Editing South America (section)

===European colonization===
{{Main|Spanish colonization of the Americas|Portuguese colonization of the Americas}}

[[File:Desembarque de Pedro Álvares Cabral em Porto Seguro em 1500 by Oscar Pereira da Silva (1865–1939).jpg|thumb|The Portuguese explorer [[Pedro Álvares Cabral]] landing in Brazil in 1500]]

In 1494, [[Portugal]] and Spain, the two great maritime European powers of that time, on the expectation of new lands being discovered in the west, signed the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]], by which they agreed, with the support of the Pope, that all the land outside Europe should be an exclusive [[duopoly]] between the two countries.<ref>Horst Pietschmann, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=z8ZnAAAAMAAJ&q=Julius+II+ratified+tordesillas+1505 Atlantic history : history of the Atlantic System 1580–1830], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518225523/https://books.google.it/books?id=z8ZnAAAAMAAJ&q=Julius+II+ratified+tordesillas+1505&dq=Julius+II+ratified+tordesillas+1505&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjBsojxkrzlAhWN2aQKHcY6BhEQ6AEINTAC|date=18 May 2021}}'', Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2002, p. 239.</ref>

[[File:Inca-Spanish confrontation.JPG|thumb|The [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire|Inca–Spanish confrontation]] in the [[Battle of Cajamarca]] left thousands of natives dead.]]

The treaty established an imaginary line along a north–south [[Meridian (geography)|meridian]] 370 [[League (unit)|leagues]] (approximately {{convert|1110|mi|km|abbr=on}}) west of the [[Cape Verde Islands]], roughly 46° 37' W. In terms of the treaty, all land to the west of the line (known to comprise most of the South American soil) would belong to Spain, and all land to the east, to Portugal. As accurate measurements of [[longitude]] were impossible at that time, the line was not strictly enforced, resulting in a [[Portuguese colonization of the Americas|Portuguese expansion of Brazil]] across the meridian.

Beginning in the 1530s, the people and natural resources of South America were repeatedly exploited by foreign [[conquistadors]], first from Spain and later from Portugal. These competing colonial nations claimed the land and resources as their own and divided it into colonies.

European infectious diseases ([[smallpox]], [[influenza]], [[measles]], and [[typhus]]) – to which the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|native populations]] had no immune resistance&nbsp;– caused large-scale depopulation of the native population under Spanish control. Systems of forced labor, such as the [[hacienda]]s and mining industry's [[mit'a]] also contributed to the depopulation. After this, [[enslaved Africans]], who had developed immunities to these diseases, were quickly brought in to replace them.

[[File:Imperios Español y Portugués 1790.svg|thumb|An interpretation of the extent of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas in 1790]]

The Spaniards were committed to converting their native subjects to Christianity and were quick to purge any native cultural practices that hindered this end; however, many initial attempts at this were only partially successful, as native groups simply blended [[Catholicism]] with their established beliefs and practices. Furthermore, the Spaniards brought their language to the degree they did with their religion, although the Roman [[Catholic Church]]'s evangelization in [[Quechua language|Quechua]], [[Aymara language|Aymara]], and [[Guaraní language|Guaraní]] actually contributed to the continuous use of these native languages albeit only in the oral form.

Eventually, the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|natives]] and the Spaniards interbred, forming a [[mestizo]] class. At the beginning, many mestizos of the Andean region were offspring of Amerindian mothers and Spanish fathers. After independence, most mestizos had native fathers and European or mestizo mothers.

Many native artworks were considered pagan idols and destroyed by Spanish explorers; this included many gold and silver sculptures and other artifacts found in South America, which were melted down before their transport to Spain or Portugal. Spaniards and Portuguese brought the western European architectural style to the continent, and helped to improve infrastructures like bridges, roads, and the sewer system of the cities they discovered or conquered. They also significantly increased economic and trade relations, not just between the old and new world but between the different South American regions and peoples. Finally, with the expansion of the Portuguese and Spanish languages, many cultures that were previously separated became united through that of Latin American.

[[Guyana]] was initially [[Dutch colonisation of the Guianas|colonized by the Dutch]] before coming under [[British Guiana|British control]], though there was a brief period during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] when it was occupied by the [[First French Empire|French]]. The region was initially partitioned between the Dutch, French and British before fully coming under the control of Britain.

Suriname was first explored by the Spanish in the 16th century and then [[Surinam (English colony)|settled by the English]] in the mid-17th century. It became a [[Surinam (Dutch colony)|Dutch colony]] in 1667.<ref>{{cite book |author=Boxer |first=C. R. |author-link=C. R. Boxer |title=The Dutch Seaborne Empire |date=1990 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0140136180 |pages=271–272}}</ref>