Pre-Columbian America and the Iberian Conquest

America provided many goods to the Europeans that helped to improve their overall health and quality of life. Some of these goods included: gold and silver, new types of food, new drugs (cocao, coffee, tobacco, tea, cocaine, marijuana, opium etc), and raw materials like dyes.

But, the discovery of America is controversial as what do we call Columbus and his explorers? Pilgirms, missionaries, explorers, conquerors, slave-traders, heroes, conquistadores (conquerors), or the first legal migrants?

Many of the migrants were Europeans attempting to escape the Reprobate and find a new Jerusalem, others arrived to escape rulers, and others for freedom.

There were many civilisations in America with 60 language families and over 1000 dialects. There were stateless societies and 2 empires: the 'Inca' and the 'Mexica'. The Mexicas lived in the Valley of Mexico and are known today as the rulers of the Aztec Empire. They were a Nahua people with 2 main cities: Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco. They spoke Nahuatl like many of the peoples around them. The Inca empire was the largest empire. Its centre was located in Cusco in modern day Peru. They arose from the highlands of Peru around the early 13th century. Its last stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572.

Most pre-Columbian voyages involved travelling by sea, but there wasn't a route established to trade with India. So, Columbus wanted to discover a way to sail to India that cut out the expensive middlemen involved in travelling over land. They knew the earth was round, so they travelled West and he believed all his life he had landed in India. Others began to realise there were none of the Indian spices or other commodities in the Americas though, and it was simply too close. So, they soon realised this was an unknown mass of land.

The era of these empires followed the Reconquista, the period of Iberian Peninsula history where the Musilms ruled. Isabel and Ferdinand were key in completing this Christian re-conquest, and it was 3 months into their efforts to reconquer Spain that Isabel asked Columbus to reach the Indies by sailing west. Both of these monarchs were involved in the Fall of Granada in 1492, the 10 year battle that resulted in the re-conquest of Spain.

The Inquisition in Spain was soon established, and the monarchs pursued a policy of religious and national unity. On 31st March 1492, the Alhambra Decree for the expulsion of the Jews was issued. They couldn't take anything valuable with them and many did leave. But it seems that about half of them did convert to Christianity.

Charles V, Isabel and Ferdinand's son, inherited both the Spanish Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. This was the closest Europe came to a universal monarchy since the death of Louis the Pious. Although he was the subject of much hostility, meaning his rule was dominated by wars, like the Habsburg-Valois wars with France, the Ottoman advance, and the Reformation.

Following Charles V's death, the 2 empires were inherited seperately by his 2 sons, Philip II (Spain) and Ferdinand. During Philip II's reign, Spain reached its height in power and this period is often referred to as the 'Golden Age'.

Many maps were produced during the pre-modern times, like that created by St Beatus of Liebana in his "Commentary on the Apocolypse", and the Psalter World Map. But when it came to the time Columbus discovered America, newer, more accurate maps had been created (although Toscanelli miscalculated Asia to be 5000 miles longer than it was when helping Columbus).

Columbus sailed with 3 medium-sized ships: the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. Land was first sighted at 2am on 12th October 1492, and Columbus named the newly discovered land 'San Salvador'. The indigenous people were peaceful and friendly, and 3 major indigenous peoples lived on the islands: the Taíno, the Island Caribs (Kalini) and Galibi, and the Ciboney (a Taíno people) and Guanahatabey. Most of modern Central America was part of the Mesoamerican civilisation.

Columbus embarked on 4 voyages all together, discovering different parts of the Caribbean and America every time. The land of the Americas was divided up between the Pope and Spain. Pope Alexander VI originally divided up the lands, but later the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 gave some land to Portugal and to Castille. But, this treaty ignored the other European countries, so they generally ignored the treaty, especially those who became Protestant following the Reformation. 

There were strong links to territories and surrounding natural resources by the tribes in the Americas. They had distinct social, economic and political systems, and distinct languages, cultures and beliefs. There were people living there due to migrations from Central Asia around 16,500 years ago. The Paleo-Indians were the first to arrive, but there was no written history, there was only oral history. Mesoamerica is where the majority of the well-known tribes lived, like the Maya, Olmec, Toltec and the Mexica.

Those living in Mesoamerica had shared cultural traits, like pictographic or hieroglyphic writing, monumental architecture, a similar diet (corn, beans, squash and chilies), similar clothes made out of woven cotton, and extensive trade networks. They were mostly rural-based, but there were some large settlements and a hierarchy of nobles and priests, warriors, craftspeople and merchants. Throughout history, there were many different cultures present in Mesoamerica, don't forget about the huge time period!

The Cuhlua-Mexica, or Nahua, lived in Mexica and spoke Nahuatl (the Aztecs). By 1427, they ruled several million subjects in 50 city states. They had a hereditary ruler called the Tlatoani, but they did still suffer with rebellions and civil wars.

The Mexica Triple Alliance, or the Aztec Empire, consisted of divided ethnic groups residing in separate city states. It was the alliance of the 3 Nahua Altepetl: Tenochtitlán, Texcoco and Tlacopan. The Tarascans (West) and the Zapotecs (South) were relatively independent. The empire was still expanding, and its society still evolving, when it was halted in 1519 by the arrival of the Spanish explorers. The ninth emperor, Montezuma II, was taken prisoner by Hernán Cortés and died in custody. His successors were unable to stave off Cortés, and with the Spanish capture of Tenochtitlán in 1521, the Aztec Empire came to an end. After 1521, Spanish military expeditions led to the conquest of Mesoamerica.

Cortés reached Hispaniola in 1506, and then he went on 2 further expeditions in 1518 and 1519-21. He helped in the conquest of Mexico in 1519, and from 1521-1524, he personally governed Mexico. His success was due, in part, to the ability of the indigenous language being translated into Spanish by La Malinche (a Nahua who helped the Spanish and ended up giving birth to the first Mestizos) and Jerónima Aguilar (captured by local Maya following shipwreck and escaped only to be captured by another Mayan chief who was hostile to the first tribe. Here he lived as a slave and learned the language).

The first Mestizos bean appearing fairly quickly with parents including La Malinche and Gonzallo Guerrero (was with Jerónima Aguilar, but fought for the Maya).

Many things began to be exchanged after the arrival in America, like food, animals and people. Although illness and epidemics spread as well and the indigenous people were being exposed to new bacteria that they didn't have an immunity to.

The Europeans saw it as a civilising mission, bringing a civil society with them to the Americas. But they brought slaves into America, and soon, much of the indigenous population died and it became inhabited by the Europeans and the slaves. It has been estimated that there was a 90% decline in population in the 1600s. In most Spanish-ruled areas, the recovery began from the end of the 16th century in some areas, and during the eighteenth in most.

Many of the indigenous languages still survive with at least 1000 different ones still exisiting. There are still millions of Nahuatl speakers living in America.