“The exploration and conquest of the Americas had a negative economic impact on the indigenous populations.” Discuss.

Candidates will offer a considered and balanced review that includes a range of factors in order to assess the economic impact of the exploration and conquest of the indigenous people and determine whether this impact was positive or negative. Answers to this question will most likely focus on Spanish exploration and conquest, but accept any exploration and conquest from within the period. In nearly all cases in Latin America, conquest meant indigenous people lost their lands to the conquerors, and saw their cities, markets and fields destroyed. Natural resources of gold
and silver were taken and sent back to Europe. In most cases, indigenous people were forced to mine these  resources. Enslavement of the indigenous population was attempted, but generally failed. Later, this was replaced with the repartimiento, which tied indigenous people to specific land to work without economic compensation. While there may have been some benefits from the Columbian exchange, such as new crops and animals, these were mostly for the benefit of the conquerors, not the indigenous people.