We explain how the discovery and conquest of America for the Spaniards impacted in the different countries of Europe.
What impact did the discovery of America have in Europe?
The arrival of the first European navigators to American territory in 1492, commonly called “discovery of America”, It was one of the events that had the most impact on world history. The expedition of Cristóbal Colón, authorized by the Catholic Monarchs, arrived at Las Antilles on October 12, 1492, which triggered an exploration, conquest and trade process throughout the 16th century.
The arrival of the Columbus expedition to America had an immediate impact on Spain, which monopolized the trade of resources obtained in America and began to Build a colonial empire. But the impact also reached the rest of Europe.
The arrival of precious metals (gold and silver) to the European continent caused a revolution of prices (Inflation), the commercial axis moved from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and the economy began a process of globalization. In addition, other European powers embarked on their own conquest projects and colonization (first Portugal, then England, France and the Netherlands).
Key points
- The term “discovery of America” refers, from a European point of view, at the moment in which the navigators of Europe took knowledge of the American continent at the end of the 15th century. It was the beginning of a process that led to the conquest (initially Spanish and Portuguese) of the American territories and its inhabitants.
- The Spanish monarchy established a commercial monopoly with the territories conquered in America, which reported resources to finance wars but also caused piracy and smuggling.
- The discovery and conquest of America favored the obtaining of gold and silver, which arrived in Europe through the trade administered by the Spanish crown and contributed to an inflationary process, known as the “pricing revolution”, which especially affected the Hispanic monarchy.
- The European arrival in America affected some feeding guidelines and customs from the transfer to Europe of until then unknown products, such as cocoa, potato (potato) or tobacco.
The impact of America's discovery in Spain
The extraction of gold and silver in America
From the beginning, The Spaniards who arrived in America sought precious metals, mainly gold and silverthat represented wealth. The first attempts to find these metals in the Antilles were discouraging, but After the conquest of wide territories in the continent during the 16th century, large silver mines were exploited. The most important examples were Zacatecas in Mexico and Potosí in Peru.
Forced labor of indigenous people in the mines produced a high level of exploitation of labor and a high degree of metal extraction which caused an important flow of gold and silver to the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe. This arrival of metals to Europe led to the development of trade and had a great impact on the Spanish and European economy.
The Spanish commercial monopoly
The trade with the Indies (as the American territories were called) soon became controlled by a state monopoly established in the Hiring House of Seville. All overseas trade became under its control and supervision, in line with the mercantilist ideas of the time, which were contrary to free trade.
Various reasons explain the establishment of the monopoly of the Hiring House of Seville:
- The coasts of Cádiz and Huelva were the most suitable for sailing, which was joined that the Guadalquivir river was navigable to Seville.
- The king wanted to centralize and control everything that came from America, because that way he could more easily collect the “fifth real” that corresponded by law (a tax that consisted of the fifth of the metals and other resources that were extracted in America).
- The organization of navigation was necessary in protected convoys against attacks by Dutch and English pirates.
- The powerful merchants of Seville exerted pressure to satisfy their own interests.
The limits to Spanish commercial monopoly
The monopoly of the hiring house was part of the Castilian monopoly of trade with the Indies. The application of this monopoly was questioned by two practices:
- Piracy, encouraged by the political enemies of the Spanish monarchy: English, French and Dutch.
- Smuggling In America, very difficult to control in the immense continent. It was carried out by foreign ships and caused serious losses to the Castilian merchants, who theoretically had the monopoly of trade with America.
To solve the piracy problem, the fleets of the Indies were organized: large expeditions of merchant ships protected by war ships that periodically covered the crossing from Europe to America and vice versa. This mechanism resulted in the Fleet and Galleons system created during the reign of Felipe II in 1561.
The price revolution in Europe
The 16th century witnessed a spectacular economic phenomenon in Europe, which had a special impact in Spain: the “price revolution” or, in other words, inflation.
Two main reasons explain this phenomenon:
- Demographic growth in Europe (which occurred during the sixteenth century) produced an increase in demand for products, which in turn led to a price increase.
- The massive arrival of precious metals of America It meant a significant growth of currency in circulation, which immediately resulted in an increase in prices.
Inflation affected all of Europe, but since metals came first to Seville and its circulation was more abundant in Spain, this country He lived with special gravity this phenomenon.
The greatest inflation in Castilla caused Castilian products to become less competitive that the merchandise of Holland, England and France, which exacerbated the decline of Castilian production. Finally, Spain and the Indies depended largely on the supply of goods by the hostile powers to the Hispanic monarchy.
Other repercussions of the discovery of America in Europe
Despite the difficulties it caused, the discovery of America also had other repercussions in Europe:
- The gold and silver remittances allowed Spanish monarchs for decades to carry out their imperial policy through the financing of wars and conquests.
- The economic axis of Spain and the rest of Europe moved from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.
- Commercial and banking techniques grew and perfected, and trade began a globalization process.
- American products that arrived in Europe had a great incidence in European diet and customs: tobacco, potato (potato), corn, tomato, cocoa, among others.
- The European powers (initially Spain and Portugal, then also England, France and the Netherlands) began to compete for the conquest and colonization of America.
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References
- Bernard, C. & Gruzinski, S. (1996). New World History. From discovery to conquest. European experience, 1492-1550. Economic Culture Fund.
- Hunt, L., Martin, Tr, Rosenwein, BH & Smith, BG (2016). The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures. 5th edition. BEDFORD/ST. Martin's.
- Nowell, CE et. to the. (2022). Western colonialism. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
