What did the Spanish government use gold and silver for?

Almost overnight, Spain became very rich taking home unprecedented quantities of gold and silver. The gold was used by the Spanish monarchy to pay off its debts and also to fund its ‘religious’ wars.

What did the Spanish do with the silver?

The Spanish acquired the silver, minting it into the peso de ocho to then use it as a means of purchase; that currency was so widespread that even the United States accepted it as valid until the Coinage Act of 1857.

How did the Spanish silver trade change the world?

“The effects of the global trade in silver were worldwide and linked the world in new and unprecedented ways. It also led to an increasing traffic in humans to work, among other places, in the silver mines of the Americas. In the Americas, silver mining at Potosí led to the deaths of eight million Indians.

Which nations were dominant providers of silver?

China was the dominant buyer of silver. On the supply side, Spanish America (Mexico and Peru) erupted with unprecedented production of the white metal.

How did the Spanish mine silver?

The silver was taken by llama and mule train to the Pacific coast, shipped north to Panama City, and carried by mule train across the isthmus of Panama to Nombre de Dios or Portobelo, whence it was taken to Spain on the Spanish treasure fleets.

What effect did the silver and gold imported from American colonies during the 1500s have on Spain?

“Gold constitutes treasure,” wrote Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabella, “and anyone who has it can do whatever he likes in the world.” If bullion gave Spanish adventurers the freedom they yearned for, American gold and silver also magically transformed the Spanish monarchy into a world power, seemingly freed from …

When did Spain find silver?

In the 1970s, a treasure of silver and gold from a 1554 Spanish shipwreck was discovered off the coast of Texas. The wealth of the discovery speaks to Colonial Spain’s ambitions for gold and silver found in the Americas.

Where did Spain get silver from?

After they conquered America in the 16th century, the Spanish exploited the considerable silver resources of Peru and Mexico. Every year, nearly 300 tons of silver were extracted from New World mines. The result was an intensive production of silver coinage minted in Peru or in Mexico.

How much gold and silver did Spain take from the New World?

Between 1500 and 1650, the Spanish imported 181 tons of gold and 16,000 tons of silver from the New World. In today’s money, that much gold would be worth nearly $4 billion, and the silver would be worth over $7 billion.

Why was silver important to Spain?

It turned insignificant Spain, located at the edge of Europe, into the most powerful country of the entire world. The American silver helped the Spanish king to finance his wars that were to assure the hegemony of Catholicism.

Where did the Spanish find gold in the Americas?

The Spanish worked alluvial gold deposits in the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Andes (especially in New Granada). Spanish settlers located all the main silver-bearing zones of Latin America in the sixteenth century.

What effect did gold and silver have on the Spanish in the Americas?