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The Negative Effects Of Spanish Colonization In Latin America

Decent Essays

Spain’s original goal was to come to Latin America to create wealth and spread
Christianity to the people. What happened instead was 350 years of Spanish rule that resulted in social, political, and economic changes for the native people. The changes were both negative and positive. Colonization helped the countries become unified under one language and religion. However, Spanish colonization had a negative impact by creating more poverty and discrimination toward the native people. The native people faced discrimination and inequality that caused an increase in poverty and an income gap that still exists today. How can the gap between the rich and the poor be closed?
The majority of Spanish people who settled in Latin America were looking for a way to increase their wealth. They saw the native people as a source of labor they could use to complete tasks. If the natives refused they would have the conquistadors force them. The
Spanish thought they were helping the native people by teaching them Spanish language and the Catholic religion. In reality, the Spanish saw the native people not as good as them and treated like slaves. The Spanish did not see them as equals and took away their human rights.
As the Spanish began to settle in Latin America, they brought with them diseases that began to kill of the native people. Diseases such as small pox and typhus caused a decline in the native population. The diseases reduced the native population by almost 70 percent. As a result, the Spanish lost a great deal of their labor force. The Spanish looked for another way to get their work done. The solution they found was to import slaves from Africa to replace the work being done by the natives. The Africa slaves were used mostly in the sugar plantations and in Fitzgerald 2 the mines. The addition of the African people changed the social hierarchy and a new mix of races and classes to Latin America.
The creation of interracial groups created a social hierarchy known as castes. At the top of the hierarchy were the Spanish people who were born in Spain. The next class was the
Spanish people born in Latin America. The next level of the hierarchy was the people who were half Spanish and half native. The next level of the

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