Each essay response should be about 400 words and include a thesis (with different subtopics) supported by a plethora of evidence from multiple lectures.
Ideas drawn from lectures and readings should be cited parenthetically at the end of each sentence. For ideas or arguments drawn from lecture, you only need to include the date or number (Lecture 8).
NOT include any information drawn from outside sources found either online or in print. Essay responses that draw from other sources will receive a zero.
1) How did the Spanish legally justify their colonial conquests, and how was the crown’s legal claim to the Americas challenged by different groups both internally and externally?
2) Discuss Spain’s approach to the “spiritual conquest” of the Americas and how it was complicated by indigenous agency and colonial rivalries.
3) In what ways were the political, cultural, and racial boundaries between the “republica de espanoles” and “republica de indios” a site of contestation in the 16th and 17th centuries? Your response must address at least two of these themes.
4) “Spanish colonial officials at the end of the 17th century believed that their imperial power was uncontested across the globe?” Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? In responding, you must examine 3 different geographic regions.
5) While expanding its empire across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Spanish solely prioritized the acquisition of material over non-material objectives?
Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? In your answer, make sure to address different material and non-material objectives.
6) From the reign of Ferdinand and Isabel to Philip IV, there were a number of shifts in the policies, priorities, and objectives of the Spanish monarchy. Discuss at least three of these shifts and their implications for the empire.
7) To what extent were castas, women, and other imperial subjects able to exert agency and authority in different parts of the empire despite the range of social, religious, and legal restrictions imposed on them?
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