ABSTRACT
The history of Iberian conquest and colonisation in the Americas thus was marked both by strong parallels between the actions and imperial objectives of Spain and Portugal, but also by a significant degree of variation, not only between the two monarchies, but also within the areas under control of each. The Iberian conquest and settlement of the Americas was prefaced by their experience at home and in the Atlantic. Over the long course of reconquest, a series of customs and practices developed that the Spaniards extended to the Indies. By the 1530s, the stream of immigrants to the Caribbean islands had become a trickle as the gold mining on Espanola and Puerto Rico had diminished and the new conquests in Mexico and Peru attracted potential settlers. The foundational contact stage in the New World was followed by an era of conquest and settlement from roughly 1520 to 1570 but varying in duration and character by region.
