The most successful and famous examples of conquest in the Americas are the toppling of the highly civilised and developed Aztec empire and the fall of the Incas. Both Empires contained vast resources of silver, gold, precious stones and other valuable commodities. The toppling of these great Empires relied on the superiority of weapons, tactics and strategy; political divisions, disease and misapprehension of the Spaniards’ intentions, ambitions, identity and strength. In the case of the Aztec Empire, Cortés exploited there unfamiliarity with the technology used by Europeans and aliens in their native country. Moreover, the use of horses, armour and weapons bewildered and reinforced the notion of Spaniards as gods, as an Aztec prophecy foretold of a God returning and bringing good fortune. Similarly, Pizarro’s conquest of the Inca Empire relied on manipulating opportunities to his advantage. He arrived in the lands of the Inca’s in the wake of a smallpox epidemic that ravaged the region and killed the Inca emperor, resulting in a civil war between his two sons. He used this unrest and captured the new emperor, only later to execute him, and topple the highly centralised Inca Empire as he moved further south. It was the centralised nature of both Empires made the transition of Spanish integration more compatible as the polity of aborigines echoed that of the encomienda system. Even though, the exploits of the conquistadors had won a huge world empire that stretched from the bottom of southern America to California and Florida in the north. They had done so as private adventures in the form of militia. The sudden influx of foreign policy and military demands in Europe allowed the conquistadors to freely roam America. Control of the conquistadors and the Empire had to be obtained; the dilemma would be solved by implementing a formal Crown bureaucracy throughout Spain’s Empire. Therefore, procuring the future of the Spanish empire and maximising the profits of the Empire.
The administration of the new world dictated that the king and royal power would control the movements of the Empire. Viceroyalties would control over the territories and royal courts were set up for administrative and judicial functions; significantly the judges of the audiencias (royal courts) were sent from Spain. The basic aim of bureaucracy in the Spanish Empire was to prevent “the development of a recharged form of feudalism”. Even though, the encomiendas of the time proved a useful, indeed essential, phase of government when transitioning. Charles V recognized: that all subjects of the crown could not be enslaved, could own property and should abide by and be protected by Spanish law. The Theory of Empire Emerged as a result of Spain’s experience of colonising and was used through to the 19th century. It stated that all subjects of the empire were subservient to the Empire and its laws
Ideally, the system was to protect the natives from colonial abuse but given the distances involved, the mandates form Madrid were easy to ignore; corruption and abuse of the Indians were a simple alternative. However, the administrative need for the encomienda didn’t last and the ‘New Laws’ of 1542 compounded by the new administration avoided developing a colonial aristocracy. The importance of Spain establishing formal control over her colonies allowed her to successfully administer and exploit the lands that had been conquered. Her Empire could now be considered an asset rather than a burden.
Arguably, the influence of the Church in Spain was another portal of control. Through a series of papal bulls Spain “enjoyed the monopoly of spreading the catholic faith in the New World”. In return for the evangelization of the natives, Spain was given the right to nominate candidates for church offices at any level and controlled the movement of both secular and regular clergy. In effect the “this made the colonial church an arm of the sate”. However, the clergy were often thrown into conflict because of their involvement in secular affairs and were increasingly critical of the treatment of natives in the Empire. The ‘Patronato Real’ allowed the domination of Crown over the church but also allowed the interference and influence of the church into civil and political affairs. It is without doubt that the church played an important role in colonising the Empire, but the churches involvement with the sate threatened to defragment the relationship between native and coloniser, as they fought for the rights of the aborigines.
Equally important was the economic structure of Spain’s Empire. In the Americas it became clear that silver ores had more application than unexploited gold deposits. The method of using mercury to refine silver by amalgamation was developed in the Americas because of the high output. Furthermore, the Spanish introduced non-military technologies into to the colonies that all allowed mass production of valuable commodities. Similarly, new markets opened for the trade of newly discovered tobacco and coffee. However, the influx of silver in Europe proved detrimental to their economic markets. Precious metals from newly discovered deposits in America, were shipped by Spain to China and then on to Europe. Silver was less prevalent in China than in Europe and consequently more valuable. The flow of silver from the new world caused a continuous flow of wealth from China to Spain and caused general price inflation throughout Europe. The economic success of the time seems to be limited by the competition and lack of technology of the time. The world in the early modern period was still being discovered and the sparse nature of dominant colonies left Spain in a vulnerable economic situation.
Fundamentally, the growth and decline of The Spanish Empire was signalled by a multitude of reasons. Spain was fortunate in the manner in which her Empire was acquired and how it was acquired, with no real input from the crown. But ultimately the pace at which Spain developed her Empire was too rapid. The monopoly of exploration that Spain experienced overwhelmed her, and therefore she began to neglect necessary components of her empire, as domestic policy took precedence. However, her Empire was not a curse but through the process of maintaining an empire the argument that “a unified Spain did not build this empire but rather that building the empire created a more unified Spain” becomes relevant and defines Spain’s Empire as a blessing.
Bibliography
O’Callaghan
Mijers, E. Landmarks of History, Pearson, Reading, 2010.
Armitage, D. Theories of Empire 1450-1800, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot, 1998.
Kagan, R. & Robert G, G. (Eds). Spain, Europe and the Atlantic World. Cambridge, 1995
Mijers, E. Landmarks of History, Pearson, Reading, 2010. p230
Armitage, D. Theories of Empire 1450-1800, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot, 1998. p 143
Mijers, E. Landmarks of History, Pearson, Reading, 2010. p236
Mijers, E. Landmarks of History, Pearson, Reading, 2010. p242
Mijers, E. Landmarks of History, Pearson, Reading, 2010. p250
Kagan, R. & Robert G, G. (Eds). Spain Europe and the Atlantic World. Cambridge, 1995. p 301
Mijers, E. Landmarks of History, Pearson, Reading, 2010. P232