Life in the New Colonies

The migration of Europeans to new colonies in the Americas created new cultural and social patterns. As part of this migration, the colonial powers destroyed the Incan and Aztec empires through a combination of warfare and European diseases, such as smallpox, which also killed many other American Indians. In Latin America, the Europeans imposed a rigid class system backed by dictatorial rule, which continued in some places even after the countries became independent.

As Europeans brought African slaves to work as forced labor on their plantations, one side effect was the increasing diversity of cultures in these new colonies. Despite this, the colonizers sought to reproduce the culture and social patterns of the colonial powers in the new territories.

Trade had a huge impact on both the colonizers and the colonized. The Columbian Exchange led to the exchange of new products and ideas between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Europe brought horses and cattle to the New World, which changed the lifestyles of American Indians. Western Hemisphere products like corn, potatoes, and tobacco also became important products in Europe. As labor became in short supply on the plantations, Europeans used more and more African slaves. In addition, the European plantation system in the Caribbean and the Americas destroyed indigenous economies and damaged the environment.

Europeans established trading posts in Africa and Asia. Most of these trading posts in Africa were along the coast and traded slaves, gold, and other resources. The Triangular Trade linked Europe, Africa, and the Americas in the exchange of goods and people: slaves, sugar, and rum.

Things were slightly different in Asia where a small group of merchants in India, the Indies, and China were the main forces of colonization. Trading companies from Portugal, Netherlands, and Britain looked to exploit Asia’s resources. As a result, these companies extracted large amounts of gold and silver from Asia and brought it to Europe. As the indigenous empires lost the wealth of their precious metals, the influx of gold brought on high inflation in the Spanish Empire.

Additional Resource

For more information about how Hernando Cortez and Francisco Pizarro conquered the Aztecs and the Incas, visit the Conquistadors section of the PBS website. Click on the name of each of the explorers to learn more about their adventures.