Evaluate the impact of Spanish exploration and conquest on the indigenous populations in the Americas.

The question requires that candidates make an appraisal of the impact of Spanish exploration and conquest on the indigenous populations in the Americas. Impacts may extend beyond the timeframe but they must be clearly linked to the issue raised in the question. Candidates may refer to the extensive depopulation of the Americas through disease, warfare and enslavement, environmental impact of natural resource exploitation, creation of a sizable Mestizo class within a class structure that permanently assigned those of indigenous or mixed heritage to a lower status and the imposition of Catholic religious culture at the expense of indigenous culture. Other relevant factors may be evaluated, for example the introduction of European crops and animals that expanded the food supply and transportation options of the indigenous people, but with a focus on the issue in the question. Candidates’ opinions or conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.

A few candidates evaluated the impact of Spanish exploration and conquest on indigenous populations. The remarks were mostly centred on the negative aspects of disease, warfare and enslavement. More thorough responses discussed the impact of the encomienda system and the role of the Catholic Church.