Post-Conquest Latin America

Latin America, after the Spanish and Portuguese conquests, looked much different than pre-conquest Latin America.  Indigenous populations were wiped out by diseases, and defeated by the superior war tactics of the Europeans.  Native populations were subjugated to the Spanish and Portuguese and regions were divided into Viceroyalty's as seen below. 

When the Spaniards arrived in Latin America, they instuted slavery.  However the spaniards gave their slaves much more freedom than the British colonies in the United States did, allowing them to read and write.

Under the Spanish control, Indigenous art and architecture also changed.  The Spanish believed they were in charge of the souls of the local inhabitants, and began to build churches and send missionaries among them.  The cathedral in Mexico City, is only one example of the Spanish influence on the arts in Latin America.

http://www.destination360.com/north-america/mexico/mexico-city/catedral-metropolitana