The Spanish Empire, Silver, & Runaway Inflation: Crash Course World History #25

CrashCourse
12 Jul 201210:45
EducationalLearning
32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThe Spanish conquered the Aztec and Inca empires in the 16th century then built an enormous silver mining operation, sparking massive inflation in Spain and China. Spain used its silver wealth to wage expensive wars across Europe, eventually defaulting on debts, while the influx of silver damaged China's economy too as its taxes shifted to silver payments. The global silver trade connected continents but had dire consequences - destroying indigenous empires, harming the environment, and killing many miners.

Takeaways
  • 😀 The Aztecs formed an alliance of 3 major cities in Mexico around 1430 and accomplished impressive things like building the capital Tenochtitlan
  • 👍 The Aztecs and Incas had administrative structures the Spanish could step into after conquest to control their empires
  • 💰 Spanish mines in the Americas produced over 150,000 tons of silver, making Spain temporarily rich
  • 📉 But Spain failed to understand inflation and didn't benefit much long-term from American silver
  • 🔫 Rich countries like Spain tend to get into expensive wars, which American silver funded
  • 😖 Mining the silver was deadly for indigenous peoples forced to do the work without pay
  • 🚢 At least 1/3 of American silver went to China, leading to economic changes like the Ming taxes requiring payment in silver
  • 📉 The Spanish silver trade caused inflation weakening the Ming government in China, like it did in Spain
  • 🌎 The Spanish silver trade was likely history's first truly global market, with wide-ranging consequences
  • ❓ The script questions whether the human sacrifices to obtain the silver were ultimately worth it
Q & A

  • What were some of the major accomplishments of the Aztec civilization?

    -The Aztecs built the capital city of Tenochtitlan, which had canals and floating gardens. They also conquered much of southern Mexico, Guatemala, and the Yucatan, creating a large empire in a short time.

  • How did the Spanish conquer the Aztec and Inca empires so easily?

    -The Aztec and Inca empires were already weakened by disease when the Spanish arrived. Additionally, many conquered people under Aztec rule hated the Aztecs and allied with the Spanish to overthrow them.

  • What was the mit'a system used by the Inca and Spanish?

    -The mit'a system required all male peasants to provide unpaid labor to the government for a period each year. This allowed the building of infrastructure like roads and temples under the Inca, and silver mines under the Spanish.

  • How much silver did the Spanish mines in the Americas produce?

    -The Spanish mines produced over 150,000 tons of silver between the 16th and 18th centuries, over 80% of the world's supply at the time.

  • Did Spain benefit much from all the American silver?

    -No, Spain failed to understand inflation and wasted money from silver on unnecessary wars. The influx of silver caused rampant inflation as well.

  • How did American silver impact China's economy?

    -China switched its taxes to be payable in silver, causing most people to produce silk for export to obtain silver. This hurt Spanish silk producers and caused inflation in China.

  • What were some negative consequences of the global silver trade?

    -There was severe inflation in Spain and China, weakened governments, environmental damage from mining, and the destruction of the Aztec and Inca empires with thousands killed.

  • What enabled the initial Spanish conquests in the Americas?

    -The Aztec and Inca empires were already reeling from disease and had internal unrest. This allowed the Spanish to ally with discontented groups and leverage superior weapons.

  • How are modern economic policies similar to the Ming dynasty's silver tax switch?

    -Like the Ming dynasty switching taxes to silver causing economic distortion, some modern policies related to currencies, central bank actions, or trade can have unintended negative consequences.

  • What lessons can we learn from Spain's management of American silver?

    -We see the importance of understanding concepts like inflation, as well as setting tax policies correctly aligned with economic changes. Also, windfall resources may tempt unwise military adventures.

Outlines
00:00
😲 The Aztec Empire and its Demise

This paragraph discusses the rise and fall of the Aztec Empire. It covers topics like the Aztec social hierarchy, religion involving human sacrifice to avoid apocalyptic disasters, expansion through tribute and conquest, comparisons to The Hunger Games, accomplishments like building Tenochtitlan, and vulnerability to Spanish conquest due to the hatred of their conquered subjects.

05:03
😱 The Discovery and Impact of Mexican Silver

This paragraph examines the discovery of Mexican silver by the Spanish and its far-reaching impacts. It discusses the mining of silver using the Incan mit'a system, the huge production and global dissemination of Mexican silver, the failure to understand inflation by the Spanish crown, the funding of wars in Europe, the silver trade linking the Americas to China, and the socioeconomic and environmental damage caused by the relentless mining.

10:03
📝 Wrapping Up the Analysis of World History

This concluding paragraph provides closure on the analysis of world history across centuries. It mentions crediting last week's viewers for the phrase of the week, inviting them to suggest future phrases and ask questions, and motivating them to continue being awesome going forward.

Mindmap
Keywords
💡Spanish empire
The Spanish empire ruled large parts of North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean starting in the late 15th century after the arrival of Christopher Columbus. The script discusses the far-reaching global consequences of Spain's colonization efforts, such as the flow of massive amounts of silver from the Americas to Spain and China.
💡silver
Silver from mines in Mexico and Bolivia was a major driver of Spain's colonization of the Americas as well as global trade. The script examines both the positive and negative impacts of this flood of silver, including spurring inflation, funding wars, and destroying indigenous empires.
💡inflation
Influxes of silver to Spain and China led to skyrocketing inflation that weakened both governments by reducing the value of tax revenues. The script critiques the failure to anticipate inflationary effects.
💡Aztecs
The Aztecs built an impressive empire in Mesoamerica until being conquered by Cortez and the Spanish in 1521. The script argues their unpopularity with subjected peoples made the conquest easier.
💡Inca
The Inca built an expansive and long-lasting empire in the Andes until the arrival of the Spanish conquistador Pizarro in 1532. Their mit'a system of labor taxation was adopted by the Spanish.
💡mit'a
The mit'a was an Inca and Aztec system requiring peasant labor as taxation. The Spanish adapted it to force indigenous miners to extract silver under dangerous conditions.
💡China
Huge Chinese demand for silver as currency drove global trade as they purchased silver from Japan and the Spanish empire. But this hurt Chinese silk producers when Spain began making cheaper silk.
💡Spain
Despite huge silver wealth from the Americas that made Spain an European power, wars, mismanagement and inflation prevented lasting gains, ultimate bankrupting the empire.
💡consequences
The video emphasizes the wide-ranging consequences, both positive and negative, of Spain's colonization of the Americas. From technology transfer to environmental damage to the funding imperial wars.
💡global
A core argument is that Spain's colonization marked the beginning of a truly global world, linking Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas through silver trade.
Highlights

The Aztecs formed out of an alliance of three major cities in modern day Mexico in about 1430, just 89 years before Cortez and his conquistadors showed up.

Aztec religion held that history was cyclical and punctuated by terrible disasters and then would ultimately end with a massive apocalypse.

The Aztecs extended their control over most of southern Mexico, parts of Guatemala and the Yucatan, and they demanded tribute from conquered people.

The fact that the Aztecs were basically ruling over thousands of people who hated them made it a lot easier for Cortez to come in and find allies to overthrow them.

The Aztecs accomplished some amazing things, especially the building of their capital city Tenochtitlan on the site of modern day Mexico City.

The Inca had no written language but they were able to keep records with knotted strings called quipus.

The Spanish would adopt the Inca's system of forced labor and hierarchical system with the emperor at the top, except they would make it much worse.

Initially Spanish conquistadors found some gold in Mexico and the Caribbean, but never enough to get super rich. Fortunately, they did find a mountain made of silver.

Spain became the richest nation in Europe and Spanish silver pesos became the de facto global currency.

It's not clear that Spain benefited much from the discovery of silver, as rich countries have a way of finding themselves in expensive wars.

The glut of Chinese silk inevitably led to a price drop, which hurt the Chinese economy but not nearly as much as it hurt the Spanish economy.

You'd think all this silver would make the Chinese incredibly rich, just like the Spanish, but they didn't stay rich for long.

The Spanish empire's silver trade was the first truly global market with dire consequences, even if it did make some people rich.

The search for precious metals led the Spanish to find and eventually destroy two of the world's great empires, the Aztecs and the Inca.

Remember that this process led to the life that you have today, one where I can teach you history through the magic of the Internet.

Transcripts

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