Latin American Colonialism

The Spanish and Portuguese conquests of Latin America decimated the native populations. Later, these colonial powers brought slaves from Africa to work in the mines and plantations that supported the colonial economies. The kings who ruled these European countries gave the Conquistadors in the colonies governmental authority by making them viceroys. These viceroys or colonial officers were at the top of the rigid class structure in the colonies. Underneath them were the Creoles who were pure Europeans born in the Americas. Next in the class structure were the mestizos, who were people of mixed European and native descent. Native Americans came next followed by slaves who were at the very bottom of society.

The structure of colonial governments mirrored the home governments, as Spain and Portugal kept a tight hold on their colonies. Catholicism had a strong influence on the development of the colonies. A major element of the economy was the mining of precious metals for export. The colonial powers established cities like Havana, Mexico City, Lima, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires as outposts of colonial authority.

The Latin American revolutions of the nineteenth century were influenced by new political ideas from the Enlightenment, and the success of the American and French Revolutions. The resulting conflict between the mother countries and the colonists produced independent nations in Latin America free from their colonial masters.