1. Ch. 19 Discussion Questions
AP World History

2. Discussion Questions
Describe the diffusion of Iberian society to the New World.
Define the model for American colonization that was established in the Caribbean.
Describe the nature of the exploitation of Indians in the Americas.
Define the economy of the American colonies.

3. Discussion Questions
Identify the nature of the Spanish system of government in the American colonies.
Describe the change that the discovery of gold and diamonds made on the economic organization of Brazil.
Describe the social hierarchy of the American colonies.
Compare the 18th century reforms in Portuguese and Spanish colonies.

4. 1. Describe the diffusion of Iberian society to the New World.
Commoners to America to become nobles holding Indian-worked estates
Small urban centers
Strong patriarchal ideas
Family life based on encomiendas
Slavery
Political pattern of centralization (dependent on professional bureaucracy)
Roman Catholicism
Old World animals (# of cattle go up = # of Indians go down)

5. 2. Define the model for American colonization that was established in the Caribbean.
Conquest and then settlement (Spanish women and African slaves brought in)
Plantation agriculture
Exploitation of Indian labor
Indigenous people destroyed by disease
Iberian style cities (grid plan with central plaza for state & church buildings)
Royal administrators & professional magistrates
Church cathedrals and universities
Ranches & sugar plantations

6. 3. Describe the nature of the exploitation of Indians in the Americas.
Was beneficial to the Spanish only
Maintained native institutions to serve Spanish goals (traditional nobility & mita)
Enslavement of natives (except in warfare)
Government awarded encomiendas (source of labor and taxes)
Traditional Indian religions were eliminated

7. 4. Define the economy of the American colonies.
80% of colonists involved in agriculture – remainder was in mining
Dependent on imports of finished European goods
Colonies exported raw materials
Became part of the world economy

8. 5. Identify the nature of the Spanish system of government in the American colonies.
Sovereignty rested with the Spanish crown (based upon papal grant) in return for converts
Bureaucratic system w/core of lawyers who held legislative and administrative authority
Theory – king ruled from Spain through Council of Indies
Viceroyalties in based in Mexico City and Lima; divided into 10 divisions run by royal magistrates
Local level – magistrates managed tax and labor service obligations
Catholic Church held great influence over all levels

9. 6. Describe the change that the discovery of gold and diamonds made on the economic organization of Brazil.
Opened the interior of Brazil to settlement, devastated Indian populations, & weakened coastal agriculture
Led to government policies that stimulated agriculture
Rio de Janeiro became a major port and capital (1763)
Coincided with the fall of sugar prices (Brazil was less important in world markets)

10. 7. Describe the social hierarchy of the American colonies.
Based on color & castas
Indian women suffered sexual exploitation from Europeans
The Crown sponsored marriages because of few European women – resulted in a Mestizo population
Mestizos had a higher status than Indians
Europeans were always at the top with Indians and slaves at the bottom
Peninsulares higher than Creoles
Women were under male authority
Upper class women were confined to household occupations while lower class women participated in the economy

11. Lessening of the Catholic Church’s influence in political decisions
8. Compare the 18th century reforms in Portuguese and Spanish colonies.
Creation of more viceroyalties to allow for better defense and administration
Lessening of the Catholic Church’s influence in political decisions
Removal of Creoles from administrative positions