the line without special license from the rulers of Spain.
This effectively gave Spain a monopoly on the lands in the Americas. The secular formalization of the Inter Caetera came in the form of the signed in 1494 between the Spanish and Portuguese. The primary problem the Spanish monarchy faced at this point in time, a problem faced throughout its history in the Americas, was how to impose its authority in these newly claimed territories.
The papal bull Inter Caetera provided Spain with a basis for claiming extensive territories in the Americas, although these claims did not automatically translate into actual control. Spain and Portugal further formalized the division of their overseas claims in the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), which established separate Spanish and Portuguese spheres of expansion. The challenge for the Spanish monarchy was to establish and maintain royal authority over distant lands already inhabited by Indigenous societies. The tension between claiming territory and exercising effective control would remain a central challenge throughout Spain’s colonial history in the Americas.
| The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: The Implications of the Inter Caetera, The Bull stated that any land not inhabited by Christians was available to be “discovered,” claimed, and exploited by Christian rulers and declared that “the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself.” This “Doctrine of Discovery” became the basis of all European claims in the Americas as well as the foundation for the United States’ western expansion. In the US Supreme Court in the 1823 case Johnson v. McIntosh, Chief Justice John Marshall’s opinion in the unanimous decision held “that the principle of discovery gave European nations an absolute right to New World lands.” In essence, American Indians had only a right of occupancy, which could be abolished. |
THE SPANISH IN THE CARIBBEAN
The Spanish began to effectively occupy the Caribbean by 1493. The primary focus of Spanish occupation centered on the island of Hispañiola (Haiti/Dominican Republic) under Columbus’s leadership. By 1494, however, Columbus had been blamed for the inability of the Spanish to establish successful settlements in the Caribbean. Starvation, incompetence in governing, and social tensions contributed to Columbus’s demise. Bartolomé de las Casas, a Dominican monk that resided in this part of the Americas, explained that the, “The outcome was hatred for the Admiral . . .and this is the source of his reputation in Spain as a cruel man hateful to all Spaniards, a man unfit to rule. Columbus’s prestige declined steadily from then on, without one day of respite, until in the end nothing was left of it and he fell utterly into disgrace.”
In 1499, the Spanish monarchs sent Francisco de Bobadilla (1500-1502) to address the turmoil in the Caribbean which in effect ended Columbus’s governorship. However, the fortunes of the Spanish would change with the arrival of Nicolás de Ovando (1502-1509), a knight-commander of the Order of Alcántara, to the Caribbean in 1502. Interestingly, the Order of Alcantara was a clerical military order established in medieval Spain to wage war against Islam and recolonized conquered Muslim territories. May historians believe Ovando brought this medieval experience to the Caribbean as a way of addressing effective conquest, colonization, and conversion in the region. Under Ovando’s leadership, Hispañiola was made a royal domain and a testing ground for practices that would be transferred to other parts of Spanish America.
Ovando’s impact was felt immediately. The European population of Hispaniola jumped from about 300 to 3,000. The establishment of new towns resulted from this rise in colonists. Also under Ovando’s leadership gold production rose. This was partly achieved by coercing indigenous populations to labor in mining regions. He successfully asserted Spain’s presence by suppressing what remained of indigenous polities which obstructed access to local labor for exploitation. In 1503, the monarchs ordered Ovando to establish encomienda. Recall that encomiendas in medieval Spain frequently included a unit of territory which supplied its incumbent with rents paid by the inhabitants in exchange for the services of providing “a militia and exercising arms against the infidels.” These grants would appear in colonial Latin America, but with a different focus. What was granted to the encomandero (grant’s holder) was not land but indigenous labor in exchange for indoctrination to Iberian ways. In the end, encomienda became a labor exploitation system used throughout Spanish America. It also served to define Iberian and indigenous socioeconomic relationships.
THE INDIGENOUS QUESTION
The impact of Spanish on Indigenous Caribbean societies would be devastating. Indigenous societies such as the Taino, the Guanahatabey and Kalinago experienced dramatic population decline. In part this was due to pathogens brought by the Spanish to this region. Indigenous populations had no previous exposure to many of these pathogens and lacked the acquired immunity that existed among Iberian populations.
Table 4: European Pathogens in the Caribbean
| Disease | Approximate arrival / major outbreak | Effects on Indigenous populations | Historical significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smallpox | Major epidemic on Hispaniola beginning in 1518 | Fever, severe rash, dehydration, secondary infections, and high mortality among populations with no previous exposure | The best-documented devastating epidemic in the early Spanish Caribbean; it spread from Hispaniola to other Caribbean islands and then the mainland |
| Influenza | A major epidemic may have occurred after Columbus’s second voyage in 1493, although its identification is debated | Respiratory illness could spread rapidly through communities and contribute to high mortality | Often proposed as one of the earliest Old World epidemics in the Caribbean, but historians disagree about the diagnosis |
| Measles | Recurrent epidemics during the colonial period; clearly documented somewhat later than initial contact | Fever, respiratory illness, rash, and complications such as pneumonia; especially dangerous in populations without previous exposure | Became one of several recurring Old World diseases contributing to Indigenous mortality |
| Typhus | Sixteenth century; exact timing in the early Caribbean is uncertain | High fever, rash, weakness, and potentially high mortality | May have contributed to later epidemic mortality, although identifying typhus in early historical accounts is difficult |
| Whooping cough (pertussis) | Introduced during the post-contact period; precise early Caribbean chronology is uncertain | Severe respiratory illness, particularly dangerous for infants and children | Repeated epidemics could hinder population recovery by causing high childhood mortality |
| Mumps and other Old World infections | Introduced during European colonization | Different diseases affected children and adults and could produce complications and mortality | Part of a larger collection of unfamiliar pathogens introduced through sustained contact across the Atlantic |
Equally impactful in causing demographic decline were warfare, enslavement, forced labor, displacement, food shortages, and the disruption of communities. By 1530, for example, the vast majority of the Taino population had disappeared due to labor conditions and disease.
Table 5: Contact and Post-conquest Indigenous Society Demographics
| Indigenous society / region | Estimated population around contact | Post-conquest population / situation | Major causes of decline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taíno – Hispaniola | ~200,000–500,000 is a useful cautious range; estimates in scholarship vary much more widely | ~26,000 recorded under Spanish control | Disease, forced labor, warfare, famine, displacement, social disruption |
| Taíno – Puerto Rico (Borikén) | ~30,000–60,000, but highly uncertain | Only a few thousand remained within the colonial labor system by the 1530s; survivors also fled or became incorporated into mixed communities | Warfare, forced labor, disease, enslavement, migration |
| Taíno and other Indigenous peoples – Cuba | Possibly ~50,000–100,000+, highly uncertain | Reduced to a small fraction of the pre-conquest population by the mid-1500s | Disease, warfare, forced labor, displacement and migration |
| Taíno – Jamaica | Tens of thousands; estimates are particularly uncertain | Indigenous communities had been drastically reduced and disrupted by the mid-1500s | Disease, forced labor, Spanish colonization and displacement |
| Lucayans – Bahamas | ~20,000–40,000 often suggested | The islands were largely depopulated of their Indigenous inhabitants by the 1520s | Above all slave raiding and forced removal to Hispaniola and other islands, combined with disease and mortality |
| Kalinago – Lesser Antilles | No reliable region-wide estimate | Significant populations survived; there was no comparable rapid disappearance across the entire Lesser Antilles | Warfare, slave raiding, disease and later European colonization; sustained resistance delayed European occupation in several islands |
| Caribbean Indigenous peoples overall | Probably several hundred thousand or more; no scholarly consensus on a precise total | A very large demographic decline occurred during the 1500s, but Indigenous people and descendants survived throughout the Caribbean | Epidemics combined with warfare, exploitation, enslavement, forced migration, famine and social disruption |
In 1511, a Dominican friar named Antonio de Montesinos (1475-1540), witnessing this devastation, gave a celebrated sermon which denounced Spanish abuses of Indigenous people. The dispute between Montesinos and the colonists raised questions about the legitimacy of Spain’s claim to rule over the Caribbean and to turn its Indigenous inhabitants into subjects of the Spanish Empire. Eventually, the dispute reached the ear of King Ferdinand of Spain (1451-1516) who would seek an answer to the legality of Spain’s rulership over the Americas and its inhabitants by consulting legal and philosophical experts from his court. Below is a selection of the sermon given by Montesinos in 1511. It denounced the treatment of indigenous populations by the Spanish colonists.
| Sermon of Antonio de Montesinos This voice declares that you are in mortal sin, and live and die therein by reason of the cruelty and tyranny that you practice on these innocent people. Tell me, by what right or justice do you hold these Indians in such cruel and horrible slavery? By what right do you wage such de-testable wars on these people who lived mildly and peacefully in their own lands, where you have consumed infinite numbers of them with un-heard of murders and evils? Why do you so greatly oppress and fatigue them, not giving them enough to eat or caring for them when they fall ill from excessive labors, so that they die or rather are slain by you, so that you may extract and acquire gold every day? And what care do you take that they receive religious instruction and come to know their God and creator, or that they be baptized, hear mass, or observe holidays and Sundays? Are they not men? Do they not have rational souls? Are you not bound to love them as you love yourselves? How can you lie in such profound and lethargic slumber? Be sure that in your present state you can no more be saved than the Moors or Turks who do not have and do not want the faith of Jesus Christ. |
In response to these disputes, King Ferdinand of Spain summoned a meeting of jurists and theologians to address the charges leveled by the Dominican monk. The aim of this meeting was to define the relationship between the Spanish and indigenous populations. The hotly debated topic would produce a series of treatises on how indigenous inhabitants of the Caribbean should be treated and whether Spain had legal claims to these territories. Matías de Paz, a professor of theology, produced a treatise entitled Concerning the Rule of the King of Spain over the Indies (1512) in which he ultimate held that the Pope as vicar of Christ on earth who thus had both temporal and spiritual jurisdiction on earth. His position was that the King of Spain had every legitimate right instilled by the papacy to rule over territories claimed in the Caribbean and its inhabitants. Juan López Palacios Rubios (1450-1524), a Spanish jurist, produced a treatise entitled Of the Ocean Isles (1512). In addressing this question, Palacios Rubios founded his opinions on the authoritative writings of Aristotle. He argued that indigenous cultures were “slaves by nature.” Consequently, they needed to be guided by those more fit to rule. In this case, it was the Spanish. He also penned the Requerimiento, a manifesto that was to be read to Indigenous people before being conquered. Below are selections from this document.
| Requerimiento One of these Pontiffs [popes] who succeeded that St. Peter as Lord of the world, in the dignity and seat which I have before mentioned, made donation of these isles and Tierra-firme to the aforesaid King and Queen and to their successors, our lords . . . . So their Highnesses are kings and lords of these islands and land of Tierra-firme by virtue of this donation: and some islands, and indeed almost all those to whom this has been notified, have received and served their Highnesses, as lords and kings, in the way that subjects ought to do, with good will, without any resistance, immediately, without delay, when they were informed of the aforesaid facts. And also they received and obeyed the priests whom their Highnesses sent to preach to them and to teach them our Holy Faith; and all these, of their own free will, without any reward or condition, have become Christians, and are so, and their Highnesses have joyfully and benignantly received them, and also have commanded them to be treated as their subjects and vassals; and you too are held and obliged to do the same. . . . if you do not do this, and maliciously make delay in it, I certify to you that, with the help of God, we shall powerfully enter into your country and shall make war against you in all ways and manners that we can, and shall subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and of their Highnesses . . . . |
In 1512, the Spanish crown made its first effort to deal with the problems highlighted by Montesino’s sermon. It did so by issuing The Laws of Burgos (1512-1513). These laws were the first systematic attempt by the Spanish crown to define the relationship between Indigenous people and the Spanish. They were also meant to regulate the function of the encomienda system.
| The Laws of Burgos On indoctrination: XVII: Also, we order and command that now and in the future all the sons of chiefs of the said Island, of the age of thirteen or under, shall be given to the friars of the Order of St. Francis who may reside on the said Island, as the King my Lord has commanded in one of his decrees, so that the said friars may teach them to read and write, and all the other things of our Holy Catholic Faith; and they shall keep them for four years and then return them to the persons who have them in encomienda, so that these sons of chiefs may teach the said Indians . . . . On gold: XIII: Also, we order and command that, after the Indians have been brought to the estates, all the founding [of gold] that henceforth is done on the said Island shall be done in the manner prescribed below: that is, the said persons who have Indians in encomienda shall extract gold with them for five months in the year and, at the end of these five months, the said Indians shall rest forty days, and the day they cease their labor of extracting gold shall be noted on a certificate . . . And we command that the Indians who thus leave the mines shall And we command that the Indians who thus leave the mines shall not, during the said forty days, be ordered to do anything whatever, save to plant the hillocks necessary for their subsistence that season; and the persons who have the said Indians in encomienda shall be obliged, during these forty days of rest, to indoctrinate them in the things of our Faith more than on the other days, because they will have the opportunity. |
The efforts of Montesinos continued under the direction of a Dominican monk by the name Bartolome de las Casas. In 1537, Las Casa wrote The Only Method of Attracting All People to the True Faith. In his work, Las Casas argued that war against the Indigenous people was unjust and tyrannical. Anything taken from them, including land, was done so in an unjust manner and it should be returned to them.
For Las Casas, Indigenous people were rational beings and thus conversion should appeal to their reason and should not be done by force. In essence, Las Casas was reaffirming a doctrine established by the Sublimis Deus (1537) of Pope Paul III (r. 1534-49) which noted,
| Sublimis Deus We define and declare by these Our letters . . . the said Indians and all other people who may later be discovered by Christians, are by no means to be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, even though they be outside the faith of Jesus Christ; and that they may and should, freely and legitimately, enjoy their liberty and the possession of their property; nor should they be in any way enslaved; should the contrary happen, it shall be null and have no effect. |
Francisco de Vitoria (1483-1546) , like Las Casas, was a member of the Dominican order and in 1539 wrote a work entitled Relectio de Indis. In this work Vitoria questioned the legal and moral justification for Spain’s conquest of the Americas. He argued that Indigenous peoples possessed natural rights, including rights to their property and political authority. He also explained that neither their non-Christian religion nor the pope’s authority automatically gave Spain the right to conquer their lands. However, Vitoria also proposed circumstances that could provide Spain with a “just title” for intervention, including Spanish rights to peaceful travel, trade, and communication. His argument therefore challenged some traditional justifications for conquest while simultaneously developing new legal arguments that could be used to justify Spanish intervention in the Americas. In the end, Vitoria defended Indigenous rights while also constructing arguments that could legitimize colonial intervention.
In 1550 and 1551 Bartolomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda (recall him from Historical Causation in Democrated Alter) faced each other in Valladolid to debate the Spanish presence in the Caribbean. More specifically, their dispute focused on Indigenous people and their political and moral status, capacity for self-government, natural law, and whether Spain possessed legitimate grounds for conquest and domination. Sepúlveda’s position was recorded in his work entitled Democrates alter de justis belli causis apud Indios while Las Casas made his position known in his Apologetica Historia Summaria. This debate, along with others on this question, shows that Spaniards themselves debated the morality and legality of conquest. However, as you will read below both Las Casas and Sepúlveda operated within a Christian and imperial Spanish intellectual framework.
Table 6: The Valladolid Debate (1550–1551)
| Issue | Bartolomé de las Casas | Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda |
|---|---|---|
| View of Indigenous peoples | Indigenous peoples were rational human beings capable of governing themselves and possessing legitimate societies. | Argued that Indigenous societies exhibited forms of “barbarism” and inferiority that could justify Spanish domination under certain circumstances. |
| Natural slavery | Rejected applying Aristotle’s concept of “natural slavery” to Indigenous Americans. | Drew upon Aristotle’s ideas about natural hierarchy and servitude to defend Spanish domination. |
| Right to land and government | Indigenous peoples possessed legitimate political authority and property rights. | Spanish intervention could be justified when Indigenous practices were understood to violate natural law. |
| Spanish conquest | Much of the conquest was unjust because it involved violence, exploitation, and seizure of Indigenous lands without legitimate cause. | Conquest could constitute a “just war” under specific conditions. |
| Warfare | Generally opposed offensive war as a means of conquest or conversion. | Argued that war could be justified to impose natural law, punish certain practices, or protect innocent victims. |
| Human sacrifice | Condemned human sacrifice but did not believe it generally justified conquest and widespread warfare. | Viewed human sacrifice and related practices as important grounds for Spanish intervention, particularly to protect innocent victims. |
| Christian conversion | Christianity should be taught through peaceful preaching and voluntary conversion. | Spanish authority could help create conditions for evangelization; his position allowed coercive intervention preceding missionary activity. |
| Indigenous sovereignty | Indigenous rulers possessed legitimate authority over their own communities. | Indigenous political authority could be overridden under circumstances he regarded as violations of natural law. |
| Spanish treatment of Indigenous peoples | Condemned enslavement, brutality, exploitation, and many aspects of the encomienda system. | Defended Spanish domination when based on what he considered legitimate grounds for intervention and “just war.” |
| Basic argument | Spain could not simply conquer Indigenous peoples because they were non-Christian or culturally different. | Spain could legitimately intervene and wage war under certain conditions based on natural law and just-war principles. |
THE PUSH FOR ENSLAVED AFRICANS IN THE CARIBBEAN
In 1516, King Ferdinand died, and the regent of Spain, Cardinal Cisneros, appointed three Jeronymites to investigate and govern over Hispañiola. The decline of the indigenous population became a major concern as forced labor was a necessity to ensure the survival of the island economy. The solution proposed by the Jeronymites was bring labor into this region from Africa in the form of slaves. Why this solution would be widely accepted with time is summarized by the historian Roquinaldo Ferreira and Tatiana Seijas:
| First, the region witnessed a demographic catastrophe in the wake of European colonialism that decimated millions of indigenous people, forcing colonists to look elsewhere for productive labor. Second, Portugal had a preexisting slave trade to Europe and other African regions, which enabled Portuguese traders to deliver enslaved Africans to the Americas. Third, the slave trade to Latin America reflected the region’s place in the early modern global economy, which was largely defined by the massive production of agricultural commodities for export to Europe. |
The historian David Wheat also makes a very important observation about enslaved Africans in Latin America. Wheat explains that “throughout the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, as Africans and people of African descent became de facto settlers on Spain’s behalf, the Latinization of enslaved Africans played a structural role in sustaining Spanish colonization of the Caribbean.” Enslaved Africans brought into the Spanish Caribbean received one of two classifications assigned by the Spanish. For those African slaves who were familiar with Castilian (Spanish) or the Portuguese language they were labeled ladinos. Those African slaves who were not familiar with Iberian languages were categorized as bozales. Ladinos were African slaves who more than likely had Spain as their embarkation point meaning they had spent some time in Iberia. In contrast, bozales had their embarkation point in Africa.
Why were the Portuguese dominant in the early slave trade to colonial Latin America? Recall that the Portuguese crown channeled its energies on expansion down the coast of Africa and the establishment of trading forts. This positioned the Portuguese through the trade networks they had established to control the trans-Atlantic slave trade in its early stages. More specifically, it was trading networks in Senegambia, the Gold Coast, and Central Africa that made it possible for the Portuguese to meet the slave labor demand of colonial Latin America. Also recall that sugar production, “more than any other product, embodies the close connection between the rise of an international labor market (based on slavery) and the development of plantation economies that tied together Europe, Africa, and the Americas.” Later, gold and silver mining along with coffee production would place a demand on African slave labor.
It is important to reflect on what one historian has noted about slavery in the Americas: “It transferred the wealth produced by Africans and their descendants to slave owners, producing a centuries-long legacy of expropriation and poverty that continued to affect Afro descendants long after slavery had ended.” As previously noted, Portugal as a nation came together much quicker than Spain. This facilitated Portuguese expansion into the Atlantic and down the coast of Africa. Keep in mind, the Portuguese like the Spanish were able to take advantage of maritime technological innovations and geographic knowledge introduced by Islam into Iberia. Also recall that it was the Portuguese who fused the growing of sugar with African slave labor off the coast of Africa. The classic example where we see this fusion take place was in the Atlantic islands and in São Tomé.
THE PORTUGUESE IN BRAZIL
When did the Portuguese first come into contact with Brazil? In 1499, the first ship to return from Vasco de Gama’s (1460-1524) expedition to India prompted a follow-up expedition to be led by Pedro Alvares Cabral (1467-1520). Taking the westerly winds to slingshot down the coast of Africa, a miscalculation drifted Cabral’s expedition in a westerly direction eventually touching land that would be named Brazil.
The first Indigenous culture that Cabral encountered were the Tupinambá. Like in the Caribbean with the arrival of the Spanish, the Indigenous populations of Brazil would experience catastrophic results from the contact with the Portuguese. Unlike the Portuguese ventures to India which offered vast access to resources, Brazil appear to offer little economically early on. This territory claimed by the Portuguese was named Brazil in 1503 because of the association of this land with brazilwood. Brazilwood was valued because it produced a red dye and the wood could also be used for shipbuilding. In fact, brazilwood extraction was the dominant economic activity in Brazil from 1500 to 1535. The Portuguese relied on indigenous labor to harvest this resource.
A major problem facing the Portuguese in Brazil where the French incursions into this region. Because of the vast size of the Brazilian coastline, Portuguese patrols were ineffective in keeping the French out of their territories claimed This opened the door for the French to begin tapping into brazilwood extraction and piracy. It became clear to the Portuguese crown that fort system could not effectively occupy and defend this part of the world for the Portuguese. A colonization effort needed to be initiated. In 1532, Martim Afonso de Sousa (1500-1564) established a colony in Sao Vicente.
This early effort at colonization clearly needed to be scaled up. King Dom Joao III (1502-1557) decided that the best way to accomplish this was to divide the Brazilian coast and interior into 15 sections which would be awarded to a donatory captains. These individuals were diverse and came from the ranks of bureaucrats, merchants, and lesser nobility. Termed captaincies, they would serve as a model of colonization for Brazil. Each of the leaders was responsible for retaining the territory and transferring settlers to it. This model gave the donatory captains extensive economic privileges as they were permitted to extract tribute from the settlers. They were also permitted to distribute sesmarias, tracts of land to individuals.
Table 7: Captaincies at a Glance
| Captaincy | Original donatary / grantee | General location | Early outcome / significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maranhão | João de Barros and Aires da Cunha, with Fernão Álvares de Andrade involved in the northern grants | Northern Brazil | Early colonizing expedition failed; Portuguese settlement remained weak |
| Ceará | António Cardoso de Barros | Northeastern Brazil | Largely unsuccessful as an early settlement |
| Rio Grande | João de Barros and Aires da Cunha | Present-day Rio Grande do Norte | Early settlement attempts failed; later brought more directly under royal control |
| Itamaracá | Pero Lopes de Sousa | North of Pernambuco | Established some settlement and sugar production but remained less successful than neighboring Pernambuco |
| Pernambuco | Duarte Coelho Pereira | Northeastern Brazil | One of the most successful captaincies; became a major center of sugar cultivation and export |
| Bahia | Francisco Pereira Coutinho | Around present-day Salvador | Initial captaincy struggled; later became crucial when the Crown established the royal government at Salvador in 1549 |
| Ilhéus | Jorge de Figueiredo Correia | Southern Bahia | Developed settlements and sugar production but faced significant difficulties |
| Porto Seguro | Pero do Campo Tourinho | Southern Bahia | Established settlements but experienced economic and administrative difficulties |
| Espírito Santo | Vasco Fernandes Coutinho | Present-day Espírito Santo | Survived despite warfare, financial problems, and difficulties establishing Portuguese control |
| São Tomé | Pero de Góis | Present-day northern Rio de Janeiro area | Early colonization struggled and largely failed |
| São Vicente | Martim Afonso de Sousa | Present-day São Paulo region | One of the most successful captaincies; São Vicente became an important settlement and base for expansion into the interior |
| Santo Amaro | Pero Lopes de Sousa | Coastal area near São Vicente | Limited development; eventually became associated with neighboring territories |
| Santana | Pero Lopes de Sousa | Southern coastal Brazil | Difficult to colonize effectively and remained weakly occupied by Portugal |
Between 1530 and 1540, the sugar industry replaced brazilwood as the nucleus of Brazil’s economy. With time, sugar transitioned from being a luxury item to an item of mass consumption. Sugar mills were established throughout the captaincies, however it was in the Northeast of Brazil where sugar and sugar mills made their greatest headway. The most important sugar producing centers in Brazil were located in Pernambuco and Bahia. The topsoil located in these areas along with the regular supply of rain made it these regions ideal for growing sugarcane.
Table 8: Early Sugar Production in Brazil
| Location | Approximate period of early sugar development | Importance to Portuguese sugar production | Labor / production characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|
| São Vicente, Brazil | 1530s onward | One of the earliest centers of Brazilian sugar production | Early mills used both Indigenous and African enslaved labor; eventually overshadowed by northeastern Brazil |
| Pernambuco, Brazil | 1530s onward | Became one of the most important sugar-producing regions in the Atlantic world during the 16th and 17th centuries | Large plantations and mills (engenhos); increasingly dependent on enslaved African labor |
| Bahia, Brazil | Mid-1500s onward | Along with Pernambuco, became a major center of Brazil’s colonial sugar economy | Large plantations, engenhos, Atlantic export networks, and extensive enslaved African labor |
Because of the demise of Indigenous populations, the Portuguese transplanted the plantation complex model from the Atlantic to Brazil. Between 1550 and 1570 there were few Africans working on sugar plantations. With time, this would change dramatically as reflected in the records of a sugar plantation in Bahia. These records show that in 1574 African slaves made up 7% of the workforce, in 1591 37%, and by 1638 the entire labor force was composed of enslaved Africans. In this world plantation owners exerted tremendous economic, social, and political power in Brazil. The vast majority of these plantation owners were wealthy immigrants, merchants and in some cases nobles. The focus of Brazil’s economy would begin to change in 1690 with the discovery of gold in Minas Gerias. It would introduce to Brazilian history what is referred to as the gold cycle.
Table 9: Sugar and the Transition to African Enslaved Labor
| Region | Early African slave importation | Role in sugar production | Development by late 1500s |
|---|---|---|---|
| São Vicente (1530) | Enslaved Africans were present by the early decades of Portuguese settlement, but numbers were relatively small | Sugar mills initially relied heavily on enslaved Indigenous labor alongside Africans | Sugar remained important locally, but São Vicente was surpassed by northeastern Brazil as a major export region |
| Pernambuco (1530s-1540s) | African importation increased substantially after the mid-1500s as sugar production expanded | Enslaved Africans increasingly became central to plantation and mill labor, although Indigenous slavery also persisted | Became one of Brazil’s largest sugar-producing regions and a major destination for enslaved Africans |
| Bahia (1540s-1550s) | African imports increased especially during the second half of the 1500s | Sugar plantations initially used both Indigenous and African enslaved labor; African slavery became increasingly dominant | Developed into one of Brazil’s principal sugar-producing and slave-importing regions |
| Brazil overall (1530 onward) | Small-scale African arrivals occurred early; the transatlantic trade expanded significantly after c. 1550 | Labor shifted gradually from heavy reliance on Indigenous slavery toward an increasingly African enslaved workforce | By the end of the 1500s, sugar and African slavery had become closely interconnected, particularly in Bahia and Pernambuco |
IN CLOSING
Our next topic will further explore the formation of colonial society and economy and the creation of a casta system. I would like to explore with you some theoretical frameworks that we will reference through the modern era in our next discussion. As always, be sure to contact me or visit me during office hours should you have any questions about the content we have covered or the assignments that you need to complete.
