How Did European Conquest Affect Latin American Colonization

European conquest during the colonial period greatly affected the indigenous and slave populations, generally decreasing their quality of life while exploiting them for personal gain.

To begin, the indigenous people experienced forced assimilation to European culture and destruction of their culture. Many populations practices their own religion separate from European beliefs. Yet, upon the arrival of the Europeans, their way of life was destroyed. Amongst the Aztecs, the Spanish deceived them with their own culture, convincing them to believe Hernan Cortez was their sun God. The Spanish eventually destroyed the Aztecs and other Latin American civilization in a similar way. This has caused indigenous Latin American people of contemporary society to become disconnected to the culture of their ancestors before the European conquest.

The slave trade was a vital component of the colonizing world, beginning with the Dutch's first voyage in 1628. As the decades progressed, so did the number of African slaves brought to North, Central, and South America. These slaves replaced the indigenious servants once used for labor in the mining and agriculture industry; they provided a stable labor source for gold mining in Brazil and sugar production in the Carribean. Since history is not an arbitry unconnected concept, the event of slavery during the salve trade has major implications in contemporary society, lagely affecting the indigenious and slave populations of the America. The largest impact is simply the continued oppression of African decendents in the class system of society because of their connection to slavery. Since African slaves were not accepted as human by mainsteam society, their descendents are affected by the same social dilemma, forcing those in Latin America to remain below Europeans and even indigenious