Ashley McCormack
History 120
2/2/016
Spaniards in the New World In the 16th century, with help from the New World, Spain became the most powerful monarchy in the Americas and Europe. The Spaniards taught other Europeans how the New World could be made to help the Old. The Spanish relied on Indian laborers, their superior military technology, and their favored concept of war to make them the reigning colony of the New World. Originally, the Spaniards enslaved Caribbean tribes and made them do work such as growing crops and mining gold. Then Hernan Cortes arrived in the New World at age 19. The governor of Cuba allowed Cortes to plan an excursion with 600 men to examine rumors of an upscale kingdom somewhere in the remote mainland. Cortes …show more content…
One of the colonialists wrote to his brother in Spain, “Don’t hesitate [to come]…This land [New Spain] is as good as ours [in Spain], for God has given us more here than there, and we shall be better off” After 1492, approximately 225,000 Spaniards ended up in the colonies, most were underprivileged boys. Laborers and artisans accounted for the most of these men, but soldiers and sailors also were included. The two basic aspects of New Spain were shaped by the gender and number of Spanish settlers. The first being, Europeans rarely made up even a small percentage of the population. The population was made up of mostly Indians despite the fact that the Spaniards ruled New Spain. Second being, there was a scarcity of Spanish women so Spanish men had to marry Indian women. The limited number of Spaniards being outnumbered by Indians and the Spanish men marrying Indian women generated a social hierarchy. The peninsulares were at the highest social position. Peninsulares were people born on the Iberian Peninsula. Below the peninsulares were the elite Creoles who were born in the New World from Spanish parents. Together peninsulares and creoles made up less than two percent of the total population. Underneath them were the mestizos or the offspring of Spanish men and Indian women. The mestizos made up about five percent of the population (Roark, pp. 44,
History 120
2/2/016
Spaniards in the New World In the 16th century, with help from the New World, Spain became the most powerful monarchy in the Americas and Europe. The Spaniards taught other Europeans how the New World could be made to help the Old. The Spanish relied on Indian laborers, their superior military technology, and their favored concept of war to make them the reigning colony of the New World. Originally, the Spaniards enslaved Caribbean tribes and made them do work such as growing crops and mining gold. Then Hernan Cortes arrived in the New World at age 19. The governor of Cuba allowed Cortes to plan an excursion with 600 men to examine rumors of an upscale kingdom somewhere in the remote mainland. Cortes …show more content…
One of the colonialists wrote to his brother in Spain, “Don’t hesitate [to come]…This land [New Spain] is as good as ours [in Spain], for God has given us more here than there, and we shall be better off” After 1492, approximately 225,000 Spaniards ended up in the colonies, most were underprivileged boys. Laborers and artisans accounted for the most of these men, but soldiers and sailors also were included. The two basic aspects of New Spain were shaped by the gender and number of Spanish settlers. The first being, Europeans rarely made up even a small percentage of the population. The population was made up of mostly Indians despite the fact that the Spaniards ruled New Spain. Second being, there was a scarcity of Spanish women so Spanish men had to marry Indian women. The limited number of Spaniards being outnumbered by Indians and the Spanish men marrying Indian women generated a social hierarchy. The peninsulares were at the highest social position. Peninsulares were people born on the Iberian Peninsula. Below the peninsulares were the elite Creoles who were born in the New World from Spanish parents. Together peninsulares and creoles made up less than two percent of the total population. Underneath them were the mestizos or the offspring of Spanish men and Indian women. The mestizos made up about five percent of the population (Roark, pp. 44,