Spanish and Portuguese Imperial rule over its new founded territory of Latin America

The Spanish and Portuguese Empires had “discovered” the New World which had already been inhabited by Natives.

Both empires did not necessarily respect the Natives and treat them well. They were mainly used for slave labor, and there were many efforts to convert them to Catholic Christianity through missionaries.

The lands that the Spanish and Portuguese owned in the New World were kept in order by the monarchies of their origins.

Much of the land was conquered through military force, however, both Inca and Aztec were dealing with internal problems and diseases

Silver was a very important resource found in the New World for the Spanish that once found, ⅕ of the silver had to go to the Spanish monarch. This was called the quinto

The Spanish controlled much of Central America, (Mexico) and the Portuguese controlled the Caribbean and Brazil

Governors and viceroys were selected by the throne through audiences. They had administrative centers in Mexico and Peru

The Spanish were in search for silver and gold, while the Portuguese were given Brazil through the Treaty of Tordesillas and were in search for the production and export of sugar

After mining, the principle that occupation was farming for the Spanish Haciendas (large estates) used labor under the encomienda system, and later on the repartimiento system