Effects+of+Colonialism

Effects of Colonialism and the World System **Spanish Conquest: ** One of the first Spaniards to discover the Mayans was Hernandez de Cordoba who was killed at Champoton. The Spanish Conquest of the Mayans did not occur until 1528 when Francisco de Montejo led an expedition to secure the area. Due to the lack of a large, organized empire, such as the Aztecs, the Spanish had difficulty conquering the Mayan people. It was not until 1542 with the establishment of Merida, the regional capital, that the Spaniards were able to gain any control over the area. Although most of the Mayans were conquered by the late 1500’s, it was not until the end of the seventeenth century that the last of the Mayans were conquered.[1] **Early Colonization: ** Due to the location of the Mayans, their region was treated as a periphery area, largely because of the former Aztec Empire where the Spanish found large quantities of valuable materials. As in all the Spanish colonies in the New World, the reason for conquering the Mayans was to convert them to Christianity, although monetary gain was the true main purpose. At the outset of colonization the policy of the Spanish administrators was the encomienda, where Spaniards were granted Indians to convert to Christianity and use however they wanted. The encomienda was the tribute system that the Spanish used to extract resources from the Mayans on the Yucatan, which were then exported. The encomienda relied on force to obtain the resources from the Mayans due to the nature of the trade between the Spanish and Mayans that resulted in the Spanish taking resources from the Mayans. As the revenue from the encomienda decreased, a new system gradually replaced it and started a market economy.[2] **Colonial Yucatan: ** Slowly the hacienda system replaced the encomienda system, but never entirely on the Yucatan Peninsula. The hacienda was the system that helped transform the economy and integrate the Mayans into the colonial economy. In the encomienda system, the Mayans were forced to give tribute, keeping the Mayans from participating in any market economy that would form due to Spanish activity. With the hacienda system, competition for land was increased as Spaniards would settle the land and develop estates where they would grow cash crops such as sugarcane and later henequen, a fiber that can be used to make rope. Despite this semblance of control, the region in which the Mayans inhabited was a periphery of the Spanish empire, meaning that it was an incredibly poor area with limited control by a weak Spanish colonial government. This meant that the Mayans were ruled indirectly and were subject to the encomienda system for a significant period of time, in some areas until the end of the colonial era.[3]

 **Late Colonial Period and the Effects of Colonialism: ** In the late eighteenth century, the Spanish monarchy instituted reforms to make the Spanish colonial government more efficient and produce more revenue. In the colonies of Spanish America, this prompted increased control over the native populations by the royal government. For the Mayans on the Yucatan that meant the end of indirect rule by the colonial government and less control over their own lives.[4] The Spanish conquest and the following colonization, while not having significant control over the Mayans in its early years nor a significant impact on them, grew and gained more control over the lives of the Mayans. Colonization brought in other side effects that are well known to historians today. With the arrival of Europeans and their Old World diseases, native populations declined rapidly due to the lack of resistance against these diseases. The Mayans living on the Yucatan were no exception. Towards the end of the colonial era the Mayans grew weary of Spanish dominance and attempted to get rid of them in what later was known as the Caste War of Yucatan starting in 1847. **The Caste War of Yucatan: ** The Caste War of Yucatan, which lasted from 1847-1901, was started by the Mayans to improve their lives. This war was largely a reaction to the Spanish outsiders and oppression at the hands of the Spaniards.[5] The Caste War was started by Mayans located in areas where there was little Spanish influence, namely the eastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula. These Mayans were seeking to preserve the autonomy of their community, something that had been under increasing threat by Spanish landowners seeking to acquire their land. Despite losing the war, the rebelling Mayans did succeed in protecting their culture from Spanish influence.[6] **World System: ** The Yucatan is a periphery area and has been since the colonial era, even though it is part of Mexico, a semiperiphery nation. The peninsula was always overshadowed by the immense wealth located in the Aztec empire and the mines located in central Mexico. The Yucatan received little of the same treatment as the colony of Mexico, resulting in a system of tribute that lasted towards the end of the colonial era. Even the haciendas did not develop large numbers of plantations growing cash crops such as sugarcane. Instead, haciendas eventually grew henequen as their primary cash crop, not a crop meant to develop an economy to raise its status in the world. Due to the Yucatan’s periphery nature, the Spanish focused less of their attention on the area, allowing the Mayans to hold on to their traditional beliefs, even when the Spanish finally threatened these beliefs.

[1] Michael Coe, //The Maya// (New York: Thames & Hudson Inc., 2005), 202, 242.

[2] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Murdo J. MacLeod and Robert Wasserstrom, ed., //Spaniards and Indians in Southeastern Mesoamerica: Essays on the History of Ethnic Relations// (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983), 6-9.

[3] __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Ibid __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">., 9-10, 12.

[4] __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Ibid __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">., 14.

[5] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Ran T. Alexander, //Yaxcabá and the Caste War of Yucatán: An Archaeological Perspective// (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2004), 17.

[6]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Nancy M. Farriss, //Maya Society Under Colonial Rule: The Collective Enterprise of Survival// (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984), 386-7.