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Period: 1491 to
Period 1
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1492
Columbus "discovers" America
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1492
Columbian Exchange
The widespread transfer of plants, animals, people, diseases, and cultures between the eastern and western hemispheres. -
1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
Drew a vertical line of demarcation in order to divide the territories New World between Spain and Portugal. Spain received a majority of the territory. -
1512
Encomienda System established
This was a Spanish labor system that rewarded conquerors with the labor of conquered non-Christian natives. The laborers, in theory, were provided with benefits such as military protection, education, and the opportunity to convert to Christianity. -
1525
Rise of Atlantic Slave Trade
Also known as triangular trade, this was a system of profitable exchange that encompassed Europe, Africa, and European colonies in the Americas. Europe received raw materials from the Americas and sent manufactured goods to Africa. Then African slaves were sent to the Americas to work within the colonies. -
1542
Bartolomé de las Casas
Bartolomé de las Casas was Spanish landowner, friar, priest, and bishop, who is now known as a historian and social reformer. Despite participating in the encomienda system, he eventually felt compelled to oppose. In 1515, he gave up his Native American slaves and the encomienda, and advocated before Charles V, on behalf of the rights for the natives. -
1547
Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda
Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda was a Spanish humanist, philosopher, and theologian of the Spanish Renaissance. Although he had never been to America, Sepúlveda defended the position of the colonists, even going as far as claiming that some of these natives were "natural slaves." Sepúlveda also believed that natives should be forced into Christianity rather than being given a choice. -
1550
Valladolid debate
The Valladolid debate was the first moral debate in European history to discuss the rights and treatment of an indigenous people by European colonizers. Bishop Bartolomé de las Casas argued that they were free men in the natural order and deserved the same consideration as colonizers. Opposing this was humanist scholar Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, who led the side in favor of “forced” conversion, justified conquest, and evangelization by the sword. -
1565
St. Augustine is established
This was a Spanish colony and the first permanent colony in the Americas, established in modern day Florida. -
Roanoke Colony
Also called the Lost Colony, Roanoke was an attempt to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. It was financed by Sir Walter Raleigh and governed by John White. When governor John White left to get supplies then returned in 1590, the colonists as well as any trace of a colony had disappeared. The only thing that remained was the word "Croatoan" carved into a nearby tree.