Chapter 2
Section 2: Spain’s Empire in the
Americas
How did Spain establish an empire in the Americas?
Pictures from: http://www.nndb.com/people/444/000092168/hernando-cortes-1.JPG
http://web.wm.edu/niahd/journals/display_image.php?&id=7581&svr=www ,
Cortes
Pizarro
Cabeza
Coronado
De Leon
Spanish Explorers
Question # 9: 1. What were the Spanish soldier-adventurers
called that set out to explore and conquer a world unknown to
them?
CONQUISTADORS
Pictures From: http://www.rediscovermachupicchu.com/img-francisco-pizarro.gif ,
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n.jpg , http://www.fuenterrebollo.com/Conquistadores/Imagenes/7-cabezavaca.jpg , http://www.ancestral.com/images/cultures/north_america/anasazi/francisco_vasquez_de_coronado.jpg
Hernando Cortes
 1519 Sailed from Cuba to Mexico
 Nov. 1519 Cortez marches into Tenochtitlan
 Cortez meets with the Aztec ruler Moctezuma
and Moctezuma offers Cortes gold to leave
Tenochtitlan
 The gold has the opposite effect and Cortes
takes Moctezuma hostage and claims Mexico
for Spain
 Aztecs rebel and force the Spaniards to leave
Hernando Cortes
 1 year later Cortes returns and takes over
Tenochtitlan again
 He destroys Tenochtitlan and builds present day
Mexico City and makes it the capital
Map of Cortes’ Expeditions
Map From:http://www.tqnyc.org/NYC062701/cortez2.jpg
Francisco Pizarro
 1531 Landed in present-day Peru
 He was searching for the Incas because it
was believed that they had a lot of gold
 Pizarro takes the Incan ruler Atahulpa
captive
 The Incas paid Pizarro a HUGE ransom,
but Pizarro killed the ruler anyway
 Pizarro takes over the capital Cuzco in
1533
Question # 11:
Why were a few Spanish conquistadors able to
defeat the larger armies of the Aztecs and Incas?
There are 3 main reasons why the Spanish were
able to easily defeat the Aztecs and Incas
 The Spanish had better weapons made of steel,
armor, cannons, etc
 They rode in on horses and many of the N-As
thought they were gods
 N-As had been at civil war with each other
and were divided
Question #12:
What regions in the present-day United
States did Spaniards explore?
The Spanish conquistadors explored the
southeastern and southwestern portions of
the US
The first European settlement in North
America was St. Augustine in Florida
Juan Ponce de Leon
 1513 sailed from Puerto Rico to
present day Florida
 Saw the beautiful flowers and named
the region La Florida
 He was the first Spaniard to set foot in
the US
Alvar Nunez Cabeza
de Vaca
 Vaca led survivors that made it
through Fl to present-day Galveston
Island, TX
 They continued their quest for “Gold,
Glory, and God”
 Eventually they were captured and
most died Cabeza and 3 others made it
back to Mexico City
Pictures From: http://www.ecai.org/na-missions/images/image050.jpg ,
Francisco Coronado
 Main goal: to find the “Golden City”
 He never found his “Golden City”
 He explored what is present day
NM, AR, TX, and KS
Hernando de Soto
 De Soto searched for gold in what is now
the Southeastern portion of the US
 He went as far north as NC and then
west toward OK
Picture From: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/natlib/afc2001001/afc-legacies/FL/200002847/i0001.jpg
Bartolome de Las Casas
 Las Casas was a missionary priest sent
by the Spanish to convert N-As to
christianity
 He was instrumental in getting the
govt. in New Spain to end the
encomienda system
 Unfortunately he argued to replace
the N-A workers with A-A workers thus
leading to harsh slavery in the Americas
Question # 13 A:
What was the lasting accomplishments of Bartolome de
Las Casas?
The lasting accomplishment of de Las Casas
was that he convinced Spain to reform the
encomienda system.
Question # 13 B:
How would you describe the lives of Native Americans
in New Spain? How were Natives treated under the
encomienda system?
Native Americans were treated harshly and cruelly
under the encomienda system. They were forced to
live in dangerous conditions working in the mines,
they were overworked on the plantations and they
were forced to change their religion to Christianity
Social Class System in New Spain
BASED ON BLOOD LINE
 Peninsulares: born in Spain moved to Mexico
 Creoles: Children of the Peninsulares
 Mestizos: People of Spanish and Indian blood
 Mulattos: People of Spanish and African decent
 N-As and A-As