The Atlantic World
1492 - 1800
Ch 20.1
Spanish Conquests in the Americas
Columbus Opens the Atlantic
1492 - 1503
►Began
the European conquest of
the Americas
 beginning of globalization
►By
end of his 4 journeys, Spain
had colonized much of the
Caribbean
Other Explorers take to the
Seas
►1500:
Pedro
Cabral claims
Brazil for
Portugal
►1501:
Amerigo
Vespucci
discovers that
the land is a
“New World”
Ferdinand Magellan’s Mission
Circumnavigates the World 1519 1521
The
Conquistadors
►Spanish
explorers
who claimed much
of the Americas for
Spain
►Destroyed
the
native civilizations
of Central & South
America
Hernán Cortés Conquers the
Mighty Aztec Empire (1521)
►Used
guns, horses,
& local enemies to
conquer a larger
force.
►King
Moctezuma II
was killed &
Tenochtitlan
destroyed
Francisco Pizarro Conquers
the Inca of Peru (1532)
►Captured
their king
Atahualpa
& then the
capital of
Cuzco.
European Diseases Eradicate
the Native Populations
►Without
natural immunities, Native
Americans died from Smallpox,
Measles, & Typhus by the millions.
►Native
population may have declined
by 90% between 1500 & 1800.
Spanish kill millions through War
& Slavery
►Encomienda:
labor
►Conditions
►Revolts
System of forced
led to many deaths
were common, but
unsuccessful
Bartolomé de las Casas
►Jesuit
priest
who wrote
of the
destruction
of the West
Indies
Effect of Spanish Conquest
►Native
►Large
population declined
Mestizo population
 mixed Spanish & Native American
►Spain
►Other
became too wealthy
Europeans became interested
in American colonization