Origin of American Civilization - Essay Example

Origin of American Civilization due: What Were the Key Events That Led To the Demise of Spanish Power in the Atlantic There are two main causes of the demise of Spain. Firstly, the empire of Spain was too big for them to defend using their revenues, secondly, its economy was not doing so well since it was constantly being weakened. Demographic challenges in Castile together with absence of investments; Spain failed to invest the new worlds wealth, an increase dependence on other countries and their economy which was counter capitalism. Spains economy demised in absolute terms and it was also not capable of challenging the growing economies of the northern economy. This resulted to weakening its capableness to effectively engage in war. Spain was unable to defend its large empire or even pursue the foreign policy. The demise of Spain was also as a result of its failure to create a commonwealth with its colonies so as to stop the colonies from seeking independence. Spain was also engaging in wars in Europe that were expensive, this also contributed to its decline. The documents used to prove this thesis include: The Decline in Spain and Thirty Years of War by Cooper, Imperial Spain, Spain and Its World and Empires of Atlantic World by Elliott and Endless Empire by MaCoy et. Al. Spanish power in Atlantic declined between the period of late fifteenth century and the late seventeenth century. There are various events that contributed to the decline of Spanish power in Atlantic. Spain became a European and global power after the marriage of Queen Isabel and the king of Aragon Ferdinand, his kingdom included Valencia, Aragon Proper and Catalonia. The marriage of the two united Spain and brought together the desperate territories and defeated the Granada which was the last Islamic kingdom in Iberia their union also provided support to ‘Columbus’ Atlantic Voyages and extended their influence of Spain in North Africa and Italy 1. The primary reason as to why Spain declined was its Spanish empire. Spain had power over Castile, Portugal, Aragon, Naples and Milan, Sicily, Netherlands together with the empire that was in America2. The large size of Spanish empire made it difficult to defend it and also contributed to the many enemies Spain had. As stated by Philip IV: "With as many kingdoms as have been linked to this crown, it is impossible to be without war in some area..." In order for Spain to defend its empire, it needed to fight against the French, the German, the English, the Dutch and also the Swedes. Despite the fact that Spain was defending its empires at all cost, it reached a time that it could not be able to effectively defend them. Spanish monarchs were spending a lot of money in order to defend the empires. This money was more than their profit in revenues causing Spain to have various state bankruptcies3. Phillip II, the son of Charles I of Spain, commenced attempt to defeat England known as the ‘Spanish Armada’4. When the Spanish Armada was defeated in its attempts it marked the turning point of Spain. Their failure was just the start of the demise of Spain which was clearly discernable during the decline was the defeat of the ‘Spanish Army of Flaunders’ in 16435. They were defeated in France at Cocroi. This event led to the annihilation of Spain’s military power. The third event was the Imperial retreat. Spain also failed to repress the Dutch revolt, despite its struggles for almost eighty years. Philip (IV) conceded the independence of Dutch Republic. The defeats of Spain since 1890 were also caused by domestic problems. The seventeenth century marked a period of demographic decline for Spain. The decreasing population facilitated the depression of Spain’s economy. The decrease in population was caused by grave plague outbreaks during 1600 and the banishment of the Morisco and Christianized moors, a huge number of Castilians going to America, some dying in battles while thousands of them died as a result of famine. Castile was faced with five serious plagues in 1589 and 1694. During 1599 plague claimed the lives of 10% of Castiles total population6. Industrial towns like Granada, Toledo and Segovia were very prosperous at that time decayed when their main industries were experiencing some problems. When the river Guadalquivir silted up Seville which was greatly flourishing during the 16th century as a hub for the Indies trade, was greatly affected and had to be relocated to Cadiz. The agriculture in Spain was also experiencing some growing problems. During 1609, a great number of Morisco populations who were in Spain were expelled. The Morisco were involved in agriculture. This caused Spain’s government to increase the fiscal burden and manipulate Spain’s coinage because the government lacked the revenue it required to carter for the imperial projects that were very expensive. This move by the Spain’s government resulted to inflation which greatly contributed to the failing economy of Spanish. Spain’s challenges exacerbated and were worsened by the political difficulties they faced in their monarchy. The count Duke of Olivares developed the “Union of arms” because of the low population in Spain and recession made it impossible for them to bear the burden of the empire without receiving any help7. The union of arms was meant to lessen the burden and divide the load widely. This blueprint devised by Olivares to develop a bigger imperial unity endangered the near autonomy that was being enjoyed by many non-Castilian kingdoms from the fundamentally dynastic and individualized “unification” 8of Spain when they were being ruled by Ferdinand and Isabella. What worsened the situation was the response of the domino of Catalonia; Olivares overrated his capabilities to contribute. The Catalonia principality then revolted in 1640 and finally agreed to the Sovereignty of Louis XIII, the king of France. For the same reasons the realm of Portugal also resented the fact that the court of Madrid was unsuccessful in providing protection for its overseas empire against the Dutch invasion and also the encroachment of Spaniards into office in Portugal violating terms of Philip II’s attainment of the throne in 1580. The duke of Braganza also took advantage of the fact that king Philip IV was preoccupied in Catalonia and made himself king in December 1640. The Spanish king was struggling to restore his control over Portugal. The conflict resulted major damage to the areas of Spain’s which bordered Portugal. In 1668, the court of Madrid acknowledged the independence of Portugal. Spain’s defeat to Portugal and the war in Catalonia augmented the pressure on other domains of the Spanish monarch. This prompted other revolts which did not last long, in Naples (1647 - 1648) and Sicily and also some disturbances were evident in the Indies. In the late 1640’s the Spanish monarchy seemed to be disintegrating9. Its difficulties augmented because its elite seemed to have lost their martial characteristics that underpinned the success of Spanish in the former century. Inflation in Spain was also caused by an influx in metals extracted from mines which were in Peru and Mexico. These precious metals never lasted long in Spain because Spain did not have financial center. This caused for the metals to be taken Antwerp which was a financial center. The metals were then changed to currency. The currency was afterwards given to neighboring countries such as England and France. This action made England and France to become more powerful. To sum it up, the demise of Spain should be viewed based on power politics of European. During the sixteenth century Spain was the dominant power in Europe but its power greatly weakened by mid of 17th century. The success of Portugal in revolting against Spain and getting back their independence was among the key events that key events that contributed to weakening of Spains power. In the year 1648, Spain acknowledged the independence of its highly valued European dominion, which was Netherlands. In 1659, Spain accepted to be at peace with its biggest rival which was France. Spain was considered to be the second rate power in the early eighteenth century. This was proved by their war of succession. Foreigners interceded easily in the affairs of Spain and Spain solely depended on French troop to guard their land. This was also the only time after centuries that the Spanish were faced with a protective war on their own borders. The weakness that Spain showed in this war gives a clear evidence of Spains lessened stature in European matters. This caused their power decline in Atlantic. Bibliography Cooper,J.P. (1979). The Decline of Spain and Thirty years of War, 1609-59.,: Cup Archive. Elliott, J. H. (2002). Imperial Spain 1469-1716. , : Penguin UK. Elliott, J. H. (1989). Spain and its world, 1500-1700: Selected essays. New Haven,: Yale University Press. Elliott, J.H. (2006). Empires of Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America, 1492-1830. New Haven,: Yale University Press McCoy, A. W., Fradera, J. M., & Jacobson, S. (2012). Endless empire: Spains retreat, Europes eclipse, Americas decline. , : . Read More