This image of Cusco Cathedral in Peru is an example of how Spanish colonialism left a mark on Peru that persists today. This cathedral was built in 1560, towards the beginning of Spain’s rule over Peru. It was built with a Gothic-Renaissance style with Baroque touches (All About…, 2021).
This second image is a graph from Encyclopedia Britannica showing the ethnic makeup of Peru. The legacy of colonialism is evident here because before the Spanish took over the country, the Inca people were in control and made up a majority of the population. Now, a majority of Peru’s population identifies as mestizo, or of mixed indigenous and European descent (Pugar-Vidal, 2022).
This image shows the city of Cajamarca, which is known as the place where Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizzaro captured and executed the emperor of the Incan empire Atahualpa. Pizzaro’s legacy does not stop there, he is attributed to naming the capital city of Peru, Lima, which remains the name today (Francisco Pizzaro, n.d).
This image shows a coca leaf. Today, Peru is the world’s second-largest producer of cocaine, and that can be attributed to the very beginning of the Spanish colonization of the country (Heritage, n.d). Prior to the Spanish invading Peru, Inca people would chew the coca leaf and use it for medicinal properties. After the Spanish took over, it began to be exploited and exported to Europe (TD Consultancy).
This image shows a zinc-lead-silver mine in Cerro de Pasco. Peru’s metals and minerals have been exploited since the 16th-century Spanish rule. Today, Peru is the second-largest producer of silver and copper, third in zinc, and fourth in molybdenum, lead, and tin (Summer, 2021).
The Material Basis
The colony was originally built on conquest as Spanish conquistadors traveled throughout South America and sought to spread Catholicism, but it was quickly exploited for its’ minerals, mainly silver and mercury (History of Peru, n.d). The primary source of labor was enslaved indigenous peoples, as they were put to work in the mines and forced to adopt Catholicism (Graubart and Ulrickson, 2017).
The Political and Judicial Basis
The viceroyalty was divided into audiences, which were made up of provinces or districts, and so on. The viceroy was in charge of everything from the general management of Peru to the management of churches and the indigenous peoples. They used taxes to control the population and they removed rights from the conquistadors who were growing too powerful (History of Peru, n.d).
The Ideological Foundation
Colonizer presence in Peru was justified through the spread of Catholicism. Missionaries wanted to spread their religion to the indigenous groups of Peru (Cultural Atlas, n.d).
References
All about the Cusco Cathedral | Blog Machu Travel Peru. (2021, July 2). Peru Travel Blog | Machu Travel Peru. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://www.machutravelperu.com/blog/cathedral-cusco
Cultural Atlas. (n.d.). Peruvian Culture. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/peruvian-culture/peruvian-culture-religion
Francisco pizzaro. (n.d.). The Mariners’ Museum and Park. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://exploration.marinersmuseum.org/subject/francisco-pizarro/
Graubart, K. B., & Ulrickson, M. C. (2017). Colonial Peru. Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199766581-0189
Heritage. (n.d.). Peru Economy: Population, GDP, Inflation, Business, Trade, FDI, Corruption. Index of Ecnomic Freedom. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://www.heritage.org/index/country/peru
History of Peru, The Colonial Period, 1550–1824. (n.d.). Mother of Peru. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from http://motherearthtravel.com/history/peru/history-5.htm
Pugar-Vidal, J. (2022, January 24). Peru | History, Flag, People, Language, Population, Map, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Peru
Summer, E. (2021, August 14). Peruvian Economy. LimaEasy. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://www.limaeasy.com/peru-guide/peru-info/peruvian-economy#mining-peru
TD Consultancy – Drug Training & Consultancy. (2021, June 28). History of Cocaine – A brief history of cocaine. TD Consultancy. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://tonydagostino.co.uk/history-of-crack-cocaine/