Video
AGE OF EXPLORATION

COLONIZATION IN THE AMERICAS

CONQUISTADOR: Spanish conqueror

After Columbus & Magellan…

Hernan Cortes (Spain) - conquistador who arrived in Mexico in 1519, looking for lands to claim & searching for “City of
Gold”

HERNAN CORTES
VS
Video 

Came across Aztec Empire  Greeted by
Montezuma
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Aztecs thought Spaniards were “iron-clad gods”
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Defeated Aztecs (1. Superior weapons, 2. Used enemies to help, 3. Disease)

Tenochtitlan (Aztec capital) became Mexico City

AZTEC EMPIRE

FRANCISCO PIZARRO
VS
Bio. Video 

Conquistador who arrived in Inca Empire (Peru) in 1523

Captured Atahualpa for ransom of gold/silver; silver became a HUGE commodity!
Video 

Spanish eventually conquered, taking over lands from Ecuador to Chile

REASONS FOR CONQUISTADORS’ SUCCESSES

Military: horses, muskets, cannons, armor
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Division among natives: Aztecs/Incas had many tribal enemies
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Oppression/abuse of Native Americans: forced to work in encomienda system (slave farming)

Disease: new to Native Americans; challenged beliefs

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NATIVE AMERICANS?

90% of indigenous population died b/c of enslavement, overwork, or diseases:

Smallpox

Measles

Influenza
 Optional
Video

Many converted to Christianity by force

Caught in battle between Spain &
Portugal

TREATY OF TORDESILLAS

1494 - Agreement between Spain & Portugal negotiated by Pope Alexander VI

LINE OF DEMARCATION divides “New World”

Portugal gets everything EAST of the line (Brazil &
East Indies)

Spain gets everything WEST of the line (Central
America, Caribbean, & most of South America)

GET OUT YOUR MAP #1!

SPANISH ECONOMY & SOCIAL CLASSES

Can only import/export with Spain

MERCANTILISM: how much gold/silver a country has

ORDER OF SOCIAL CLASS in New Spain:

Peninsulares – born in Spain




Creoles – American-born descendents of Spanish settlers
Mestizos – Native & Spanish descent
Mulattoes – Spanish & African descent
Native Americans
African slaves

PORTUGUESE ECONOMY (BRAZIL)

Nobles given land grants; shared profits with king in Portugal

Turned to plantation agriculture (esp. sugar) and livestock raising

5 million + Africans brought into Brazil as slaves

VIDEO: CONQUISTADORS

In Spanish (no subtitles), but gives it an authentic feel!

THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE

1500-1600

Great exchange of new foods, plants, animals, culture, tools, humans, technology, and diseases between the
Old World (Europe/Africa) and the New World
(America)

THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE VIDEO
(CRASH COURSE)

AMERICA BEFORE COLUMBUS VIDEO

Optional (time permitting), part 3 of 3.
(30 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og9L_jhUID8

CRASH COURSE VIDEO

The Spanish Empire, Silver, & Runaway Inflation
(time permitting) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjhIzemLdos