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Spanish colonization of the Americas

 
Spanish Colonization of the Americas

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Spanish colonization of the Americas



 
 
The Spanish colonization of the Americas was Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
's conquest, settlement, and rule over much of the western hemisphere
Western Hemisphere

The Western Hemisphere, also Western hemisphere or western hemisphere, is a geography term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian , the other half being the Eastern Hemisphere....
. Beginning with the arrival of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was a Republic of Genoa navigator, colonialist and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean?funded by Queen Isabella of Spain?led to general European awareness of the America in the Western Hemisphere....
 in 1492, over three centuries the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire

The Spanish Empire was one of the largest empires in world history, and one of the first global empires. It included territories and colonies ruled by Spain in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania between the 15th and late 19th centuries....
 expanded from early small settlements in the Caribbean to include Central America, most of South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
, what today is Southwestern United States
Southwestern United States

The Southwestern area of the United States could be defined as the states west of the Mississippi River, with the qualification of a certain northern limit, such as the 37th parallel north, 38th parallel north, 39th parallel north, or 40th parallel north line....
, the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of North America, reaching Alaska
Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Spanish possessions in America began a series of independence movements, which culminated in Spain's loss of all of its colonies on the mainland of North
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, Central
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 by 1825.






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The Spanish colonization of the Americas was Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
's conquest, settlement, and rule over much of the western hemisphere
Western Hemisphere

The Western Hemisphere, also Western hemisphere or western hemisphere, is a geography term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian , the other half being the Eastern Hemisphere....
. Beginning with the arrival of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was a Republic of Genoa navigator, colonialist and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean?funded by Queen Isabella of Spain?led to general European awareness of the America in the Western Hemisphere....
 in 1492, over three centuries the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire

The Spanish Empire was one of the largest empires in world history, and one of the first global empires. It included territories and colonies ruled by Spain in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania between the 15th and late 19th centuries....
 expanded from early small settlements in the Caribbean to include Central America, most of South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
, what today is Southwestern United States
Southwestern United States

The Southwestern area of the United States could be defined as the states west of the Mississippi River, with the qualification of a certain northern limit, such as the 37th parallel north, 38th parallel north, 39th parallel north, or 40th parallel north line....
, the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of North America, reaching Alaska
Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Spanish possessions in America began a series of independence movements, which culminated in Spain's loss of all of its colonies on the mainland of North
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, Central
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 by 1825. The remaining Spanish colonies of Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a Autonomy Territories of the United States of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands....
, Guam
Guam

Guam , officially the Territory of Guam, is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized, unincorporated insular area of the United States....
 and the Philippines
Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
 were occupied by the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 following the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War

The Spanish?American War was an armed military conflict between Spain and the United States that took place between April and August 1898, over the issues of the liberation of Cuba....
 (1898), ending Spanish rule in the Americas. The Spanish settled in many different places all over America.

Christopher Columbus

Portuguese explorers had recently been establishing new routes north along the West Africa
West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:...
n coast, and it seemed likely that the Portuguese caravels would shortly reach the rich trading areas of Asia by traveling east. After his failure to persuade the King of Portugal to sponsor his expedition, Columbus was able to convince the recently crowned monarchs of the Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile

Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of Le?n....
 and the Kingdom of Aragon
Kingdom of Aragon

The Kingdom of Aragon was an old Monarchy in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day Autonomous communities of Spain of Aragon , in Spain....
, Isabella and Ferdinand
Ferdinand II of Aragon

Ferdinand the Catholic was king of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia , Sardinia and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, de jure uxoris King of Crown of Castile and then Regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of his mentally unstable daughter Joanna the Mad....
, to finance his novel idea: to reach the trading partners in Asia by traveling directly west across the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
.

Columbus' voyages were also taking place at the end of seven centuries of the Reconquista
Reconquista

The Reconquista was a period of 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula succeeded in retaking the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims....
, in which the last Moorish
Moors

In the Spanish language, the term for Moors is Moro; in Portuguese language the word is mouro. There seems to have been some confusion about the relationship of the word moro/mouro to the word moreno , both from Greek language ma?ros, i.e....
 kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France....
, Granada, was brought under Christian control. The Native Americans, like the Moors in Spain, were for a time considered without rights as long as they were not converted to Catholicism.

Columbus was made governor of the new territories and made several more journeys across the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
. He profited from the labour of native slaves
Indian slavery

Indian slavery was the practice of using indigenous peoples of the Americas as slaves....
, whom he forced to mine gold
Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
; he also attempted to sell some slaves to Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
. While generally regarded as an excellent navigator, he was a poor administrator and was stripped of the governorship in 1500.

On his immediate discovery of the Taíno
Taíno

The Ta?nos were Indigenous peoples of the Americas of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is believed that the seafaring Ta?nos were relatives of the Arawakan people of South America....
 people (one of three local Arawak
Arawak

The term Arawak , was used to designate some of the peoples encountered by the Spain in the West Indies in 1492 and thereafter. These include the Ta?no, who occupied the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas and Bimini Florida, the Nepoya and Suppoyo of Trinidad and the Igneri, who were supposed to have preceded the Caribs in the Lesser Anti...
-speaking indigenous groups), whom he met right after arriving on the island of Guanahani in the Bahamas on his first voyage, Columbus got the impression that he could conquer these people easily. In his journal he wrote, "I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men and govern them as I please" - and he proceeded to do just that.

He kidnapped some ten to twenty-five indians and took them back to Spain. Only about seven or eight survived this journey but with the parrots, gold trinkets and other exotic loot Columbus displayed to the Spanish government he was able to persuade them into providing him with seventeen ships, nearly 1,500 men, cannons, crossbows, guns, cavalry, and attack dogs for the voyage.

He returned to Hispaniola and the Taíno (Arawaks) in 1493 demanding food, gold, spun cotton and whatever else they could get from the Indians. Cooperation was ensured by a punishment system: any minor offense by an Arawak would result in a Spaniard cutting off his ears or nose only to be sent back to the village as living, breathing, bleeding example of the work expected and the brutality of which the Spaniards were capable.

The Tainos began to resist by refusing to plant for the Spanish, abandoning captured towns, etc. but over time this rebellion grew physically violent. Nonetheless, the Indian "sticks and stones" were no match to the guns and harmless to the armor the Spanish wore. Columbus used this resistance by the Indians as a reason to wage war and on March 24, 1495 the famed explorer set out to conquer this race that he had labeled "inferior" and "stupid."

Naturally, the Spanish won and according to Kirkpatrick Sale, who quotes Ferdinand Columbus's biography of his father: "The soldiers mowed down dozens with point-blank volleys, loosed the dogs to rip open limbs and bellies, chased fleeing Indians into the bush to skewer them on sword and pike and 'with God's aid soon gained complete victory, killing many Indians and capturing others who were also killed.'"

This led to a massive Spanish slave trade, in which Columbus brought back some 500 "specimens" to work as slaves in Spain while another 500 stayed as slaves for the crew left in the Americas.

Still, Columbus could not find the gold he was looking for all along. And refusing to call it slavery, Columbus resorted to this "forced labor". Indians were forced to mine for gold, raise Spanish food, provide sexual companionship, and even carry the Spanish everywhere they went. And beyond these cruel acts the Spanish disrupted the culture. Forcing the Taíno to work in mines led to widespread malnutrition and furthermore, an intrusion of European livestock and diseases caused further damage.

The Taíno often refused to participate in the new lifestyle being forced upon them by the Spanish which resulted in suicide. In addition, children were often killed as a perceived escape from a terrible life to come.

Before Columbus's arrival, hundreds of thousands of people populated Hispaniola alone. By 1509, only 60,000 Taíno remained there. Although population estimates vary, Father Bartolomé de las Casas
Bartolomé de Las Casas

File:Bartolomedelascasas.jpgBartolom? de las Casas, Dominican Order , was a 16th-century Spanish Empire Dominican Order priest, and the first resident Bishop of Chiapas....
, the “Defender of the Indians” estimated that there were six million (6,000,000) Taíno in the Caribbean at the time of Columbus's arrival in 1492.

Conquest of Mexico

On his fourth and final voyage to America in 1502, Columbus encountered a large canoe off the coast of what is now Honduras
Honduras

Honduras is a democratic republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras ....
 filled with trade goods. He boarded the canoe and rifled through the cargo which included cacao
Cacao

Cacao , or the cocoa plant, is a small evergreen tree in the family Sterculiaceae , native to the deep tropical region of the Americas. There are two prominent competing hypotheses about the origins of the original wild Theobroma cacao tree....
 beans, copper
Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
 and flint axes, copper bells, pottery, and colorful cotton
Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
 garments. He took one prisoner and what he wanted from the cargo and let the canoe continue. This was the first contact of the Spanish with the civilizations of Central America.

In 1513, Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Vasco N??ez de Balboa was a Spanish people explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World....
 crossed the Isthmus of Panama
Isthmus of Panama

The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North America and South America....
, and led the first European expedition to see the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
 from the west coast of the New World
History of the west coast of North America

The human history of the west coast of North America is believed to stretch back to the arrival of the earliest people over the Bering Strait, or alternately along a now-submerged coastal plain, through the development of significant pre-Columbian cultures and population densities, to the arrival of the European ethnic groups explorers and...
. In an action with enduring historical import, Balboa claimed the Pacific Ocean and all the lands adjoining it for the Spanish Crown. It was 1517 before another expedition from Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
 visited Central America, landing on the coast of the Yucatán
Yucatán

Yucat?n is one of the States of Mexico of Mexico, located on the north of the Yucat?n Peninsula. The Yucatan peninsula includes three states: Yucat?n, Campeche, and Quintana Roo; all three modern states were formerly part of the larger historic state of Yucat?n in the 19th century....
 in search of slaves
Slavery

Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
. This was followed by a phase of conquest. The Spaniards, just having finished a war
Reconquista

The Reconquista was a period of 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula succeeded in retaking the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims....
 against the Muslim
Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
 Moors
Moors

In the Spanish language, the term for Moors is Moro; in Portuguese language the word is mouro. There seems to have been some confusion about the relationship of the word moro/mouro to the word moreno , both from Greek language ma?ros, i.e....
 in the Iberian peninsula
Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France....
, began toppling the local American civilizations, and attempted to impose Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
.

There is a difference between the Spanish conquest of Mexico and the Spanish conquest of Yucatán
Spanish conquest of Yucatán

The Spanish conquest of Yucat?n was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish Empire conquistadores against the Mesoamerican chronology Maya civilization states and polity, particularly in the northern and central Yucat?n Peninsula but also involving the Maya polities of the Guatemalan highlands region....
. Although the Yucatán Peninsula
Yucatán Peninsula

The Yucat?n Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucat?n Channel....
 is part of the modern-day country of Mexico, the Spanish conquest of Mexico refers to the conquest of the Mexica/Aztec
Aztec

Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl and who achieved political and military dominance over large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology....
 empire by Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés

Hern?n Cort?s de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marqu?s del Valle de Oaxaca was a Spain conquistador who led an expedition that caused the conquest of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the Crown of Castile, in the early 16th century....
 from 1519–21. It is April 22, 1519, the day Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés

Hern?n Cort?s de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marqu?s del Valle de Oaxaca was a Spain conquistador who led an expedition that caused the conquest of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the Crown of Castile, in the early 16th century....
 landed ashore and founded the city of Veracruz
Veracruz, Veracruz

The city of Veracruz is a major port city and municipalities of Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexico States of Mexico of Veracruz. The metropolitan areas of Mexico is Mexico's largest on the Gulf coast and an important east coast port....
, that marks the beginning of almost 303 years of Spanish hegemony
Hegemony

Hegemony first denoted the dominance of a Greek city-state over other city-states, then denoted the dominance of one nation over others. The political scientist Antonio Gramsci developed the former conceptions to identify the dominance of one social class over the other social classes in a society by means of cultural hegemony....
 over the region. The Spanish conquest of Yucatán
Spanish conquest of Yucatán

The Spanish conquest of Yucat?n was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish Empire conquistadores against the Mesoamerican chronology Maya civilization states and polity, particularly in the northern and central Yucat?n Peninsula but also involving the Maya polities of the Guatemalan highlands region....
, on the other hand, refers to the conquest of the Maya states from 1551–1697

Conquest of Peru

In the early 16th-century, a group of Spaniards
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 led by Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro

Francisco Pizarro Gonz?lez, 1st Marqu?s de los Atabillos was a Spain conquistador, conqueror of the Incan Empire and founder of Lima, the modern-day capital of Peru....
 succeeded in toppling the Inca Empire
Inca Empire

The Inca Empire was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cuzco in modern-day Peru....
. They took advantage of a recent civil war in the empire (between the factions of the brothers: Atahualpa
Atahualpa

Atahualpa, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa, or Atawallpa , was the last sovereign emperor of the Tahuantinsuyu, or the Inca Empire. He became emperor upon defeating his older half-brother Hu?scar in a civil war sparked by the death of their father, Inca Huayna Capac, from an infectious disease thought to be smallpox....
 and Huascar
Huáscar

Inti Cusi Huallpa Hu?scar was Sapa Inca of the Inca empire from 1527 to 1532 AD, succeeding his father Huayna Capac and brother Ninan Cuyochi, both of whom died of smallpox while campaigning near Quito....
) to capture the ruling monarch, Inca Atahualpa
Atahualpa

Atahualpa, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa, or Atawallpa , was the last sovereign emperor of the Tahuantinsuyu, or the Inca Empire. He became emperor upon defeating his older half-brother Hu?scar in a civil war sparked by the death of their father, Inca Huayna Capac, from an infectious disease thought to be smallpox....
 in the city of Cajamarca
Cajamarca

Cajamarca may refer to:Colombia*Cajamarca, Tolima a town and municipality in Tolima DepartmentPeru* Cajamarca , city in Peru.* Cajamarca District, district in the Cajamarca province....
 on November 16, 1532. In the following years the conquistador
Conquistador

Conquistador is the name given to the Spaniards soldiers, leaders, List of explorers, and adventurers involved in the conquest of the Americas following the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492....
s managed to consolidate their power over the whole Andean region, repressing successive indigenous rebellions until the establishment of the Viceroyalty of Perú
Viceroyalty of Peru

Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish Empire South America, governed from the capital of Lima....
 in 1542 and the fall of the resistance of Vilcabamba
Vilcabamba, Peru

Vilcabamba was a city founded by Manco Inca in 1539 and was the last refuge of the Inca Empire until it fell to the Spaniards in 1572, signaling the end of Inca resistance to Spanish rule....
 in 1572.

Independence

During the Peninsular War
Peninsular War

The Peninsular War or Spanish War of Independence was a contest between First French Empire and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Kingdom of Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars....
, when Spain itself was occupied by Napoleonic
Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte later known as Emperor Napoleon I, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century....
 troops, several assemblies (juntas
Junta (Peninsular War)

In the Napoleonic Era, junta was the name chosen by several local administrations forming in Spain during the Peninsular War as a patriotic alternative to the official administration toppled by the French invaders....
) were established by the criollos to rule the lands in the name of Ferdinand VII of Spain
Ferdinand VII of Spain

Ferdinand VII was list of Spanish monarchs twice, in 1808, and from 1813 to 1833 . He was also known as 'Ferdinand, the desired'.The eldest surviving son of Charles IV of Spain, king of Spain, and of his wife Maria Louisa of Parma, he was born in the vast palace of El Escorial near Madrid....
. Meanwhile, on August 10, 1809 the first declaration of independence from Spanish rule was signed at Quito
Quito

San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito, is the Capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha , an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains....
 (in modern Ecuador
Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the , literally, "Republic of the equator") is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west....
), which began a movement for independence that soon spread across Spain's American colonies. This experience of self-government, the influence of liberalism
Liberalism

Liberalism is a broad class of political philosophy that considers individualism liberty and equality to be the most important political goals....
, and the ideas of the French
French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudalism for the aristocracy and Roman Catholic Church clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Age of Enlightenment principles of cit...
 and American Revolution
American Revolution

The American Revolution refers to the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen Colonies of North America overthrew the governance of the British Empire and then rejected the British monarchy to become the sovereign United States of America....
s influenced the Libertadores
Libertadores

Libertadores refers to the leaders of the South American Wars of Independence from Spain and Portugal.They were largely bourgeois Spanish Criollo peopless influenced by liberalism and, in most cases, with military training in the metropolis....
. All of the colonies except Cuba and Puerto Rico eventually freed themselves, often with help from the British Empire
British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
, which had long sought to break the Spanish monopoly on trade with its possessions in America.

In 1898, the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 won the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War

The Spanish?American War was an armed military conflict between Spain and the United States that took place between April and August 1898, over the issues of the liberation of Cuba....
 and occupied Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a Autonomy Territories of the United States of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands....
 and the Philippines
Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, ending Spanish rule in America. Spanish settlement of the region continued, however, as the early 20th century saw a stream of immigration of poor people and political exiles from Spain to the former American colonies, especially Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
, Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 and Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
. After the 1970s, the flow became reversed as Hispanic Americans began settling in Spain. In the 1990s, Spanish companies like Repsol
Repsol YPF

Repsol YPF, S.A., is an integrated Spanish Crude oil and Natural gas company with operations in 29 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain and Argentina, as a result of the 1999 takeover of Argentine energy firm Yacimientos Petrol?feros Fiscales by the Spanish conglomerate Repsol S.A. within the controversial priva...
 and Telefonica
Telefónica

Telef?nica, S.A., is a Spain Telephone company. Operating globally, it is one of the largest fixed-line and mobile telecommunications companies in the world: List of mobile network operators in terms of number of clients only behind China Mobile and Vodafone, and in the top five in market value....
 invested in most countries in America particularly in South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, often buying newly privatized
Privatization

Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of business from the public sector to the private sector . In a broader sense, privatization refers to transfer of any government function to the private sector including governmental functions like revenue collection and law enforcement....
 companies.

Currently, the Ibero-America
Ibero-America

Ibero-America is a term which started to be used in the second half of the 19th century to refer collectively to the countries in the Americas which were formerly colony of Spain or Portugal....
n countries, along with Spain and Portugal, have organized themselves as the Comunidad Iberoamericana de Naciones
Organization of Ibero-American States

The Organization of Ibero-American States is an international organization, comprising the Portuguese language- and Spanish language-speaking nations of Americas and Europe, plus Equatorial Guinea in Africa....
.

Many Spanish-speaking American countries are part of the Organization of American States
Organization of American States

The Organization of American States is an international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. Its members are the thirty-five independent states of the Americas....
, which includes most countries of America and seeks to build continental unity.

Further reading

  • David A. Brading, The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots, and the Liberal State, I492-1867 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
    Cambridge University Press

    Cambridge University Press is a printer and publisher granted a Royal Letters Patent by Henry VIII of England in 1534. It is the world's oldest continually operating book publisher....
    , 1993


See also

  • Atlantic world
    Atlantic world

    The Atlantic World is an organizing concept for the historical study of the Atlantic Ocean rim from the beginning of the Age of Exploration to the modern era....
  • Black Legend
    Black Legend

    The Black Legend is a term coined by Juli?n Juder?as in his 1914 book La leyenda negra y la verdad hist?rica , to describe the depiction of Spain and Spaniards as "cruel", "intolerant" and "fanatical" in anti-Spanish literature, starting in the sixteenth century....
  • Inter caetera
    Inter caetera

    Inter caetera was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on 4 May 1493, which granted to Spain all lands to the "west and south" of a pole-to-pole line 100 League s west and south of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde Islands....
  • Global Empire
    Global empire

    A global empire involves the extension of a state sovereignty over territories all around the world. For example, because of the Spanish Empire's territories around the globe, it was often said in the 16th century that "The empire on which the sun never sets." This phrase could have been applied before with the Portuguese Empire but it was...
  • Old Spanish Trail (trade route)
    Old Spanish Trail (trade route)

    The Old Spanish Trail is a historic trade route which connected the northern New Mexico settlements near or in Santa Fe, New Mexico with that of Los Angeles, California and southern California....
  • Population history of American indigenous peoples
    Population history of American indigenous peoples

    It is estimated, based on archaeological data and written records from European settlers, that from 10 to 100 million indigenous people lived in the Americas when the 1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus began a historical period of large-scale European interaction with the Americas....
  • Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations
    Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations

    Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations refers to the conquest by the Spanish monarchy of the Chibchan speaking nations, mainly the Muiscas and Taironas that inhabited what is nowadays Colombia to eventually begin the Spanish colonization of the Americas....
  • Habsburg Spain
    Habsburg Spain

    Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty ....
  • Valladolid debate
    Valladolid debate

    The Valladolid debate concerned the treatment of Indigenous people of the Americas of the New World. Held in the Spain city of Valladolid, it opposed two main attitudes towards the European colonization of the Americas....
  • Smallpox Epidemics in the New World
    Smallpox

    Smallpox is an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning spotted, or varus, meaning "pimple"....


External links

  • (Edward Gaylord Bourne
    Edward Gaylord Bourne

    Edward Gaylord Bourne, Ph. D. was an United States historian, born in Strykersville, New York, and educated at Yale University graduating in 1883 with high honors....
    , 1904)
  • (Herbert E. Bolton
    Herbert Eugene Bolton

    Herbert Eugene Bolton was an United States historian and one of the most prominent authorities in Spanish American history. He originated what became known as the Bolton Theory of the history of the Americas and wrote or co-authored 94 works....
    , 1921)