Spanish Colonization and APUSH Themes
• Students will be able to
• To identify the phases of development of the
Spanish Empire in North America
• To analyze the range of interactions between the
Spanish colonists and explorers and the indigenous
population
• Warm-Up:
– Set up your notes for class today.
– Complete your assigned portion of the Spanish
Colonization Activity. Be prepared to share with the
people around you.
In Pairs
• Complete the handouts provided. You may
use your notes, the computers, and other
resources in the classroom.
• Be prepared to share.
– Christopher Columbus (1492–1502) discovered the
Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, and the north coast of South
America; he was successful in discovering new lands for
Spain but unsuccessful at finding a route to the Indies.
– Juan Ponce de León (1513–21) landed in Florida in 1513; he
was unsuccessful and was killed there in 1521.
– Pánfilo de Narvaez (1511, 1527) helped conquer Cuba and
led an expedition to Florida; the latter was disastrous since,
of three hundred men in the expedition, only four survived.
– Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca (1527–36) landed in Florida
with Narvaez and traveled by raft and foot back to Mexico;
he was successful in surviving and writing about his
experience.
– Esteban (Estevanico) (1527–39) traveled with Narvaez and
survived, then explored the area that would become New
Mexico and Arizona; he was killed by Zuñi Indians.
– Hernando de Soto (1539–42) landed in Florida, then
roamed southeast to the Mississippi River and eastern
Oklahoma; he returned to the Mississippi River and
died there in 1542.
– Francisco Vasquez de Coronado (1540–42) explored
New Mexico, Arizona, the Grand Canyon, Texas, and
Kansas; he was unsuccessful in the quest to find the
Seven Cities of Cíbola.
– Hernán Cortés (1519–26) conquered Mexico and later
Honduras; he was very successful in claiming power
and gaining wealth and recognition.
– Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (1519–43) fought in army of
Cortés, became leading citizen of Guatemala, and led a
successful expedition up the coast of California, but he
died after a skirmish with local Indians.
Groups
• Each group will complete one topic.
• Intellectual Life
– Spain introduced the alphabet, but literacy remained chiefly
with the upper classes. Early schools for Indians to learn
Spanish eventually closed as the language became more
common. The Catholic Church controlled schools. Indigenous
adults were trained in European methods of carpentry,
ironwork, dyeing, weaving, and ceramics. Navajo weaving is
actually a skill taught by Spaniards.
– Early books include Cabeza de Vaca, Adventures in the
Unknown Interior of America; Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Poems;
Bernal Díaz del Castillo, The True History of the Conquest of
New Spain; and Bartolomé de las Casas, Short Account of the
Destruction of the Indies.
– In 1551, Carlos I established the Royal and Pontifical University
of Mexico; the University of Saint Thomas Aquinas was
established formally in Santo Domingo in 1558, with faculties in
law, medicine, theology, and the arts.
– There was a major effort to wipe out indigenous ideas and
books as heretical; Popul Vuh was the only major work to
survive.
• Religion
– The Catholic Church was the estsablished church of Spain and all its
colonies, and the Spanish kings saw themselves as responsible for
spreading the Catholic faith. Priests accompanied all expeditions. In
the early years, the Spanish even used torture to increase
conversions.
– Catholic missions as religious and educationis centers developed
into settlements; some major cities that began as missions are San
Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara
in California, Santa Fe in New Mexico, and San Antonio in Texas.
– The Church tried to stamp out all native religious practices but
experienced resistance, most notably in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
Eventually, restrictions were eased, and some native traditions
eventually became incorporated into local Catholic belief.
– As settlement proceeded, the Church tried to protect the natives.
Father Bartolomé de las Casas, after years spent as a missionary,
traveled back to Spain to press for protection of Indians in Spanish
colonies.
• Political Organization
– At first, individual conquistadors were granted licenses (encomiendas),
which gave rights to all the labor in a given territory; this was effectively a
land grant. In exchange for educating the Indians in Spanish and
Catholicism, the recipient could demand labor, gold, or produce as tribute.
In 1573, a Spanish law promulgated by Philip II (Royal Orders for New
Discoveries) prohibited the worst military cruelty and made it illegal to
attack Indians or enslave them; instead, all wer to missionized and
converted.
– The Spanish government took over by 1600. The Council of the Indies,
located in Seville, was responsible for the colonies, which were divided
into vice-royalties of New Spain, Peru, and New Granada, each with a
royal governor called a viceroy. There were additional adminstrative
divisions known as audiencias and, in areas where there was risk of Indian
attack, Captaincies General under military officials.
– Local officials had freedom in their decisions because of the difficulty of
communication with Spain. (Shipping was tightly regulated, and ships
could go only into one Spanish port and a few colonial ports. Only two
convoys a year traveled between Spain and the colonies.) Bribery and
extortion were common. Spanish colonists did not have the opportunity
for self-government that developed in the British colonies.
• Social Structure
– European men outnumbered women by at least ten to one in
the Spanish colonies, so intermarriage with Indians was
frequent, partially because of the native custom of cementing
alliances with marriages. A large mestizo (mixed-race)
population developed.
– A social hierarchy developed by 1700. At the top was the
smallest group, the peninsulares. These were Europeans born
in Spain and sent to New Spain as government and church
officials. The second group, the criollos, were of Spanish
descent but had been born in the New World. The English
word Creole comes from this term. The third group, mestizos,
were usually the children of a Spanish father and an Indian
mother. A fourth group was composed of indigenous people,
called indios by the Spanish. This group included Nahuatl
(Aztec), Huichol, Yucatec Maya, and many others. There were
also an unknown number of African slaves, perhaps as many
as 200,000. Slavery was abolished in Mexico in 1829, but a
number became free before that time.
• Economy
– During the Age of Discovery and the Age of Conquest, the
primary motivation of many of the Spanish explorers was the
discovery of precious metals. Cortés’s conquest of Mexico and
acquisition of the riches of Tenochtitlán inspired many
followers. Indian slaves were forced into the mines to extract
gold. Previously existing gold and silver artifacts were melted
down into ingots and shipped to Spain; English privateers
were a particular threat to Spanish shipping during this
period.
– After the first decades, what was known as gold fever gave
way to an agricultural and pastoral economy. Early economic
efforts were stifled by mercantilist monopolies on salt,
gunpowder, tobacco, and other products; the Spanish
government also restricted production of goods that would
compete with the economies of Spain itself.
– Eventually, cattle and sheep ranches flourished, and fertile
areas were planted with citrus crops, wheat, and sugar cane.
Two indigenous products yielded great profit: cochineal and
indigo dyes and cacao for chocolate.
• Military Issues
– The chief disadvantage faced by the conquistadors and
later Spanish arrivals was that they were outnumbered
by the indigenous population. Their great advantages
were technological: they used gunpowder in both
muskets and cannons, they wore body armor, and they
rode horses. As a result of these technologies, plus their
ability to exploit rivalries between indigenous groups, the
Spaniards were able to overcome their numerical
disadvantage.
– Military forces were often assigned to forts, known
as presidios, located near the Catholic missions. As
settlement progressed, an area considered to be at risk
from hostile Indians was often organized as a Captaincy
General, with a military commander in charge.
• Wrap-Up: Individually identify which topics from
Period 1 relate to the themes of AP U.S. History.
• Use the handout provided to offer some
guidance. Be prepared to share!
The Process…
Using the “MIDAS Touch!”
M Main idea:
Identify main idea from TOPIC SENTENCE (if there is one) or
use BASIC SIGNAL WORDS
S
I Identify SUPPORTING DETAILS
D Disregard unimportant information
A Analyze redundant information
Simplify, categorize, and label important information
Establishing a focus…
• The main idea is the most important information
or concept in a text or statement.
• Sometimes the main idea is explicit; sometimes it
is implied.
• Not all information is equal: some of it clearly is
more important than the rest.
Templeton, 1997
Using basic signal words…
WHO?
(subject)
WHAT?
(action)
WHERE?
(location)
WHEN?
(time)
WHY?
(reason)
HOW?
(process)
Main Idea
Supporting
Detail
Supporting
Detail
Supporting
Detail