Download Spain`s Empire in the Americas

Spain’s Empire in the Americas
Chapter 2
Section 1
Spanish Conquistadors
 By the early 1500s, he Spanish had a
firm foothold in the Americas.
 From Spain’s island colonies in
Caribbean, soldier - adventurers called
conquistadors set out to explore and
conquer the world unknown to them.
 They hoped for riches and glory for
themselves and Spain.
Cort és and Pizarro
 In 1519, conquistador Hernando Cortés sailed
from Cuba to Mexico with more than 500
soldiers.
 The first Native Americans presented him
gifts of gold.
 On November 8, 1519, Cortés marched into
the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan.
 Many Native Americans joined them because
they hated the Aztec’s brutal rule.
Moctezuma
 The Aztec leader Moctezuma, met with
Cortés and tried to get him to leave by
offering him gold.
 The gold had the opposite effect.
 Cortés took Moctezuma hostage and
claimed all of Mexico for Spain.
 However, the Aztecs soon rebelled and
forced the Spaniards to flee.
Cortés Returns
 About a year later, Cortés returned to
recapture Tenochtitlan and destroyed it.
 In its place he built Mexico City, the
capital of the Spanish colony of New
Spain.
Francisco Pizzaro
 Pizarro landed on the coast of Peru in 1531 to
search for the Incas, who were said to have
much gold.
 In September of 1532, Pizarro led about 170
soldiers through the jungle into the heart of
the Inca Empire.
 Pizarro took the Inca ruler Atahualpa prisoner.
 The Incas paid a huge ransom to free their
leader but Pizarro executed him anyway.
 In November 1533, the Spanish had defeated
the leaderless Incas and captured their capital
city Cuzco.
Why the Spanish were
Victorious!
 Several factors explain why the Spaniard’s
were successful.
 Technology - The Indian’s weapons were no
match for their armor, muskets, and cannons.
 The Spaniards rode horses, which Native
Americans had never before seen.
 Finally, the Native Americans were divided
among themselves. In Peru, a civil war had
just ended and in Mexico many Native
Americans hated the Aztecs.
Spanish Explorers in North
America
 In 1513, Juan Ponce de León sailed north
from Puerto Rico to investigate reports of a
large island.
 He returned with beautiful flowers there, so
he named the place La Florida.
 Ponce de León became the first Spaniard to
set foot in what is now the United States.
Francisco Coronado
 Conquistador Francisco Coronado set
out with about 1100 Spaniards and
Native Americans to find the golden
city.
 Although they never found the city, they
did explore what is now New Mexico,
Arizona, Texas, and Kansas.
Hernando de Soto
 While Coronado was trekking through the
southwest, Hernando de Soto was searching
for riches in what is now Southeastern United
States.
 DeSoto traveled as far north as the Carolinas
and as far west as Oklahoma.
 He died in what is now Louisiana, in 1542,
having found the Mississippi River, but no
gold. =-(
Colonizing Spanish America
 Native Americans became a source of labor
for the Spaniards.
 Government officials granted settlers huge
tracts of land to start mines, ranches, and
plantations.
 Plantations are large farms worked by
laborers who live on the property.
 To help Spanish colonists find needed
workers, the Spanish government granted
encomiendas - land grants that included the
right to demand labor or taxes from Native
Americans.
Bartolomé de Las Casas
 The Spanish forced NA to work in the gold
and silver mines.
 Many died when the tunnels caved in.
 Some Spaniards protested the cruel
treatment.
 The priest Bartolomé de Las Casas traveled
through New Spain working for reform.
 Mainly because of his efforts, the government
of Spain ordered reform of encomienda
system in the mid 1500s.
Converting Native Americans
 The Spanish believed they had a duty
to convert the Native Americans to
Christianity.
 They set up missions (religious
settlements) run by Catholic priests and
friars.
The Trade in Humans
 As the death toll for NA rose, Spanish
colonists looked across the Atlantic Ocean for
a new source of labor.
 In 1517, Spain brought about 4000 Africans
to the Caribbean islands and forced them to
work there.
 By the middle of the 1500s, the Spaniards
were shipping about 2,000 enslaved Africans
each year to Hispaniola alone.
Society in the Spanish
Colonies
 The rigid social system based on
birthplace and blood developed in the
Spanish colonies.
 At the top of the social structure were
the peninsulares - Spanish colonists
who had been born in Spain.
 Almost all government officials came
from this class.
Society Continued
 Creoles - colonists born in America to two
Spanish parents.
 Creoles also help important positions. Many
were wealthy merchants and plantation
owners.
 Mestizos- People who had both Spanish and
Indian blood. These people were ranchers,
farmers, or merchants.
 Mulattos- People of Spanish and African
heritage.
 Native Americans and African Americans were
held at the bottom of society.