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What did Spain trade in the New World?
By 1550 Spain had dominion over the West Indies and Central America and its large surviving native population. New World mines yielded gold and silver for Spain in far greater amounts than France and Portugal had ever been able to extract from West Africa.
What did New Spain export?
Agricultural production was directed to internal markets, while exports consisted mainly of precious metals and animal hides. However, silver soon became the dominant colonial product, followed by the red dye cochineal, and by the late sixteenth century, silver accounted for 80 percent of all exports from New Spain.
What did New Spain do economically?
Silver mining became integral to the wealth of New Spain; it also vastly enriched Spain and transformed the global economy. New Spain became the New World terminus of the Philippine trade. The territory became a vital link between Spain’s New World empire and its East Indies empire.
What was New Spain known for?
Viceroyalty of New Spain, Spanish Virreinato de Nueva España, the first of the four viceroyalties that Spain created to govern its conquered lands in the New World. Established in 1535, it initially included all land north of the Isthmus of Panama under Spanish control.
Why did Spain lose its colonies?
Spain lost her possessions on the mainland of America with the independence movements of the early 19th century, during the power vacuum of the Peninsula War. At the end of the century most of the remaining Spanish Empire ( Cuba, Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam ) was lost in the Spanish American War in 1898.
What 2 cash crops did the Spanish grow in New Spain?
Cacao became an important cash crop once the Aztec delicacy xocoatl (chocolate) became all the rage in Continental society. Vanilla, sugar, henequén, cotton and tobacco also become lucrative crops as the demand for these products increased in markets abroad.
What lands did Spain lay claim to?
In theory, the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the New World into Spanish and Portuguese spheres of influence. The treaty amended papal bulls issued by Pope Alexander VI in 1493. These declarations had granted Spain an exclusive claim to the entirety of North and South America.
Why did Spain start 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.
Why was trade between Spain and Portugal important?
Spain and Portugal took the vanguard in building colonial societies in the Americas. Meanwhile, trade between Latin American colonies and their metropoles was a crucial factor enabling European markets to profit from the riches of the New World and beyond. The Portuguese Empire was built around commerce and navigation.
How did the Spanish get involved in the slave trade?
The Portuguese also sold slves in Spain. This alerted the Spanish to the commercial possibilities. Spanish traders then began their own expeditions south along the coast of Africa. Thus Spanish interst in African slaves began well before they had American colonies and Caribbean sugar islands.
What did the Spanish bring to New Spain?
Cattle, sheep, and other livestock imported from Spain were driven north where ranchers settled across the open ranges near northern mining centers. Wheat, sugar cane, citrus and other fruits were introduced to more fertile lands.
What was the economy of the New Spain?
During the sixteenth century, a dual economy developed in New Spain: the hacienda economy in the Valley of Mexico and the south and the frontier economy of the silver mines to the north.