Obstacles of Spanish Monarchs during Colonization
The current state of Spain was established by the unification of separate and distinct kingdoms that prospered in the Iberian Peninsula during the 15th century. It emerged through the marriage of Queen Isabelle from the Castile Kingdom and King Ferdinand from Aragon. They initiated the development of the Catholic Monarch and the unification of various territories from the Iberian Peninsula although they separate their institutional identities such as political, social and economic powers. During their expansion and colonization, the Crown of Spain has been one of the most powerful and influential government in the Early Europe. However, it becomes one of the first colonizers to be removed from its political powers in their colonized territories (Yeager, 842).
The problems within the Crown of Spain could be recognized even during their establishment as an imperial power. The state of Spain comes from separate and distinct kingdoms that only united due to the marriage of monarchs. The unification brought order to the peninsula and initiated the political and economic progress of the Catholic Monarch. However, their main obstacles are the centralization of power to the Castile kingdom. Even though, they are united, their social, political and economic freedom are restricted among kingdoms and created a conflict of interest for their colonization process (Yeager, 843).
According to Douglas North, institutions are the most important aspect of economic progress. The institutions are the ones that controlled the ability of the state to develop their economic growth. During the colonization of the Crown of Spain, political and economic freedom was restricted to the centralist Castile institutions. The centralization of Castile power requires the colonizing powers to minimize the costs of the expedition since they have restricted economic and political freedom. The unification of Spain was under the rule of the Castile kingdom. The centralization of power created conflicts that require alteration of their organizational structure. It became one of the major obstacles in their conquest to the New World. The Catholic Monarchs or the Crown of Spain tries to find ways to distribute political and economic freedom from the centralist Castile kingdom. During their colonization, they have so many officials which they cannot pay any more. The lack of resources and economic growth hinders them from their control over their colonized territories (Hulme, 65).
Another obstacle is the lack of manpower for colonizing the New World. The objective of the expansion of the Crown of Spain is to spread Christianity, to expand the Spanish Empire and to gain natural resources from the colonies. However, the conflicts between the kingdoms as well as the lack of knowledge on expeditions results to low number of people who volunteered to the Spanish Conquest. The conquest of the New world is a very difficult task since it would require a lot of time for the travel and it will risk a lot of lives for the battles against the natives (Batchelder, 77).
Another obstacle for the Crown of Spain during the Spanish conquest is the slow growth of population of the colonized territories. One of the main reasons is that they have many failures during the conquest and many battles where loss due to the lack of men for the colonization. They also have a poor relation among the American Natives which also adds to their number of enemies in the early America. Since they the colonizing groups have low political and economic freedom they have difficulties in controlling the colonized territories especially in the America (Batchelder, 77).
Lastly, another major obstacle for the Crown of Spain is the organizational structure itself. The political system of the Spanish Monarch did not separate the judicial, executive and legislative powers which created a centralized government. Most of the royal officials have a weak power over political and economic institutions. The ultimate authority will come from the Crown in Spain, but the geographical restrictions also created challenges for the colonization. In this process, the Spanish conquests spend lots of money for colonizing their territories especially in the Latin America, which requires them to alter their economic and social structure within the colonized territories (Macleod, 270).
Confronting the Obstacles and the Roles Played by Important Groups
The encomienda is also a way for the Spanish Monarchs and Royal officials to regulate the low population of the Native settlers in their colonized territories. The Indians and the other settlers are important groups which helped the Crown of Spain to reward the Spaniards since they do not have enough resources for their conquest. One of the major objectives of the Spanish conquest is to have minimal costs for their expeditions and colonization. The Indians and the other settlers served as a benefit for the conquistadors or the Spaniards that served the Crown of Spain by conquest to the New World (Hulme, 69). Aside from the service of the Indians, the settlers also paid taxes to the conquistadors which became the encomenderos. In this method, the Crown of Spain did not need to provide enough payment to the Spanish conquerors which lessen the cost of expansion for them.
The encomienda was very important in reducing the cost of Spanish conquest. However, the system of labour did not effectively increase the number of conquistadors for the expansion of the Spanish Monarchy. Conquistadors is an important group in the history of Spanish conquest since they are the ones that travels to the new world and colonized the Spanish territories. To increase the numbers of conquistadors, the Crown of Spain resorted to the shared contract system of arrangement between them. The arrangement has been effective to both of them since they will not have difficulties in raising the necessary capital for the expeditions. The Royal officials will organize the arrangement with the leaders of the conquistadors. The arrangement is that the Crown of Spain will grant them to be encomenderos if they are successful, but they will raise their capital for the expedition. The Crown of Spain will grant the conquistadors partial rights to the New World assets. The conquistadors became interested in the arrangement thus increasing their numbers since they would only obey partial rules from the Spanish Monarchs if they became encomenderos in their respective colonized territories (Batchelder, 77).
The colonized territories of the Crown of Spain are very far and needs lots of officials to control the settlers and the natives. However, the Crown of Spain does not have the resources in paying the royal officials to control the settlers. The Spanish Monarchs created clerical officials which rely on taxes and tributes of the settlers as the payment or their wage (Macleod, 275). The Royal officials will not pay the clerics, but they will regulate the towns and other areas of the colonized territories and reports their condition directly to the Crown of Spain. The clerics are the ones that will stay within the colonized territories and govern the area for the system of labour or the encomienda. In this system of officials, the Crown of Spain will reduce the cost for the regulation and control of the colonized territories (Macleod, 276).
The organizational structure of the Spanish Monarch is the obstacle itself in controlling and regulating the settlers in their colonized territories. In order to reduce the effects, the Spanish monarchs favoured the encomienda and the clerical system in regulating the economic and political structure of the colonized territories. The Spanish Monarch or the Crown of Spain, as well as the royal officials, are successful to their control and regulation of the settlers even if they did not pay the Spaniards.
Works Cited:
Batchelder, R. The Encomienda and the optimizing Imperialist: An Interpretation of Spanish Imperialism in the Americas. Journal of Political Economy. 1988. Print.
Hulme, P. Colonial Encounters: Europe and the Native Caribbean, 1492-1797. New York: Methuen. 1986.
MacLeod, M. Spanish Central America: A Socio-Economic History. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1973. Print.
Yeager, T. Encomienda or Slavery? The Spanish Crown’s Choice of Labour Organization in Sixteenth-Century Spanish America. The Journal of Economic History. 1995. Print
