Age of Contact:
European Exploration
• Conquistador- A Spanish soldier/explorer who
wanted riches & power, as well as wealth & glory
for Spain, in the conquest of the Americas.
• Mission- a religious settlement.
Reasons for Exploration
_____________ European countries wanted to increase their
global wealth.
_____________ Catholic church supported expeditions in
hopes of converting natives to Christianity
_____________ Expeditions led by Conquistadors looking for
wealth & fame.
T
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R
E
A
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O
N
CINNAMON
NUTMEG
SAFFRON
PEPPER
Saffron, the world's
most expensive
spice, is costly
because more than
225,000 stigmas
must be hand picked
to produce one
pound
Routes over land were
dangerous & costly
Western Europe wanted
an all-water route to Asia
Important Dates
• 1492: Funded by the
Spanish crown,
Columbus sailed
west across the
Atlantic hoping to
find a faster route to
Asia.
• Following the
example &
knowledge of
Columbus, other
Conquistadors will
claim territory in the
“new world.”
Spanish Advantages
• Guns, Germs, & Steel -
Advanced technology
Spanish Advantages
Spanish Advantages
Indian Allies (military)
500 Conquistadors
Persuaded thousands of other Native Americans
that hated Aztec rule to join the Spanish as allies.
by 1521
Important Dates
• Aztecs are conquered & all their gold is taken.
Hernan
Cortes
• Cortes eventually seizes the Aztec capital,
Tenochtitlan (renamed Mexico city)
• Becomes a base for exploration called New Spain
• His success inspires other Spaniards to explore
North America
New Spanish Towns & Missions
•
•
•
•
Spain was a Catholic nation
Spanish wanted to convert Indians to Catholicism
Priest & nuns established missions
Helped protect claim of their territory
Alonzo Alvarez de
Pineda
• 1519- Explored & created the 1st map of the
Gulf Coast region (including the Texas coast).
1st Europeans to see Texas coast
Panfilo de
Narvaez
• Sent on an expedition to conquer land between Florida &
Mexico
• Ships that were supposed to pick them up never did.
• Stranded, they built small boats.
• Go through a hurricane and get shipwrecked.
Cabeza de Vaca
• Shipwrecked near Galveston
–
(part of Narvaez expedition)
• Survived with Karankawa 8 yrs.
Location of Galveston Island; the castaways referred to as
"Isla del Malhado," or Island of Misfortune.
Removed an arrowhead from an
Indians chest & sewed up the
wounds= great fame as a healer
Cabeza de Vaca described native
dwellings as portable structures made
of mats placed on four arches. When it
was time to move to the next camp, the
Indians would remove the mats and
carry them on their backs.
Cabeza de Vaca
• Eventually found his way back to
Mexico City & then went back to Spain.
• Wrote a book describing plants &
animals (bison) in Texas.
Popular Legend- 7 cities containing vast
treasures. One of the cities was reportedly called
Cibola.
Francisco Vasquez de
Coronado
• Sent on an expedition to find Cibola- 7 cities that were
rich in gold, silver, & gems.
• Searched for 5 months going through the Texas
Panhandle
• Cibola turned out to be an adobe village
• Didn’t want to go back empty handed = continued to
search but he found no gold.
Francisco Vasquez de
Coronado
• Explored the Texas panhandle.
Searching for Quivera.
1st European to see Grand Canyon
(Arizona)
Coronado’s Report on [Texas]
• “was a country (land) of fine
appearance” and its soil promised
good farming. He also reported that
“there is not any gold nor any other
metal- nothing but little villages.”
(1581) Don Juan de Onate
• Claims entire Rio Grande Valley for Spain
• Founded the Spanish settlements of upper Rio
Grande, including El Paso (El Paso del Norte)
• Set up missions along the Rio Grande
Rene-Robert Cavalier Sieur de
La Salle
• 1682: Explored the Mississippi River to the Gulf of
Mexico & claimed Louisiana for France.
Rene-Robert Cavalier
Sieur de
La Salle
(1685) La Salle’s settlement – Fort St. Louis near Matagorda
Bay.
Spain now had to take action to make sure the French didn’t
take over their claim to Texas.
Results of European Exploration
• Columbian Exchange-
Transfer of plants, animals, & diseases
Americas
Europe, Asia, Africa
• Avocados, beans,
• Barley, rice, oats.
cashews, cocoa beans
Wheat, bananas,
(chocolate), corn,
coffee, lemons,
papayas, peanuts,
lettuce, okra, olives,
pecans, peppers,
onions, oranges,
pineapples, potatoes,
peaches, pears,
squash, tomatoes,
radishes, soybeans,
vanilla beans, wild
sugarcane,
rice.
watermelons.
• Guinea pigs,
• Chickens, cows, cats,
hummingbirds,
goats, hogs, honey
muskrats, rattlesnakes,
bees, horses, mice,
turkeys
rabbits, rats, sheep
Results of European Exploration
Diseases:
Small pox & measles
Cattle
-
wild offspring
of horses brought by
the Spanish.
Indians get horses
trading/raiding =
Indians become
better hunters &
fighters.
Spanish pronunciation of the Caddo Indian
word Teyshas. The word = “friend,” &
generally referred to the allied tribes of their
confederacy.
In Spanish, the sh sound is usually
represented by j, h, or x = became
-
Americans called it…