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Difficulty: HardThe Columbian Exchange

"There came a plague of smallpox, which was so fierce and cruel that... it swept away more than half the people of the provinces... They died in heaps, like bedbugs. In many places it happened that everyone in a house died, and as they could not bury the great number of the dead... they pulled down the houses over them, so that their homes became their tombs."
— Toribio de Benavente Motolinia, Spanish missionary, History of the Indians of New Spain, 1541

Which of the following developments in the Spanish American colonies did the conditions described in the excerpt most directly contribute to?

  1. A
    The introduction of American-origin pathogens to Europe, which caused a similar demographic collapse in Spain and halted further migration to the New World.
  2. B
    The immediate transition of the encomienda system into a purely voluntary land rental program, as Spanish law prohibited the coercion of native labor.
  3. The Spanish colonial transition toward the importation of enslaved West Africans to replace the decimated indigenous labor force.Answer
  4. D
    The dissolution of native resistance due to the fact that all pre-contact indigenous societies lacked agricultural foundations and were already structurally weak.

Answer

The Spanish colonial transition toward the importation of enslaved West Africans to replace the decimated indigenous labor force.
The correct answer explains that the massive decline in the indigenous population due to disease forced the Spanish to seek alternative labor sources, leading to a significant increase in the transatlantic slave trade to supply labor for plantations and mines.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the historical context and main point of the primary source excerpt.
The excerpt describes a devastating smallpox epidemic among the indigenous population of New Spain (Mexico) in the early 16th century.
To identify the core historical event being described.
2
Connect the demographic collapse to its economic and labor consequences in the Spanish colonial empire.
The massive loss of indigenous lives created a severe labor shortage for Spanish mines and plantations, leading to the search for alternative labor sources.
To determine how this epidemic altered colonial policies and patterns.
3
Evaluate the options to identify which direct consequence of this labor shortage is historically accurate.
The Spanish turned to importing enslaved West Africans to meet their labor demands, leading to the growth of chattel slavery.
To select the correct historical development arising from the Columbian Exchange's demographic impact.

Key Concept

Demographic collapse and the transition to African slave labor in the Spanish colonies.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
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Topics

The Columbian Exchange

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