16-4 Spanish Empire

Exploration and Expansion

Section 4: The Spanish and Dutch Empires

In this section you will find out how Spain extended its power abroad and at home. You

will discover why the Dutch were successful in creating a colonial empire. Finally, you will

learn why the Spanish Empire declined.

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Section 4 Summary

In the 1500s Spain was the most powerful nation in Europe, with the largest overseas

empire. In 1513 Spanish explorer Ponce de León sailed north from the Caribbean to

what is now Florida and claimed it for Spain. In 1519, Hernán Cortés, with 600 men,

invaded Mexico. He seized the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II, or Montezuma, and destroyed

the great Aztec city, Tenochtitlán. Spanish horses and guns, unknown to the Americas, and

a smallpox epidemic helped the Spanish defeat the Aztec.

In 1530 Francisco Pizarro traveled south and overthrew the Inca Empire,

claiming its vast lands, gold, and silver for Spain. Spain soon controlled southern and

western North America, Central America, and much of South America. It established

settlements and colonial governments everywhere. Officials called viceroys represented

the monarchy in the colonies. But European diseases killed millions of Native Americans.

Whole cultures were wiped out in a few years.

To keep the wealth to themselves, the Spanish government made laws keeping

foreigners out of their colonies. The French, Dutch, and English tried to capture some of

the wealth. They traded in Spanish American ports, and their monarchs encouraged

pirates to attack Spanish ships and colonial towns.

Meanwhile, Spanish kings expanded their authority at home. A Habsburg,

Charles V, became Holy Roman Emperor as well as king of Spain. He was torn between

Spanish interests, German interests, and defending Europe against the Ottoman Turks.

Continuous religious wars drained Spain’s human and financial resources. Realizing that

the Spanish and Holy Roman empires were too large for one man to rule, Charles divided

his throne and lands. His son Philip II received Spain and its possessions. Charles’s

brother Ferdinand I became Holy Roman Emperor.

Philip controlled every facet of Spain’s government, paralyzing his administration.

He ordered the Spanish Inquisition to stamp out heresy and involved Spain in wars to

defend Catholicism. Taxes could not keep up with the wars, and loans multiplied. Philip

defeated the Ottoman Empire, but his attempt to invade Protestant England was

disastrous.

Philip II also inherited rule of the Netherlands. He ruled harshly, ignoring the

country’s long tradition of self-rule by nobles. He heavily taxed Dutch trade and

persecuted Calvinists. In 1568 William of Orange, a Dutch nobleman and Calvinist, led

a revolt. The people opened the dikes and flooded the countryside, stranding Philip’s

army. William ordered swift raids by small bands of soldiers, a technique known today as

guerrilla warfare. The northern provinces declared independence, although the Catholic

southern provinces remained under Spanish control.

With efficient ships and expert sailors, the Dutch ruled European commerce in the

1600s. Amsterdam became a world financial center and lively cultural center. The Dutch

East India Company established colonies in the East Indies, West Indies, South America,

and North America. The Dutch never tried to force their religion, language, or laws on

people in their colonies. The Dutch came simply as traders and businesspeople. For this

reason, the Japanese allowed them to establish a trading center in Nagasaki.

Several major problems led to the decline of the Spanish Empire. First, its growing

population had growing needs. Increases in the costs of goods and services, combined

with a shortage of basic goods, led to a general decline in Spain’s industry and

commercial activity. Spain had no industries, partly because it had expelled first the Jews

and then the Moriscos—Moorish converts to Christianity. Spain thus lost many skilled

bankers, businesspeople, commercial leaders, and artisans. Much of Spain’s wealth

simply passed through Spain. It purchased goods from countries with industries, which

grew wealthy at Spain’s expense. Finally, many people became discontented with high

taxes, inflation, and crop failures and left the country.