Title: The Turning Point: European Conquests of the Americas (1492-1800)
Headings: The Turning Point: European Conquests of the Americas (1492-1800)
The Turning Point: European Conquests of the Americas (1492-1800)
Content: ‹ ›
There were many long-term consequences of the European conquest of the Americas and the global exchange that ensued. It took the Spanish only a few years to find and plunder the two wealthiest empires in the Americas. Huge silver mines found in Mexico and Peru in the mid-16th century meant that Spain instantly became the largest supplier of silver in the world. In the first 150 years following conquest, the Spanish exported 32 million pounds of silver and 360,000 pounds of gold (Marks 78). Spain spent much of this wealth in costly wars in a failed attempt to rule Europe. Much of this silver eventually ended up in China, but we’ll learn more about that later. The depopulation of large regions of the Americas also led Europeans to search for cheap labor. Perhaps the most important consequence of the Colombian Exchange was the forced migration and enslavement of millions of people. While the Spanish conquered Mexico and Peru, the Portuguese subjugated Brazil and, as a result, led the way in trafficking enslaved people to the Americas. They started in 1441 in western Africa (Getz 86).