The Spanish Empire in the Americas faced enormous political, social and economic problems in the 16th and 17th centuries. The empire was pushed to its limits politically and socially with the threat of revolt from its empire's enslaved population. The economy also played an important role and the outlook was equally bleak for Spain with the American colonies sliding towards independence. Spain did not seem able to cope with its empire and had found itself in difficulty regarding the mining activity which was at the heart of the political and social systems, the military and economic activity of the empire. In the 1600s, mining, integral to Spain's prosperity and growth, was under enormous pressure. This pressure was caused by labor shortages, rising production costs, and finally, since mining is a limited source, running out of supply became a problem. If handled correctly, this last point should not have caused any problems, however, the mining industry at that time was mostly privately owned and the state had almost no control other than imposed taxes. The mining crisis hit the Americas hard, with Mexico feeling the full force of the decline in mining, leading it headlong into a recession between 1570 and 1670. The main feature of the recession in Mexico was a sharp decline in labor , which led to labor rationing or "repartimiento" and subsequently to a decline in food supplies in cities and mining centers. Although there has been a recession throughout the Americas, not all countries have suffered in the same way as Mexico. An example of this was Potosí, Peru, which had become a focal point for Spain as it was the wealthiest colonial center after 156...... middle of paper ...... took this opportunity to claim l independence and When Spain overthrew Joseph Bonaparte in 1813, most of its former colonies had all gained autonomy. However, once the Spanish American colonies gained independence, they all failed to unite leading to a reduction in intercolonial trade and each area went their separate ways leading to economic, social, and political problems within these countries. Works Cited http://latinamericanhistory .about.com/od/latinamericaindependence/a/independence.htmhttp://www.britannica.com/eb/article-60877/history-of-Latin-Americahttp://site.ebrary. com/lib/uon/docDetail .action?docID=10172744http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uon/edf.action?p00=&docID=10172744http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp? groupid=854&HistoryID=aa87>rack =pthcThe History of Latin American Penguins – Edwin Williamson