Negative Effects Of Spanish Colonization On Latin America

The Spanish exploration and colonisation made both a positive and negative impact on Latin America. The arrival of the Spanish explorers to the new world made a big change and they are the reason Latin America looks the way it does today. However these people were ruthless and were the tyrants of the new world. One of Spain’s major foreign policy objectives since the advent of democracy has been to increase its influence in Latin America. Spain has had interest in this area due to historical ties and a common linguistic, cultural and religious heritage (Countrystudies.us, 2017).
It all began in the 15th century with Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailor with an in-depth knowledge of the Atlantic Ocean who believed he could find a shorter

Trade can be seen as a positive side. The Spanish brought goods such as gun powder, sugar, horses, steel, and farming machinery and more. In return the Latin American natives introduced tobacco, potatoes, tomatoes, turkey and corn. The natives were taught new skills in trade and even architecture using the new materials. Although this may initially be viewed as positive, the Spanish soon began to take advantage and exploit the natives. A quote which describes this best is one by Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano “Latin America is the region of open veins. Everything, from the discovery until our times, has always been transmuted into European— or later United States— capital, and as such has accumulated in distant centers of power. Everything: the soil, its fruits and its mineral-rich depths, the people and their capacity to work and to consume, natural resources and human resources” (Galeano,

Spanish was originally taught to the children of the New World. This is the reason it is called ‘Latin’ America, as its language was influenced by Latin, the same as most European countries. It makes Latin America seem like an exaggerated form of Spain but then should Latin America be considered a European continent? The answer to this is a matter of opinion, yes many citizens of Latin America are similar to those of Spanish identity as a result of colonization but their history makes them unique. To this day there are still indigenous people present.
The Colonisation of Latin America had a major negative impact on these indigenous people as the arrival in Latin America collided with 12,000 years of isolation from Eurasia which imposed many diseases on the natives. The natives were unable to fight of these diseases as they did not have the immune system for these types of sickness nor the appropriate medicine so many of them died as a result. These diseases included small pox, measles and influenza, bubonic plagues, cholera and tropical