The Spanish also introduced Roman Catholicism to the Americas. The Aztec, Mayan, and Incan people were often forced to convert, or they faced slavery or death. Today, the Roman Catholic Church is very influential in the Americas.
Did you know? The Spanish introduced new animals to the Americas that completely transformed the native populations’ lives. Horses, for example, were unknown in the Americas before the Spanish arrived, but quickly became essential to the cultures of many native groups, especially in the Great Plains of North America, where they revolutionised hunting and warfare. Impact beyond the Americas The colonisation of New Spain meant that the Spanish Empire became one of the world’s most powerful empires. The natural resources in that region included: • gold • silver • furs • sugar • cotton. 6.6.4 Access to these resources helped Spain become incredibly wealthy. As the native population decreased, they were effectively replaced with Europeans who migrated to the region to make money. New foods, previously unknown to Europeans, were found on the American continents; these included potatoes, tomatoes, avocados and chocolate. The term ‘New World’ was originally applied to the Americas by Europeans, but of course it was not ‘new’ to the people who had lived there for centuries. The meeting of different cultures and the exploration of new lands by Europeans led to an increase of geographic knowledge. Communication was established between civilisations and as the centuries progressed, ideas and knowledge were shared, paving the way for the modern world in which we live today.
6.6 SkillBuilder activity USING HISTORICAL SOURCES Inpairs, consider the image in SOURCE6 . Your job is to discuss the value and limitations of the source for historians studying this topic. STEP 1: Consider the following: • Can you tell from the image who exactly it was who drew it? • What do you know about how Aztec codices (folding books) changed after the arrival of the Spanish?
SOURCE6 An illustration from a sixteenth-century codex showing native Aztecs suffering from smallpox
• What other information in this topic can you use to corroborate the information provided in SOURCE6 ? Does this help its value?
TOPIC6 The Spanish and the Americas 143
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator