Throughout the sixteenth century different factors such as economy, society and religion had varying effects on the government policies of the Spaniards before and after the colonization of the Americas. Government policy in the New World was wholly reformed due to the Spanish attitudes in relation to the lands and people they conquered.
As the Spaniards established control over the Americas, labour policies were adjusted as to better exploit newly conquered lands and people. Since the Spanish thirsted for gold, they soon discovered many foreign resources that quickly became popular in the western hemisphere. These newly discovered resources caused Spanish trade and commerce to flourish. Silver was the main source of wealth in the Spanish colonies in the Americas. However while this was nice for the Europeans initially, the surplus of silver flooding European markets, as well as some Asian markets caused inflation where the value of silver decreased while the prices for products increased. The colonization of the Americas also led to the Columbian exchange.While this had a profitable impact on the Spanish, it had a detrimental impact on the Natives. The high demand for their products in Europe caused the Spanish to establish the ‘Encomienda’ system, a new labour policy where Spaniards were given legal rights to American lands and possession of
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Spanish attitudes towards the lands and people conquered in the New World substantially altered the government policy in the New