Conquest and Global Economy
The Spanish conquered powerful indigenous empires through clever tactics. Hernán Cortés defeated the Aztecs in 1519 by forming alliances with their enemies, using superior weapons, and unintentionally spreading disease. Similarly, Francisco Pizarro destroyed the Inca Empire with just 180 soldiers, helped by smallpox that had already weakened the population.
A new global economy emerged based on mercantilism - the belief that national wealth depended on accumulating gold and silver while maintaining favorable trade balances. European powers wanted colonies to provide raw materials while buying finished goods. Governments manipulated economies through subsidies, tax systems, and transportation networks to maintain this advantage.
The Columbian Exchange transformed the world as plants, animals, and diseases moved between hemispheres. Europeans created plantation agriculture in the Americas, producing sugar, tobacco, and cotton. This system had devastating effects: disease killed millions of indigenous people, and the demand for labor led to the Atlantic slave trade.
Remember this: The Triangle Trade connected Europe, Africa and the Americas in a profitable but deadly system - European goods to Africa, enslaved people to the Americas, and colonial products back to Europe.