Today, most of these areas speak Spanish. It was the same with the spread of Portuguese as their culture and religion developed across the colonies in similar fashion to the ones that were in Europe. The natives, after being conquered were forced to learn Spanish and Portuguese.
Why did the Spanish and Portuguese explore the world?
There were different reasons for the Spanish and Portuguese exploration, with the Portuguese establishing a trading post empire to protect their goods, and Spain focusing on empire-building. Part of this Age of Discovery was the creation of a new occupation, that of conquistador.
How was the world divided between Spain and Portugal?
Once the Spanish settlement in the Caribbean occurred, Spain and Portugal formalized a division of the world between them in the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas.
How did the acquisition of the new world affect Spain?
Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella promoted the acquisition of these new lands in order to strengthen and glorify their own empire. As Spain’s empire expanded and riches flowed in from the Americas, the Spanish experienced a golden age of art and literature.
What was the significance of the Portuguese colonization of the Atlantic?
Portuguese colonization of Atlantic islands in the 1400s inaugurated an era of aggressive European expansion across the Atlantic. In the 1500s, Spain surpassed Portugal as the dominant European power.
What led to the Spanish and Portuguese settlement?
Motivated by curiosity, a desire to expand into new places, a longing to spread Christianity, and especially, a hope to tap into the lucrative Far East trade, Europeans of the 15th and 16th centuries looked outward and began to explore their world.
Where did the Spanish and Portuguese settle?
The Spanish established the first European settlements in the Americas, beginning in the Caribbean and, by 1600, extending throughout Central and South America. Thousands of Spaniards flocked to the Americas seeking wealth and status.
How did the Spanish and Portuguese colonize the New World?
On June 7, 1494, the governments of Spain and Portugal agreed to the Treaty of Tordesillas, named for the city in Spain in which it was created. The Treaty of Tordesillas neatly divided the “New World” of the Americas between the two superpowers.
How did Spain and Portugal build colonies in the Americas?
How did the Spanish and Portuguese build their colonies in the Americas? They conquered native people and used their land, resources, and forced them to work to build colonies.
What are two reasons why the Spanish and Portuguese established colonies in South America?
The crown created civil and religious structures to administer the vast territory. The main motivations for colonial expansion were profit through resource extraction and the spread of Catholicism through indigenous conversions.
When did Spain and Portugal divide the world?
The Treaty of Tordesillas was an agreement in 1494 between Spain and Portugal to divide the world between them using an imaginary line down the centre of the Atlantic Ocean.
What were the three main motivating factors for Spanish to begin colonizing?
Motivations for colonization: Spain's colonization goals were to extract gold and silver from the Americas, to stimulate the Spanish economy and make Spain a more powerful country. Spain also aimed to convert Native Americans to Christianity.
What impact did Portuguese and Spanish explorers have on Europe?
The Impact of Portuguese Exploration Portugal's explorers changed Europeans' understanding of the world in several ways. They explored the coasts of Africa and brought back gold and slaves. They also found a sea route to India.
How did Spanish colonization begin?
Spanish colonialism began with the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi's expedition on February 13, 1565, from Mexico. He established the first permanent settlement in Cebu. Much of the archipelago came under Spanish rule, creating the first unified political structure known as the Philippines.
When did Spain and Portugal colonize South America?
15th centuryhistory of Latin America, history of the region from the pre-Columbian period and including colonization by the Spanish and Portuguese beginning in the 15th century, the 19th-century wars of independence, and developments to the end of the 20th century.
How did the Portuguese gain territory in south Americas?
But when the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) divided the world between Portugal and Spain along a north-south line 1,770 kilometers (1,100 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands, Portugal unwittingly acquired the land that was to become known as Brazil.
Where did the Portuguese settle in America?
Rather, Portuguese settlements focused on several specific regions -- southern New England, the San Francisco Bay area of California, and Hawaii, all linked by their mutual involvement in the whaling industry.
Where did the Portuguese settle in South America?
BrazilPortugal colonized parts of South America (Brazil, Colónia do Sacramento, Uruguay, Guanare, Venezuela), but also made some unsuccessful attempts to colonize North America (Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia in Canada).
Why did the Spanish settle in North America?
Motivations for colonization: Spain's colonization goals were to extract gold and silver from the Americas, to stimulate the Spanish economy and make Spain a more powerful country. Spain also aimed to convert Native Americans to Christianity.
When did Spain and Portugal colonize South America?
15th centuryhistory of Latin America, history of the region from the pre-Columbian period and including colonization by the Spanish and Portuguese beginning in the 15th century, the 19th-century wars of independence, and developments to the end of the 20th century.
PORTUGUESE EXPLORATION
Portugal’s Prince Henry the Navigator spearheaded his country’s exploration of Africa and the Atlantic in the 1400s. With his support, Portuguese mariners successfully navigated an eastward route to Africa, establishing a foothold there that became a foundation of their nation’s trade empire in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
SPANISH EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST
The Spanish established the first European settlements in the Americas, beginning in the Caribbean and, by 1600, extending throughout Central and South America. Thousands of Spaniards flocked to the Americas seeking wealth and status.
THE SPANISH GOLDEN AGE
Explore the collection at The Cervantes Project for images, complete texts, and other resources relating to Cervantes’s works.
Section Summary
Although Portugal opened the door to exploration of the Atlantic World, Spanish explorers quickly made inroads into the Americas. Spurred by Christopher Columbus’s glowing reports of the riches to be found in the New World, throngs of Spanish conquistadors set off to find and conquer new lands.
Civil governance
The empire in the Indies was a newly established dependency of the kingdom of Castile alone, so crown power was not impeded by any existing cortes (i.e. parliament), administrative or ecclesiastical institution, or seigneurial group.
Catholic Church organization
During the early colonial period, the crown authorized friars of Catholic religious orders ( Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians) to function as priests during the conversion of indigenous populations.
Society
It has been estimated that over 1.86 million Spaniards emigrated to Latin America in the period between 1492 and 1824, with millions more continuing to immigrate following independence.
Economy
In areas of dense, stratified indigenous populations, especially Mesoamerica and the Andean region, Spanish conquerors awarded perpetual private grants of labor and tribute particular indigenous settlements, in encomienda were in a privileged position to accumulate private wealth.
19th century
During the Napoleonic Peninsular War in Europe between France and Spain, assemblies called juntas were established to rule in the name of Ferdinand VII of Spain . The Libertadores (Spanish and Portuguese for "Liberators") were the principal leaders of the Spanish American wars of independence.
In popular culture
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Dominions
Spanish and Portuguese empires. Settlement in the Americas, ca. 1600. Although the crowns asserted sovereignty over great expanses of territory, this modern map shows the sparseness of actual European settlement in dark blue.
Iberian siblings
Spain and Portugal presently occupy almost the entirety of the Iberian Peninsula, the spit of land that sticks out of Western Europe just below France.
All roads lead from Rome
The story of Portuguese and Spanish, as with all Romance languages, actually begins in Italy. Or, more specifically, with the Roman Empire, which spoke Latin and spread the language across the lands that it conquered and governed.
Gothic and Arabic
Like all great empires, however, the Roman Empire was destined to fall. As its influence and control over the territories on its periphery began to weaken significantly, territories like Hispania began in the 5 th century CE to experience several waves of invasions by Germanic peoples like the Vandals, the Alans, and the Visigoths.
Beloved Homeland
In the northwest corner of Spain, the tiny kingdom of Asturias successfully resisted the Moors, and was able to recover and grow in strength throughout the 9 th and 10 th centuries CE.
Portuguese and Spanish
Eventually, Asturias splintered into several successor states as various kings and heirs fought for control over the area.
Differences today
Today, both Standard Castilian Spanish and Standard Continental Portuguese reflect this rich tapestry of linguistic and cultural history, with a sizeable number of loanwords from Arabic, Gothic and (in the case of Spanish) Basque.
Other Vulgar Latin dialects?
What happened to those, I hear you ask? After all, there were other successor states to Asturias, like Aragon, and Navarre. Surely they had their own unique dialects. And what happened to Leonese and Galician?
Blending Cultures and People
- The conquerors also married American Indian women. The women converted to Catholicism, couples got married, and the Spanish-American Indian children were called mestizos.This mixture of ethnic groups and cultures forms a majority of the population of Mexico, Central America, an…
Caribbean Piracy and Spanish Wealth
- All the treasure Spain amassed from the New World attracted fortune hunters with ships who didn't mind stealing from the Spanish. Privateers (a name they preferred to pirates)operated for 200 years, from approximately 1560 to the mid-1760s. These pirates were most successful during the 1640s through the 1680s. Caribbean piracy arose out of conflicts over trade and colonizatio…
The Decline of Spanish Power
- Closer to home, the Spanish were having trouble maintaining their European domination over the mostly Protestant country of Holland and sent their great fleet — the Spanish Armada(1588) — to invade and subdue England, Holland's Protestant supporter. In a battle just north of the English Channel, the English and Dutch attacked the Armada. Even though the attacking ships were outn…
Overview
Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish conquistadors. The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions of South America and the Caribbean. The crown created civil and religious structures to administer the vast territory. The main motivati…
Imperial expansion
The expansion of Spain’s territory took place under the Catholic Monarchs Isabella of Castile, Queen of Castile and her husband King Ferdinand, King of Aragon, whose marriage marked the beginning of Spanish power beyond the Iberian peninsula. They pursued a policy of joint rule of their kingdoms and created the initial stage of a single Spanish monarchy, completed under the eig…
Civil governance
The empire in the Indies was a newly established dependency of the kingdom of Castile alone, so crown power was not impeded by any existing cortes (i.e. parliament), administrative or ecclesiastical institution, or seigneurial group. The crown sought to establish and maintain control over its overseas possessions through a complex, hierarchical bureaucracy, which in many ways was decentr…
Catholic Church organization
During the early colonial period, the crown authorized friars of Catholic religious orders (Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians) to function as priests during the conversion of indigenous populations. During the early Age of Discovery, the diocesan clergy in Spain was poorly educated and considered of a low moral standing, and the Catholic Monarchs were reluctant to allow them to spearhea…
Society
It has been estimated that over 1.86 million Spaniards emigrated to Latin America in the period between 1492 and 1824, with millions more continuing to immigrate following independence.
Native populations declined significantly during the period of Spanish expansion. In Hispaniola, the indigenous Taíno pre-contact population before t…
Economy
In areas of dense, stratified indigenous populations, especially Mesoamerica and the Andean region, Spanish conquerors awarded perpetual private grants of labor and tribute to particular indigenous settlements, in encomienda they were in a privileged position to accumulate private wealth. Spaniards had some knowledge of the existing indigenous practices of labor and tribute, so that lea…
19th century
During the Napoleonic Peninsular War in Europe between France and Spain, assemblies called juntas were established to rule in the name of Ferdinand VII of Spain. The Libertadores (Spanish and Portuguese for "Liberators") were the principal leaders of the Spanish American wars of independence. They were predominantly criollos (Americas-born people of European ancestry, mostly Spanish or Portuguese), bourgeois and influenced by liberalism and in some cases with mi…
In popular culture
In the twentieth century, there have been a number of films depicting the life of Christopher Columbus. One in 1949 stars Frederic March as Columbus. With the 1992 commemoration (and critique) of Columbus, more cinematic and television depictions of the era appeared, including a TV miniseries with Gabriel Byrne as Columbus. Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) has Georges Corroface as Columbus with Marlon Brando as Tomás de Torquemada and Tom Selleck a…