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Questions 1–3 refer to the following passage: “The gold and silver mined with ...

Oct 9, 2023

Questions 1–3 refer to the following passage: “The gold and silver mined with forced labor in Mexico and what is now Bolivia constituted a windfall that could have been used to develop Spanish agriculture, industry, and commerce. It could have helped the country catch up with northwestern Europe’s more developed economies. . . . “But Spain [in the 1500s] was in the grip of a tiny ruling class of royalty, Catholic Church hierarchy, and landed aristocracy. Two to three per cent of the population owned 97 per cent of the land in Castile, Spain’s heartland. The great landowners had no incentive to modernize Spain. They just wanted to raise more sheep and sell more wool. The environmental degradation that overgrazing vast numbers of sheep entailed seems to have bothered the ruling class no more than the cutting of forests for timber to build ships and provide charcoal to smelt domestic Spanish silver ore. And so, what if the wool went to Holland to be manufactured into cloth rather than being processed in Spain itself. “Meanwhile, successes in the New World swelled the Spanish monarchy’s ambitions in the Old. The bonanza of bullion from the Americas encouraged Spain’s rulers to build up the army into Europe’s largest military force, setting off an arms race that forced rivals to multiply their armed forces as well. . . . Hegemonic wars against the French, Dutch, and English followed. . . . “The most lasting and far-reaching effect of the increase of money in circulation was to set off a long wave of inflation that spread throughout Western Europe. To be sure, deficit spending on unproductive armies, navies, and wars as well as debasement of coinage by monarchs in search of additional royal revenue contributed to the run-up in prices.”—A. Kent MacDougall, University of California, Berkeley, March 1992. 1. Which of the following best describes a central point of MacDougall’s argument above? (A)During the age of exploration and conquest, a growing divide developed in Spain between the Catholic Church and the monarchy over the treatment of American Indians. (B) The large-scale migration of Spanish peasants to the New World left Spain with a scarcity of workers and a depressed economy.(C)Spanish conquest of the New World led Spain to focus its military and diplomatic efforts toward subduing resistance in the New World and removing itself from the conflicts of Europe.(D)The successes of Spanish conquest in the New World did not result in a general economic improvement in Spain itself. 2. MacDougall's description of Spanish actions contributes to an understanding of which of the following developments beyond the 1500s?(A) The industrial growth of Spain in the seventeenth century(B)The growing gap between the wealthy and the poor in the seventeenth century(C)Spanish military domination over its European rivals in the seventeenth century(D)The success of independence movements in Spanish America in the seventeenth century 3. Concerns raised in Spain in the 1540s about “forced labor in Mexico and what is now Bolivia,” mentioned in the first paragraph of MacDougall’s article, led to which of the following changes?(A) Limits being placed on the system and a shift toward African slavery (B) The growth of the Spanish abolitionist movement and a royal decree ending slavery in the New World (C) A shift in Spanish economic activities in the New World from export-oriented activities toward production for local consumption(D) The establishment of a line of demarcation in Spanish-held territories in the New World between areas for American Indians and areas for Spanish colonists

Key Concept

KC-1.2.II The Columbian Exchange led to new ways of humans interacting with their environments. New mixed economies and systems of labor, such as the encomienda and hacienda systems, evolved in the Spanish colonies.

Explanation

MacDougall's argument centers around the idea that despite the wealth brought in from the New World, Spain did not see a general economic improvement. This is due to the ruling class's focus on personal wealth and military expansion rather than investing in the country's agriculture, industry, and commerce. 2.

Key Concept

KC-1.2.III The increase in interactions between newly connected hemispheres and intensification of connections within hemispheres expanded the spread and reform of existing religions and created syncretic belief systems and practices.

Explanation

MacDougall's description of the Spanish ruling class's actions contributes to an understanding of the growing gap between the wealthy and the poor in the seventeenth century. The wealth from the New World was concentrated in the hands of the ruling class, leading to a widening wealth gap. 3.

Key Concept

Explanation

The concerns raised about forced labor in the New World led to limits being placed on the system and a shift toward African slavery. This was a response to the harsh conditions and treatment of indigenous people under the encomienda system.

What is the Columbian Exchange?, What is the encomienda system?, How did the Spanish conquest of the New World affect Spain's economy?