Colonial era

Published: July 13, 2026 · Updated: July 13, 2026

c. 1542–1810

In the colonial era (c. 1542–1810) South America was divided between Spanish viceroyalties and Portuguese Brazil. Its economy rested on silver, sugar, and the labor of Indigenous and enslaved African people.

Overview

Spain governed its Andean lands through the Viceroyalty of Peru and later New Granada and Río de la Plata, while Portugal ruled Brazil. Great silver mines such as Potosí, and Brazil’s sugar and later gold, drove the colonial economy.

Key developments

Colonial society mixed European, Indigenous, and African peoples under a racial hierarchy, and the Catholic Church was central to rule. Coerced Indigenous labor systems and the Atlantic slave trade supplied the mines and plantations.

End and transition

By 1810, discontent among locally born elites and the crisis of the Iberian monarchies during the Napoleonic Wars sparked revolt. The wars of independence soon followed.

Events

Potosí silver mines 1545

People

Túpac Amaru II 1738–1781

Organizations

Viceroyalty of Peru 1542–1824