Spanish Empire - Legacy

Legacy

The Spanish language (now the second most widely spoken language in the world) and the Roman Catholic faith were brought to America, parts of Africa and the Spanish East Indies, by Spanish colonization which began in the 15th century. It also played a crucial part in sustaining the Catholic Church as the leading Christian denomination in Europe when it was under extreme pressure.

The long colonial period in Spanish America resulted in a mixing of peoples. Most Hispanics in the Americas have mixed indigenous and European ancestry, while a substantial proportion also have African ancestry. The only exceptions are Argentina, Chile and Uruguay which experienced heavy European immigration in the post colonial period.

In concert with the Portuguese Empire, the Spanish Empire laid the foundations of a truly global trade by opening up the great trans-oceanic trade routes. The Spanish Dollar became the world's first global currency.

One of the features of this trade was the exchange of a great array of domesticated plants and animals between the Old World and the New and vice versa. Some that were introduced to America included wheat, barley, apples, cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, donkeys, and many others. The Old World received from America such things as maize, potatoes, chili peppers, tomatoes, tobacco, beans, squash, cacao (chocolate), vanilla, avocados, pineapples, chewing gum, rubber, peanuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, pecans, blueberries, strawberries, quinoa, amaranth, chia, and agave. The result of these exchanges, known generally as the Columbian Exchange, was to significantly improve the agricultural potential of not only in America, but also that of Europe and Asia.

There were also cultural influences, which can be seen in everything from architecture to food, music, art and law, from Southern Argentina and Chile to the Southwest United States. The complex origins and contacts of different peoples resulted in cultural influences coming together in the varied forms so evident today in the former colonial areas.