Lesson 3
Life in New Spain
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Hernando de Soto
had heard of the
riches Cortés had
found in the Aztec
city.
He went in search
of his own treasure
in the southwest of
North America .
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De Soto spent 20 years searching the
area we know now as Florida, Georgia,
South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi,
Arkansas, and Louisiana.
De Soto was the first European
to explore the Mississippi River.
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Estéban, an African sailor who had been
enslaved by the Spanish, survived a
shipwreck off the coast of Texas with the
conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca.
 They travelled together for 8 years in the
southwest of the U.S.
 They joined another expedition to find
Cíbola, a rich kingdom.
 They never found Cíbola. Estéban was killed
by Indians in what is now New Mexico.
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The legend of Cíbola did not fade.
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The governor of New Spain sent Francisco
Vàsquez de Coronado to find the cities.
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He did not find the city.
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He did not find the city because
IT NEVER EXISTED
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Many of the Indian tribes along Coronado’s route
denied his entrance to their villages.
The reputation of the Spanish and their cruel
treatment of the Indians were spreading across
America’s southwest.
Coronado and his men would use force quickly,
enslave natives and take them from their families,
steal anything valuable from the villages including
stored food, livestock, money, gold, and water.
In addition, the Spanish exploration parties were
spreading diseases the native’s could not fight.
Thousands would die from smallpox alone.
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Open your textbook to pages 146-147
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Read these pages.
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Your assignment will be to make a list of
the IMPORTANT events including the
dates.
Please put the list in your ss spiral.
What were these three explorers
searching for?
Cortez
Pizarro
De Soto
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Were they searching for:
By the end of the 1500’s,
the fighting between the
Native peoples and the
Spanish had ended.
The Spanish had gained
enough territory to move
colonists into these lands.
A new way of life in a new
land was forming.
Peninsularesborn in Spain
Creoles-Spanish,
but born in America
Mestizo – person who is both
Spanish and Indian
Indians or Africans – no Spanish background
Peninsularesborn in Spain
Creoles-Spanish,
but born in America
Mestizo – person who is both
Spanish and Indian
Indians or Africans – no Spanish background
Ecomienda- plantation piece of land given by
the Spanish government . This grant of land
includes control of the natives people who
already live there.
Many ecomienda owners put people to work
as farm workers, miners, and servants.
The native people did not have pay and did
not always get enough to eat. They could be
beaten and forced to work long hours.
One type of ecomienda was run by Catholic
missionaries (a priest that teaches his religion to
other people).
These priests built missions throughout New
Spain to teach the native people about
Christianity.
The missionaries also taught them European
farming practices such as taking care of the
European animals brought over from the
Columbian Exchange.
Some of these native people were treated cruelly
even under the care of the Church.
Bartolomé de Las Casas spoke out against
the mistreatment of native peoples under
the care of the church.
He wrote angry letters back home to Spain
about what was happening.
In 1542 Spain passed laws saying that native
peoples must be paid for their work.
These laws were not enforced and later
were cancelled.

Open your textbook to pages 148-149,
and page 151 abut de Las Casas
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Read these pages.


Your assignment will be to make a list of
the IMPORTANT events including the
dates.
Please put the list in your ss spiral.
What was Las Casas point of view on the
Indians of the ecomienda system?
a.
He wanted them to become Catholic
b.
He wanted to teach them to farm
c.
He wanted the Church to treat them
kindly
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Slavery began on the ecomienda with the
Spanish.
The Native Americans were not used to
long hours of work in the hot fields.
They were easily exhausted and not able to
work.
They were often ill from the new European
germs and disease.
They tried to run away and get away from
their captors.
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Africans were brought in to replace the
native slaves.
Gradually, capture and enslavement of
Africans became an important part of the
colonial economy.
By 1574, there were 12,000 slaves in the
Spanish territory alone.
African slaves suffered the same problems as
the native people.
The profits the slaves helped to gain made
Spain one of the richest countries in the
world.
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Think back to what you
learned about slavery in
America.
Without using your notes,
make a list of what you
know.
Now open your book to
page 150 and complete your
notes.