page_title: History of Latin America
section_title: Colonial Era
hierarchical_section_title: History of Latin America / Colonial Era
caption_attribution_description: Latina: America noviter delineata / auct. Jodoco Hondio; H. Picard fecit. English: America newly delineated / by Jodocus Hondius; engraved by H. Picard. A 17th-century map of the Americas. Scale ca. 1:45,000,000. Map ranges from W 125&#176;&#8211;W 5&#176; and N 70&#176;&#8211;S 60&#176;. Also includes insets of the polar regions. Français&#160;: L'amérique nouvellement cartographiée / Par Jocodus Hondius; gravé par H. Picard. Une carte des amériques du XVIIe siècle. Echelle: environ 1:45 000 000. La carte couvre un espace allant de 5&#176;W à 125&#176;W et de 60&#176;S à 70&#176;N. Elle inclut aussi en encarts les régions polaires.
context_page_description: The term Latin America primarily refers to the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in the New World. Before the arrival of Europeans in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the region was home to many indigenous peoples, a number of which had advanced civilizations, most notably from South; the Olmec, Maya, Muisca and Inca. The region came under control of the crowns of Spain and Portugal, which imposed both Roman Catholicism and their respective languages. Both the Spanish and the Portuguese brought African slaves to their colonies, as laborers, particularly in regions where indigenous populations who could be made to work were absent. In the early 19th century nearly all of areas of Spanish America attained independence by armed struggle, with the exceptions of Cuba and Puerto Rico. The Spanish American Wars of Independence were a complex series of conflicts, primarily fought between opposing groups of colonists and only secondarily against Spanish forces. Brazil, which had become a monarchy separate from Portugal, became a republic in the late 19th century. The Spanish–American War ended the Spanish colonial presence in the Americas.
context_section_description: Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492. Subsequently, the major sea powers in Europe sent expeditions to the New World to build trade networks and colonies and to convert the native peoples to Christianity. Spain concentrated on building its empire on the central and southern parts of the Americas allotted to it by the Treaty of Tordesillas, because of presence of large, settled societies like the Aztec, the Inca, the Maya and the Muisca, whose human and material resources it could exploit, and large concentrations of silver and gold. The Portuguese built their empire in Brazil, which fell in their sphere of influence owing to the Treaty of Tordesillas, by developing the land for sugar production since there was a lack of a large, complex society or mineral resources. During the European colonization of the western hemisphere, most of the native population died, mainly by disease. In what has come to be known as the Columbian exchange, diseases such as smallpox and measles decimated populations with no immunity.
  Because the Spanish were now in power, native culture and religion were forbidden. The Spanish even went as far as burning the Maya Codices (like books). These codices contained information about astrology, religion, Gods, and rituals. There are four codices known to exist today; these are the Dresden Codex, Paris Codex, Madrid Codex, and HI Codex. The Spanish also melted down countless pieces of golden artwork so they could bring the gold back to Spain and destroyed countless pieces of art that they viewed as unchristian. The plunder of the empires of the Americas allowed Spain to finance religious persecution in Europe for over a century. Spanish wars of conquest included laying waste much of the Netherlands and a disastrous attempt to invade England.
  In 1568, the Spanish defeated a British fleet under John Hawkins at the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa. In 1595, Francis Drake embarked on a long and disastrous campaign against the Spanish Main, suffering several consecutive defeats. In 1655, the Spanish defeated a British force attempting to capture Santo Domingo. The 1741 Battle of Cartagena de Indias was one of the most decisive Spanish victories against the unsuccessful British attempts to take control of the Spanish Main.
caption: A 17th-century map of the Americas
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