Europeans Conquer North America
Changes for Native Americans
 The Europeans began to use North America’s resources in
the 1500s
 They explored, trapped animals for fur, and fished for many
years before any colonies were founded.
 Sometimes the Europeans were nice, other times they were
not…
 Native Americans traded furs to Europeans for things that
native people had never seen like guns, iron axes, knives, and
metal pots.
 Native people became trading partners with the newcomers.
 The Algonquian partnered with the French and the Iroquois
partnered with the British.
 These partnerships did not help the natives get along
though…
 In the early 1600s fighting broke out. Battles among the
Native Americans lasted for about 100 years and many were
killed. Sometimes Europeans settlers got involved.
 Bottom line is, once Europeans arrived to North America,
life would never be the same.
The Spanish in North America
 Europeans had been trading with people in Asia for many
years. They got rugs, silk, gems, and spices from the lands
there. But they had to travel a long way to get the things they
wanted. The trip to Asia by land was long and full of danger.
Explorers wanted to find a shorter route.
Columbus and the New World
 Christopher Columbus was one of the first explorers who
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looked for a shorter route to Asia.
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to pay for
his journey.
In the spring of 1493, Columbus returned to Spain with
news that he had found an ocean route to Asia and claimed
the new land for Spain.
He came to the royal court with gold, island spices, and six
people he had taken from the far away land.
He called the people Indians because he believed he had
reached the Asian islands named the East Indies
 But he had really landed on the edge of two huge continents
– North and South America.
 The people living there were not the “Indians” of Asia but the
Native Americans who lived on the island in the Caribbean
Sea.
Hispanolia
 This was the first permanent colony in the Americas.
 Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located there now.
 They called this island the New World.
 The Spanish had three goals.
 First they wanted gold from the islands
 Second they wanted to introduce the Native Americans to
Christianity
 Third they wanted to set up colonies using Native American
workers
Columbus video
 Soon after Columbus returned, other explorers from Spain
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began sailing west.
Not long after, ships loaded with gold and silver sailed back
to Spain.
These riches made Spain one of the greatest powers in
Europe for many years.
This was also the beginning of Europe’s takeover of the
Americas.
Almost all of North and South America would fall under
Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English rule.
Who was really first?
 Columbus found the New World in 1492
 In 1001 A.D., Leif Eriksson, a Viking explorer, sailed off
course on his way back to Greenland and landed on North
America.
 He explored what he called Vineland
 After spending the winter there, he sailed back to Greenland
and never returned.
 ERIKSSON VIDEO
John Cabot
 Cabot was next after Columbus to explore North America on his
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ship Matthew.
Just like Columbus, he was trying to find a shorter route to Asia.
On June 24, 1497, Cabot landed on the east coast of North
America. Some say he landed at Cape Breton Island or mainland
Nova Scotia. Others believe he may have landed at
Newfoundland, Labrador or even Maine.
It is believed that John Cabot went ashore with a small party and
claimed the land for the King of England. The ship sailed back to
England in July 1497.
In February 1498, he was given permission to make a new voyage
to North America.
JOHN CABOT VIDEO
 In May 1498, John Cabot departed from Bristol with five ships and a
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crew of 300 men.
En route, one ship became disabled and sailed to Ireland, while the other
four ships continued.
From that point, there is only speculation as to what happened on the
voyage.
For many years, it was believed that the ships were lost at sea.
Most recently, however, documents have emerged that place Cabot in
England in 1500. which may mean that he and his crew actually survived
the voyage.
Historians have also found evidence to suggest that Cabot’s expedition
explored the eastern Canadian coast.
What can be said with some certainty is the John Cabot claimed North
America for England.
Vasco Da Gama
 He was a Portuguese explorer and navigator
 He was the first person to sail directly from Europe to India.
 Setting sail in July of 1497, da Gama sailed south down the
coast of Africa and arrived off the southern African coast.
 He continued the expedition through the Cape of Good and,
after sailing up the coast of east Africa, took on a Arab
navigatoe who helped them reach the Indian coast in May of
1498.
 Thus giving the Europeans an all-water route to Asia!
 After Da Gama returned to Portugal, the king immediately
dispatched another expedition to secure a trading post at
Calicut (where Da Gama landed).
 He forced the ruler of Calicut to make peace and, on his
return voyage along the east African coast, he established
Portuguese trading posts in what is now Mozambique.
 Da Gama video
Amerigo Vespucci
 In 1496, after Columbus returned from his voyage to
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America, Vespucci had the opportunity to meet him!
The conversation made him interested in seeing the world
with his own eyes.
On May 10, 1497, he embarked on his first journey,
departing from Cadiz with a fleet of Spanish ships.
The ships sailed through the West Indies and made their way
to the mainland of Central America.
This was all found in a letter that may or may not have been
written by him so if this is true, this would mean that
Vespucci discovered Venezuela a year before Columbus did.
Video
 Vespucci’s third voyage was the most successful one though.
 His ships sailed along the coast of South America from Cape
Sao Roque to Patagonia.
 Along the way, they discovered present-day Rio de Janeiro
and Rio de la Plata.
 Believing he had discovered a new continent, Vespucci called
South America the New World.
 In 1507, America was named after him.
Pedro Cabral
 King Manuel I of Portugal sent him on an expedition to
India.
 Cabral sailed with 13 ships and left on March 9, 1500,
following the route of Vasco da Gama.
 On April 22, 1500, he sighted land and claimed it for
Portugal and naming it the “Island of the True Cross” . It was
later named Holy Cross then finally Brazil.
 Cabral stayed in Brazil for 10 days and then continued on his
way to India.
 During the trip there were storms, shipwrecks, and fighting.
 50 of Cabral’s men were killed after an attack from Muslim
traders in Calicut, India, who did not want competition on
their spice routes.
 Cabral returned to Portugal on June 23, 1501, with only four
of the original 13 ships.
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
 Born in Spain in 1475, Balboa helped establish the town of
Darien on the Isthmus of Panama, becoming interim
governor.
 In 1513, he led the first European expedition to the Pacific
Ocean.
 News of the discovery arrived after the king of Spain sent
Pedro Arias be Avila to serve as the new governor.
 Avila was jealous of Balboa and had him beheaded for treason
in 1519.
Ferdinand Magellan
 In his mid-20’s, Magellan joined a Portuguese fleet that was
sailing to East Africa.
 He soon found himself at the Battle of Diu, in which the
Portuguese destroyed Egyptian ships in the Arabian Sea.
 He also explored Malacca, located in present-day Malaysia,
and participated in the conquest of Malacca’s port.
 It is possible that he sailed as far as the islands in Indonesia,
then called the Spice Islands.
Video
 In 1519, with the support of King Charles V of Spain,
Magellan set out to circumnavigate the globe.
 Circumnavigate means to sail all the way around something,
especially the world. There is now the Strait of Magellan
where he sailed. It is immediately south of mainland South
America.
 He assembled a fleet of ships and, despite huge setbacks, his
own death included, proved that the world was round!
Spain in the Caribbean
 Ships full of explorers and Catholic priests began sailing for
other Caribbean Islands such as Cuba and Puerto Rico.
 The priests wanted to change, or convert, the Native
Americans’ religion to Christianity.
 The Spanish quickly mined all the gold on the islands
 To make money, they turned to a plantation system of
agriculture.
Plantations
 It is a large land area where people usually grow a single
crop.
 Most are located on rich soils in the tropical regions of the
world.
 The Spanish raised sugarcane on plantations because the
Caribbean soil and climate were perfect for this crop.
 Sugar sold for high prices in Europe and is was easily shipped
to market from Caribbean ports.
Slavery
 The Spanish set up the plantations and oversaw the work.
 They forced Native Americans to work on the plantations
without pay.
 Almost ALL the Native Americans in the Caribbean died
from diseases brought by the Europeans or from the forced
labor.
 Then the Spanish ships brought enslaved Africans to the
plantations to replace the Native Americans.
 Europeans also made money from selling slaves.
 Enslaved Africans were forced to do tough work and were
not treated well.
 Even though they lost their freedom, they kept much of their
African heritage alive.
Spain on the Mainland
 The Spanish still wanted to find gold and silver so they began
to explore the mainland of North and South America.
 These Spanish conquerors were called conquistadors.
 Native Americans told the Spanish of great cities and cultures
in other places in the Americas.
 These stories described amazing treasures. The ideas of riches
made many Spanish want to find these places.
 They wanted to take the treasure for themselves and Spain.
Hernan Cortes
 This conquistador heard these stories. By 1519, Cortes was
on the mainland of Middle America making his way to
Tenochtitlan.
 He soon seized the city with the help of several thousand
Native American enemies of the Aztecs.
 While seizing the city, the ruler of Tenochtitlan, Montezuma,
died but no one knows how.
 Some claimed that his people threw rocks and darts at him
because of his complicity, Cortes says that he was stabbed by
his countrymen. What do you think happened?
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
 Another explorer of Central America, he founded the
settlement of Santa Maria la Antigua del Darien in today’s
Panama.
 This was the first permanent European settlement on the
mainland of the Americas.
 He crossed Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean and was
the first European to reach the ocean.
 He claimed the Pacific Ocean for Spain.
QUIZ TIME!! =)
Spanish explorer Hernen Cortes conquered Tenachtitian.
Who helped Cortes seize the city?
2) Spanish conquistadors brought horses to the Americas.
What did the Spanish hope to find?
3) Balboa claimed the Pacific Ocean for Spain. What did
Spain call their territory?
1)
Answers
 1) Enemies of the Aztecs
 2) GOLD!
 3) Santa Maria la Antigua del Darien
New Spain
 The Spanish claimed all the land they explored. They named
their new territory New Spain.
 Spain and Portugal each claimed part of South America.
Portugal took the territory that is now modern Brazil.
 Spain claimed all of the remaining land except for a small
strip along the Caribbean coast claimed by France, England,
and the Netherlands.
Founding Florida
 Juan Ponce de Leon was a Spanish conquistador who
sailed with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to
the New World.
 A popular story is the Ponce de Leon was searching for the
Fountain of Youth when he discovered Florida in 1513.
 He was not looking for the fountain of youth. He wanted the
journey to bring himself a new feeling of rebirth. He was
looking for glory and honor.
 Some Native Americans in the Caribbean told the Spanish of
a large, rich island to the north. He sailed north then and
landed somewhere on the northeast coast of today’s state of
Florida and claimed it for Spain.
 De Leon named the land La Florida, meaning flowery. This
was either because of the flowers blooming there or because
he landed during “Pascua Florida” ,which means Easter season
in Spanish.
St. Augustine VIDEO
 Saint Augustine, Florida, is the oldest city in the United
States founded by Europeans.
 Pedro Menendez de Aviles built the first settlement
there in 1565.
 The Spanish sold Florida to the United States in 1821.
Pascua Florida Day, April 2, is a state holiday in Florida today.
Exploring the American Southwest
 Many Spanish men were excited about exploring New Spain.
 They wanted to find gold.
 They set sail on long ocean voyages to explore the land
Cortes had made famous.
Cities of Gold
 About 20 years after Cortes, more than 500 Spanish
explorers sailed in five ships from Spain to the New World.
Three of the ships were lost at sea. The others landed in
Florida. Some sailed back to Spain and the rest decided to
explore.
 Many got sick and they had trouble finding food. The Native
Americans were unfriendly as well so the Spaniards decided
to build boats and sail to Mexico. The men knew other
Spanish people were living there.
 Their small boats could not make the journey. Some men
died at sea. Others made it to an island off the coast of Texas.
Native Americans made the men their slaves and most of the
men died.
 But one man, Cabeza de Vaca, pretended to be a medicine
man. He rattled a gourd and made the sign of the cross.
Many of the sick men got well. The Native Americans gave
him freedom to visit other tribes.
 De Vaca and three others, including an African slave named
Estevan, headed for Mexico. Along the way they met other
Native Americans that told them wild stories of the Seven
Cities of Cibola. They said the cities were made of gold!
 De Vaca and his men finally made it to Mexico and told the
Spanish leaders about their journey. It had been eight years
since the leaders had left Spain.
 They were surprised that the men had made it but they also
wanted to learn more about the cities of gold.
Spain in the Southwest
 The leader of New Spain send Estevan and a priest named
Fray Marcos de Niza to find the golden cities. When
Estevan got to a Zuni village, he was killed by the Native
Americans there. De Niza went back to tell the leader of
New Spain about Estevan’s death
 When he got back, he met with New Spain’s leader, Viceroy
Mendoza. But instead, de Niza told Mendoza that he had
climbed to the top of a hill and seen a golden city with high
buildings and turquoise doors. The viceroy decided to send
another man, Francisco Coronado, to look for the gold.
New Mexico
 Coronado gathered an army of men to search for gold. There
were hundreds of Spanish, plus more than 1,000 Native
Americans and African slaves. Coronado led a smaller group
of mean ahead of the main army.
 After many days for travel, they ran out of food. There were
half starved when they got to a Zuni village in what is now
New Mexico. The Zunis threatened the army and tried to
kill Coronado’s interpreter. So Coronado ordered an attack.
Coronado explores the Southwest
VIDEO
 In less than an hour the Zuni were forced to flee. The hungry
Spanish ate all the food. The beans and corn were better than
gold!
 Coronado soon learned that the Zunis did not have cities of
gold. He wrote the viceroy to tell him.
Arizona
 Coronado sent two groups of his men to explore Arizona.
Pedro de Tovar was helped by Native American guides.
They took a small group of men to the Hopi villages. At
first, the Hopi were not friendly so Tovar attacked the Hopi
and forced them to give up.
 The Hopi told Tovar about a great river and rich Native
Americans to the west so Tovar hurried back to the Zuni
villages to the share this news with Coronado.
 Coronado was excited! He sent another group of men back
to the Hopi village to find out if the Hopi were telling the
truth. Hopi guides led the men to the Grand Canyon. They
were the first Europeans to see this natural wonder but they
did not find any gold. So they returned to the Zuni village
were Coronado was staying.
 Coronado traveled to what is now Texas and Kansas before he
returned to Mexico. He never find gold, but he did learn a
great deal about the lands of the Southwest.
California
 Several explorers sailed up the coast of California. They
were lead by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. They were
looking for a water route to connect to the Atlantic Ocean.
They also wanted to find the golden city of Cibola they had
been told about.
 Instead, they learned that California was not an island. In
1542, Cabrillo arrived at “a very good enclosed port.” That
port is known today as San Diego bay. Spain claimed
California too.
Explorers and Priests
 Hernando de Soto explored America from Florida all the way
to what is now Arkansas. He was the first European to see
the Mississippi River.
 Over the next 150 years, other explorers and Catholic
priests traveled around the Southwest. The explorers wanted
gold and to claim the land they explored for Spain. They did
not find gold, but they did find silver.
 The priests wanted to bring Christianity to the Native
Americans in the region. They also claimed a lot of land for
Spain and created settlements in what is now New Mexico
and southern Arizona.
Spain’s Territory
 By 1550, Spain’s land in the New World extended from
southern South America into North America, including what
is now the southwestern United States and Florida.
 Spain’s territory in North America would at times form the
southern and western borders of the English colonies. To
guard their new lands, the Spanish leaders built fortresses
throughout the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
Spanish Rule
 The Spanish ruled the Southwest during the time that the 13
colonies were settled in eastern North America.
 This region would not become part of the United States until
the 1840s and the 1850s.
 Spain ruled for about 300 years and its influence still can ne
seen in the southwestern United States today.
QUIZ TIME!!
 1) Cabeza be Vaca and other men pretended they were medicine
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men and could cure sick people. What did the Spanish want
to learn from the Native Americans?
2) Coronado explored the Southwest looking for gold. What
were the areas claimed by Spain?
3) Spanish priests and Native American workers built the San
Xavier del Bac mission near Tucsan, Arizona, more than 200 years
ago. What did the priests want to do?
4) What was the location of the first permanent Spanish
colony in the Americas?
BONUS
 5) Why did Columbus call Native Americans “Indians”?
Answers
 1)Where the gold was.
 2) New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Florida
 3) bring Christianity to the Native Americans
 4) Saint Augustine, Florida
 5) Because he thought he had landed in Indonesia.
Talk about it
 Why did the Spanish develop plantations in the Americans?
 What do you think the Native Americans meant when they
told stories of riches to the Spanish?
 Why do you think some Native American tribes helped the
Spanish explorers and others did not?
Journal Entry
 Pick an explorer and write one (or two) Journal entry(s)
from the time they discovered new land in the Americas.
 Include the date, people that may have been with him, any
names of ships, where they are coming from, how long it
took him, why they are exploring this new land, and anything
he might have encountered.
 REMEMBER; this is a journal entry so it is written in first
person. Include feelings and thoughts your explorer may
have had.