How did Spain and Portugal build colonies in the Americas?

Answer 1

They invaded, ethnic clensed the local native population and turned the remainded into slaves and paupers.

In the 16th century Spain and Portugal were in the vanguard of European global exploration and colonial expansion and the opening of trade routes across the oceans, with trade flourishing across the Atlantic Ocean between Spain and the Americas and across the Pacific Ocean between East Asia and Mexico via the Philippines. Conquistadors toppled the Aztec, Inca, and Maya civilizations, and laid claim to vast stretches of land in North and South America. For a time, the Spanish Empire dominated the oceans with its experienced navy and ruled the European battlefield with its fearsome and well trained infantry, the famous tercios.

Upon the settlement of Hispanola which was successful in the early 1500s, the colonists began searching elsewhere to begin new settlements. Those from the less prosperous Hispaniola were eager to search for new success in a new settlement. From there Juan Ponce de León conquered Puerto Rico and Diego Velázquez took Cuba. The first settlement on the mainland was Darién in Panama, settled by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1512.

In 1513, Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and led the first European expedition to see the Pacific Ocean from the west coast of the New World. In an action with enduring historical import, Balboa claimed the Pacific Ocean and all the lands adjoining it for the Spanish Crown.

Commercially this Castilian Empire abroad was initially a disappointment. It did stimulate trade and industry and a growth of Spain's few large cities, but it was not until the opening of the great silver mines in Mexico and Peru at Zacatecas and Potosi in 1546 that the large shipments of silver became a major and growing source of wealth for Castile and the Crown. Ultimately, however, these imports diverted investment away from other forms industry and contributed to inflation in Spain in the last decades of the 16th century. This situation was aggravated by the loss of many of the commericial and artisan classes with the expulsions of the Jews and Moriscos. The vast imports of silver ultimately made Spain overly dependent on foreign sources of raw materials and manufactured goods.

The wealthy preferred to invest their fortunes in public debt (juros), which were backed by these silver imports, rather than in production of manufactures and the improvement of agriculture. This helped perpetuate the medieval aristocratic prejudice that saw manual work as dishonorable long after this attitude had started to decline in other west European countries.

The system was simple. Spain's immediate objectives in were to use each settlement a base for further expansion, and to convert the natives to Christianity.

These goals were not quickly achieved because Spain had to contend with England's destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and needed to devote energy and resources to developing its colonies in the Americas.

The encomienda system of landownership was established, by which the colony was divided into parcels, each assigned to an influential Spanish national. Spain introduced payment of tribute and forced labour for the production of commodities. While the missionaries spread through the colony to found their parishes and estates in the rural colonies, the officials of the civil administration preferred to stay in larger colonies, and govern indirectly through the village chief.

The galleon trade was another innovation. Galleons were large ships that plied the trade between China and Mexico from the early 16th to the early 19th century, using Manila as a stopover port. The Philippines was, administratively, part of the viceroyalty of Mexico. In spite of the distance between the two, the islands were closely linked to Mexico by the galleons, which carried Chinese silk and porcelain from Manila to Mexico and brought priests and silver bullion on the return voyage.

The Spanish limited trade to only one galleon per year in order to minimize the drain of silver to China and to prevent Chinese goods from flooding Spanish markets. By this time, however, Chinese merchants had already settled in the Philippines and become brokers for other trade from China.

From Mxico the ships went to Cuba, then back to Cadiz via Teneriffe.

Answer 2

Well, I too am answering this question bc i read a dumb book for apush. Basically everyone but england wanted gold and to convert people to Christianity. France was mainly there for the fur, england to colonize and plant stuff, spain for the silver, and the dutch for the gold and stuff. youre welcome

Answer 3

Once they landed,they got all they could from the natives,killed most of them. During which they had missionaries,for those who weren't killed,were converted to christianity,and then they had hacienda's (plantations),and used the econmienda system,in which they enslaved the natives.

Answer 4

always when I post a question, even if it's the easiest one, they can't offer me a good informed answer here. What happened to people who actually make the effort to write an answer??