A mountain of silver
Open the map in 1650 and zoom in on Potosí, high in the Andes at about 4,000 m. In the early 1600s it may have had about 160,000 people. Why is it surprising that such a big city grew here?
Open this view on the mapViceroyalty of Peru · 1545-1650
Potosí: the mountain of silver
In 1545 a mountain of silver was found high in the Andes. Potosí became one of the largest cities in the world, built on the forced labour of Indigenous miners, and its silver flowed to Spain, Europe and China. Students follow the silver and ask who paid for it.
- Length
- 50 minutes
- Ages
- 12–15
- On the map
- 3 steps, AD 1650
- Live lesson
- 7 rounds, 3 on the map
- Worksheet
- Two A4 pages, with Classroom
- You need
- A projector; phones for live
Live lesson · new in Classroom
Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.
Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.
€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.
- 7 rounds
- 3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
- About 15 minutes
- Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
- A report
- Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
Introduction
5 minRead aloud
In 1545 a mountain of silver was found high in the Andes. Potosí became one of the largest cities in the world, built on the forced labour of Indigenous miners, and its silver flowed to Spain, Europe and China. Students follow the silver and ask who paid for it.
By the end of the lesson, students can
- Locate Potosí and explain why its silver mattered to the whole world.
- Describe the mita system of forced labour and its effects on Andean communities.
- Trace the routes that carried American silver to Europe and to China.
Explore the map
15 minProject the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.
Mercury from Huancavelica
Zoom out and find Huancavelica in the mountains of Peru. Its mines produced the poisonous mercury used to separate silver from ore at Potosí. How far apart are the two? Why was this work so dangerous?
Open this view on the mapSilver around the world
Turn on Trade Routes and zoom out to the whole world. Find the Spanish Treasure Fleet and the Manila Galleon. Silver went east to Spain and west to Manila, where Chinese merchants traded for it. Where did it end up?
Open this view on the mapClass discussion
15 minPick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.
- Tradition says an Indigenous man, Diego Huallpa, found the silver in 1545. Why do we know so little about him?
- Under the mita, Andean villages had to send men to work in the mines in turns. How would this affect the families left behind?
- Mercury was used to separate silver from rock. What do we know today about the dangers of mercury?
- A Spanish saying called something precious "worth a Potosí". Whose view of the city does that saying show?
- Much of the silver passed through Spain to pay debts and ended up in China. Who really grew rich from Potosí?
Game round
10 minPlay one round of Rule History as Elizabeth I. In her reign English privateers such as Francis Drake attacked Spanish ships and ports to seize American silver. Afterwards, discuss: Potosí's silver made Spain powerful and envied. Who did the work, and who took the profit?
Open Rule HistoryWorksheet
5 minThis worksheet comes with Classroom
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