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Goals to Reach
• Identify why Spain
was able to defeat
the Aztec and Inca
Empires
• Explain how Spain
and Portugal set up
colonies in the
Americas.
Words to Watch Out For!
• Conquistador
• Viceroy
• Encomienda
• Peon
The Aztec Empire
• The civilization
reached its height by
the 1400’s.
• Tenochtitlan’s
population was over
200,000 by the end of
the 1400’s.
• The Aztecs conquered
a majority of modern
day Mexico
• They ruled the region
until the Spanish
conquest in 1519.
The Conquest of the Aztecs
• Spanish settlers moved
from the Caribbean to
the Main Continent of
North and South
American to search for
Gold.
• The Spanish settlers
encountered the Aztec
and Inca empires who
had an abundance of
Gold.
Conquistadors
• Spanish for Conquerors.
• Individuals that traveled to the Americas as
Conquerors in order to gain glory, gold, and land.
• They were males from aristocratic families.
• Some were motivated by religious reasons.
• They were willing to use any means to achieve
their goals.
Hernando Cortes
• Sailed from Cuba to
the Gulf Coast of
Mexico in 1519.
• His inventory
consisted of 11 ships,
508 soldiers, 2
priests, 16 horses,
and 7 small cannons.
How were they able to
Conqueror the Aztecs?!
• The Spaniards were
outnumbered by
hundreds of
thousands.
• They had a minimum
amount supplies.
• Cortes also burned
his ships so his
soldiers were unable
to run or call for back
up.
Aztec’s Downfall
• The Aztecs believed
that the Spaniards
were gods or
messengers from their
God Quetzalcoatl.
• Montezuma gave them
Gold hoping they
would lose interest and
leave.
• This was the worst
decision he could do.
Continued
• The Spaniards now knew where the source of Gold was
coming from.
• Cortes sought the help of the rival tribes of the Aztecs.
• He gained allies and also Aztec informants.
• Cortes began a siege of Tenochtitlan; the Aztecs resisted until
a majority of their soldiers had been killed, captured, or died
of small pox.
Conquest of the Incas.
• The region
covered modern
day Peru and
Chile.
• The height of the
empire was
around 1438 A.D.
with the conquest
of the
surrounding area
of their capital
city, Cuzco.
• They had a lot of
Gold.
Francisco Pizzaro
• He gained permission by the
Spanish Emperor Charles the V. to
begin the conquest of the coast of
modern-day South America.
• He arrived in 1532; he met the
Incan ruler, Atahualpa, and then
took him prisoner.
• The Inca fought back with spears,
clubs, and bows.
• These were no match for Spanish
cannons and steel swords.
• Not a single Spaniard died, but
hundreds of Incans killed.
The End Result
• Pizzaro held Atahualpa for ransom, After the collection of the
profit. He had him strangled.
• One-fifth of the earnings went to the King of Spain, the rest
was distributed amongst the Spaniards.
• They region that was conquered was contested between the
Spaniards. They began to fight amongst each other, even
Pizzaro was assassinated.
• The King had to send a representative called a Viceroy to
establish order in Peru in 1555.
Later Spanish Explorers
• Hernando de Soto led an expedition to Florida,
traveled as far as the Carolinas and then turned
westward until he reached the Mississippi river
in 1541.
• Francisco de Coronado headed north from
Mexico in 1540 and captured the pueblos of the
Zuni Indians there. His expedition split up, some
members went towards the course of the
Colorado river and others traveled as far east as
present-day Kansas.
Spain’s Empire in the Americas
• The land gained by the Spanish conquests were
divided up into provinces. A representative
(Viceroy) was appointed to carry out the king’s
policies in each province.
• The Spanish Government believed that the
colonies existed for the economic benefit of
Spain.
• Spain controlled the trade of the colonies; they
encouraged the export of raw materials and
discouraged the development of manufacturing
in the colonies.
• This way, the colonists were forced to buy
finished goods from Spain.
Continued (Land
Development)
• The Spanish
Government gave land
to Conquistadors and
royal favorites.
• These families received
Encomiendas, which
were grants that
entitled them to
demand labor and
taxes from the natives
that lived on their
lands.
• The Natives that
worked on the land
were called Peons, in
return for their labor,
the settlers promised
to protect the
Natives and pay
support of village
priests.
What really happened
• Local government officials did not enforce laws to
protect the natives.
• The Encomienda system was in practice, a brutal
form of slavery.
• Thousands of natives died during the 1500’s due to
harsh working conditions.
Spanish Missionaries
• Catholic Missionaries
were deeply troubled
when they saw the
conditions that the
natives were put
through.
• Bartolome de Las Casas,
appealed to the king of
Spain for new laws. Thus
social reform laws were
passed in 1542
forbidding the further
enslavement of Natives.
Portuguese Colonization of
Brazil
• In 1500, Pedro Cabral
followed the same
route of Vasco De
Gama and landed on
the coast of Brazil.
• Cabral immediately
claimed this land for
the Portuguese.
Portuguese Settlement
• Settlements in Brazil
were established by
wealthy nobles who
received grants of
land from the King of
Portugal.
• by the mid-1500’s
there were about 15
fortified towns on
the Brazilian Coast.
• Unlike the Spanish,
the Portuguese
colonies attracted
settlers from all
different classes.