Spanish Influence in North American and Caribbean

EconomiesMelissa Mariscal

The Spanish Empire includes Spain's overseas colonies in the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa, but some disputes exist as to which European territories are to be counted

These actions gave Spain exclusive rights to establish colonies in all of the New World from Alaska to Cape Horn (except Brazil), as well as the easternmost parts of Asia.

In an action with enduring historical import, Balboa claimed the Pacific Ocean and all the lands adjoining it for the Spanish Crown.

The Castilian Empire abroad was initially a disappointment but it did stimulate some trade and industry which also the trading opportunities were limited

North American

During the 16th century, Spain held the equivalent of US $1.5 trillion in gold and silver received from New Spain

The wealthy preferred to put there fortunes in public debt, which were backed by these silver imports, rather than in production of manufactures and the improvement of agriculture

Matters began to change in the 1520s with the large scale extraction of silver from the rich deposits of Mexico's Guanajuato region

The silver and gold whose circulation helped facilitate the economic and social revolutions in the Low Countries, France and England and other parts of Europe helped stifle them in Spain

North America

Before the European contact At the time of the European discovery of most of the islands of the Caribbean

Spanish conquest…The Spanish, who came seeking wealth, enslaved the native population and rapidly drove them to near-extinction.

Spain claimed the entire Caribbean

Caribbean

Caribbean countries had money invested in agriculture and lacked any core industrial base

The “New World” plantations were established in order to fulfill the growing needs of the “Old World”

The economy of Spain bankrupt several times

The sugar plantations were built with the intention of exporting the sugar back to Britain which is why the British did not need to stimulate local demand for the sugar with wages.

The result of this economic exploitation was a plantation dependence which saw the Caribbean nations possessing a large quantity of unskilled workers capable of performing agricultural tasks and not much else.

CARIBBEAN