The Bourbon Overhaul
Which king’s death in 1700 ended the Hapsburg dynasty and brought the Bourbons to power?
Charles II
Which 1494 treaty established the dividing line between Spanish and Portuguese claims in the Americas?
Treaty of Tordesillas
What 1778 decree allowed trade between almost all Spanish ports and American provinces?
The "Free Trade" (Comercio Libre) Decree
What name was given to Brazilian-born whites who often resented the power of Portuguese-born officials?
Mazombos or Creoles
Which European power occupied the sugar-rich northeast of Brazil for 25 years in the 17th century?
The Dutch
What philosophy used logic and reason to modernize the empire while maintaining absolute royal power?
Enlightened Despotism.
What was the first major export from Brazil, used primarily for red dye?
Brazilwood (pau-brasil)
Name the group of explorers from São Paulo who expanded the colonial economy by hunting for both gold and Indigenous slaves in the interior.
The Bandeirantes
What were the independent communities of escaped slaves in the Brazilian interior called?
Quilombos
After losing major battles to the British, what did the Spanish Crown create for the first time in the colonies to strengthen imperial defense?
Standing colonial armies
Which trained officials were introduced to increase tax collection and replace corrupt corregidores?
Intendants
The captaincy system was a "fusion" of two roles; the donataries were expected to act as feudal vassals to the King and as what other type of figure?
Commercial businessmen
What was the term for the large-scale land monopolies that Bourbon reformers failed to fix, where a few rich families owned most of the land?
Latifundio
Name the self-sufficient African kingdom in Brazil that survived for nearly a century as a major site of resistance.
Republic of Palmares
Which 1713 treaty forced Spain to cede territory and grant major trade rights to Great Britain?
Treaty of Utrecht
Why was the Río de la Plata viceroyalty created in 1776, and how did its capital’s location help the economy?
It was created to stop smuggling and used Buenos Aires as a hub to redirect the flow of silver.
Why did Pernambuco and São Vicente succeed while the other 13 original captaincies failed?
They possessed fertile land that was ideal for sugar production
he Spanish Crown used the fuero militar to entice American-born Spaniards into the officer corps; what special status did this grant them, and what unintended political "caste" did it create?
It granted them special legal privileges, which led to the development of a powerful and separate military caste in colonial politics.
Explain the core conflict between the Jesuits and the Brazilian planters regarding Indigenous populations.
The Jesuits arrived to convert natives in protected settlements (aldeias), which clashed with planters who wanted to use them for forced labor
As part of his plan to get more money for his wars, why did the Spanish King send scientific experts to the silver mines in the late 1700s?
He wanted to use new technology and scientific techniques to pull as much silver as possible out of the ground.
Although trade increased by 700 percent, why do historians describe the Bourbon economy as "Growth Without Development"?
Because the Crown used colonies as an "extraction machine" to fund European wars rather than building local industry, and they failed to fix land monopolies (latifundio) or forced labor
What did the use of the Captaincy system reveal about Portugal’s initial imperial priorities?
It showed Portugal had low interest in Brazil and wanted to outsource the risk of colonization while focusing its wealth on Africa and the Far East
Spain and Portugal used their colonies as an "extraction machine" to fund European wars. By taxing exports in Europe (like Lisbon) and failing to invest in local industry, what economic phenomenon did they create, and which social group grew to resent this?
They created "Growth Without Development" (massive trade increases with no local industrial growth), causing resentment among American-born Creoles and Brazilian-born Mazombos who were excluded from the highest levels of power.
How did the 1695 gold discovery in Minas Gerais force a reorganization of Brazil’s administrative "center of gravity"?
It triggered a massive migration south, eventually leading the Crown to move the capital to Rio de Janeiro in 1763 to better regulate and tax the mineral wealth
In 1549, why did the Portuguese King set up his first royal capital in Salvador?
He needed a central government to get better control over the colony because the private "captaincy strips" were mostly failing.