Colonialization of the Americas

The forward march of human progress is often described in terms of development. This is true in terms of civilizations as much as it is true in terms of governments, economies, and commodities production. Governments, economies, and commodities production develop and characterize a world system of political and economic relations that continues to this day. However, throughout time, progress in the forward march of Imperialist societies to develop these aspects of civilization has come at the expense of Indigenous populations for government or commercial purposes.

During the 17th century the rise of colonialism by Spain resulted in the commercial exploitation of sugar and silver in the Caribbean and Latin America that continue to impact the governments and economies of societies there to this day. To strengthen its own political and economic position, Spain exploited the resources of indigenous populations and expanded the slave trade as demand for commodities increased. Other costs also result to indigenous populations, from genocide and ethnocide to ecocide, or destruction of the local ecosystem and/or environment.

From 1493 when Columbus introduced sugar-cane in Hispaniola to barely a half decade later in 1545 when silver was discovered in Carro Rico, Potosi, the Caribbean and Latin America would stand forever changed. Indian cultures in Brazil and Mexico and indigenous p

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sm, the concept that countries accumulate riches by acquiring gold and silver. This mandated monopoly trade with colonies. Imperialism was based on superior technology and military strength. The Spanish Crown was a strong state with large amounts of capital and these factors along with its military buildup made it second only to Portugal though it would become preeminent. Through indirect rule such powers could control indigenous populations by using existing structures to legitimate their own power, such as the Mestizaje in Mexico. Capitalism emerged from such manipulations but pre-conquest conditions existed that made the region ripe for exploitation (i.e. free labor, population concentrations, failure of feudalism, etc.). The rise of European colonization was dependent upon both the resources of the region conquered and the pre-conquest culture of the indigenous population. The pre-conquest civilizations of the Mayas, Incas, Aztecs and Caribbean populations had some semblance of modern organization. For example, the Incas had irrigation systems and elaborate means for storing and distributing crops. Before the arrival of the conquistadores, land was pretty much communally owned. After the conquest, landscape and ow
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Approximate Word count = 1313
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)