Structural Inequalities in Latin America in the colonial era

Spanish and Portuguese were the first Europeans to colonize South America, also called Latin America in the fifteenth century where they lived until the eighteenth century. Around the period there was a large population of Black indigenous Africans and Indians. These were the people who were the most abused. The indigenous people of Africa and India had been enslaved and exploited the most in Latin America. This article will explain the socio-cultural, economic, political, and environmental structures of Latin America during colonization.

SOCIO-CULTURAL STRUCTURE:

In Latin America, modern cultural phenomena emerged due to mestizaje combination, which was the sexual amalgamation between different people. Africans and Indians were the ones who were treated the most brutally and ruthlessly over there. Many white communities residing in Latin America were deemed superior to the black African culture. They were termed slaves and were marginalized and ignored.

Female prostitution was not deemed illegal so it progressed from informal part-time operation to professional business with foreign relations. The enslaved women who used to get sexually used by the Spanish soldiers, accepted it as it had been part of their culture. Also, Mexico’s rulers offered the Spanish men their wives so that their children could achieve a high social status in society. The Indian women also used to be abducted along the frontier. The Spanish people were often supported by women during the conquests and this became part of their tradition. The concubines were not considered partners in marriage. The physical relationship between the Spanish men and Indian women had not stopped long after the conquests ended.

Spanish men used to assume that they had total power over those Indian women and could openly use them, whether they be single or married, for their sexual satisfaction. Indian women were abused, assaulted, and violently beaten to death. Women were often enslaved in certain areas and were forced to become concubines. Sometimes the owners manumitted under their own accord. They were still in danger the black mulattos might use them. Besides physically exploiting them, they were often coerced by blacks to manufacture fabric for them. The blacks were punished with the Indian women for no reason at all. When Indian people married Spanish men, they used to feel more confident regarding their property rights. The migrant Indian women used to learn English to become a part of their culture. The Mulatta women had to do single parenting and had no respect in society.

ECONOMIC STRUCTURE:

Latin America was considered to be a capitalist economy, where it thrived to revolutionize the global structure. Females were forced into laborious work and were granted very low wages. At first, the enslavement of the workforce gave birth to encomiendas, but it transformed into a capitalist-free labor system after a century.

The community leaders used to pick people for repartimiento and had to pay those salaries in advance which they used for their purposes. If the workers refused to perform the work efficiently, they were whipped, imprisoned, or charged. The repartimiento judge used to assign the chosen people their job responsibilities. The indigenous population of Latin America was treated as slaves and forced to work as laborers. There was the idea of debt peonage and servitude was that where the peasants were forced to work to pay back the debt. The labor system was not fair at all and criminalized the marginalized and unemployed people.

The colony’s economy was mostly based on Potosi where labor did mining jobs forcefully. the silver peak, Potosi Mita, the Indians were made to do highly arduous work. They were provided very small pay, so they needed to do additional work to support their households. They had been strongly discriminated against by the officers in authority.

Women also contributed to the economy. They used to weave cloth and did other work for which in return they used to get goods as tributes. They later used to sell those goods for cash. The women also produced and marketed handicrafts. Peasants also played a role in the economy by selling their handicrafts and using the money to fund the church taxes and fees. The job the staff did was agriculture, plant treatment, manufacturing, transportation, and much more. Most commonly the costs used to fluctuate up and down. The rural employees used to pay in cash or food or animal form. Credit became necessary at the supermarket as meat, fabric, and equipment were sold at the shop.

POLITICAL STRUCTURE:

In Spanish America, despite the laborers being treated as slaves and subjected to ruthlessness and violence, the state was not called a totalitarian State. A court was made in New Spain which handled the affairs of the Indian repartimentos. Whoever needed the workers, asked for them in the court and the court provided them with the Indian repartimiento. Authorities intimidated those who opposed the government. The individual farmers were not granted access to land by elite policies and were coerced into labor.

The Africans were served unjustly and the state established an ethological institution with the aim of studying the culture and history of the indigenous people8. A policy created laws that forced black women to dress in a manner that could not seduce the males. The women used to be used as slaves and they were told to remain home during the night by the local commissions but this policy failed. Nevertheless, in a section of the law, the slave women were permitted to say their price to be traded. Spanish people kept the power and at that period, Indian women knew how to legally protect their rights to land. This is because Indian women had become the need of Spanish men to fulfill their sexual needs through physical intimacy. Indian women had learned how to create their political room and inherit Kinfolks' chieftainships to stimulate their economic and political influence. Once an Indian woman even became the community leader for coping with the rebellious Indians.

ENVIRONMENTAL STRUCTURE:

Latin American history reveals that the Whites of the society were given the most freedom and luxury while the indigenous population of black Africans was treated as slaves. The same was the case with the Indian population. They were made to do laborious work. The laborers had become victims of oppression focused on ethnicity, gender, and age. There was a regime of exploited slave labor, dubbed the repartimiento scheme of forced labor. The indigenous population of Black Africans and Indians had to live a marginalized life and the social virtues in the society or environment were neglected to the hilt. For most settings in Spanish America, labor became too costly and necessary for the labor cycle to be used in a manner that could hinder their capacity to work. There was a lot of human bigotry and unfair rivalry. There was scarcely any free labor. The Indian workers were forced to do dangerous mining jobs and were ruthlessly attacked when they protested about it. They were stripped and bound from the waist, then pushed into the icy waters to work naked. This had certain long-term effects as they were persecuted and shockingly poor salaries were given.

The indigenous population was limited and relegated to fishing for fish and other species because of ecological shifts. Favored workers in Hacienda were allowed to stay and have food but were not permanent and seasonal. The slaves were granted the least care and were made to consume the cheapest food; consistency and nutritional value which contributed to malnutrition. The slaves were allowed to breed further in Cuyo, as that economically benefited the Jesuits.

The Africans in Portuguese America were oppressed by slavery. They were required to do food processing where they were mostly wounded and seriously hurt. In the colonies of Spain, African slavery was associated with the production of commercial sugars. The women managed the household economy, where they performed homework. They also produced and marketed handicrafts. Peasants also played a role in the economy. They sold what they made, and used the money to fund the church taxes and fees. But they were unable to produce any product which was the state’s prerequisite.

The indigenous population had to endure a great deal of the weather and used to become ill. The employees then decided to rebel and they lodged complaints against the Government. The repartimiento Indians used to apply to get indebted as that was the only possible option for them. Indian women used to be purchased and sold and had to do labor. The women captured by the Spanish had to live with them as their lovers and concubines. Spanish people abandoned the rights of women. Concubinage, where sexual services were carried out, was not deemed illegal. And Indian women were treated better than Indian men since they were concubines.

RESISTANCE AND REBELLION:

In Guatemala, the authorities compelled the local Indigenous population residing in faraway settlements to be part of the repartimientos and move to the location where they could be watched by the government. Upon this, the Indians resisted. The authorities took notice of this and brought the people back with them forcibly, separating them from their homes. The officials still had suspicion of the indigenous Indians running away so they simply imprisoned them so they don’t disappear. But Indians still used to run away from there, seeking shelter in small towns so that they don’t have to be working as the repartimientos. Throughout the job, they were punished poorly whenever they protested about the laborious task they were carrying out violently. Research suggests that the origin of the Indians ‘revolt and opposition was because their will was not respected and they served involuntarily because the officials abused power. The ones who were compelled to work as repartimientos used to show their unwillingness and resistance. They tried their best to rebel and run away far from where they could be reached and manipulated by the Spanish men who had colonized the area. The indigenous populations’ rights were being violated and they were not being given the freedom to live their lives according to their will. They had been forcefully subjected to wrath and discrimination. This was the reason why they resisted and rebelled against the authorities who had been suppressing their rights.