Chapter 2 Section 3
Spain Builds and Empire
Spain Builds and Empire
 Spanish Conquistadors
– Soldiers that led expeditions to Americas
– Came looking for Gold
– Conquest of the Aztec
 Hernan Cortes
– Left Cuba and went west to what is Mexico in 1519
– Land ruled by Aztecs and Moctezuma II
– Ended up in Tenochtitlan and saw that the Aztecs had gold and
silver
– Spanish out numbered (less than 700 to thousands)
– Spanish had superior weapons and help from Aztec enemies
Spain Builds and Empire
 Conquest of the Aztec (continued)
– Malintzin
 Indian Woman that helped the Spanish get allies
– Due to a variety of reasons, including small-pox the
Aztec empire fell to the Spanish
 Conquest of the Inca
– Francisco Pizarro
 Only 400 men in the Army, but better weapons
 Captured Cuzco and Killed the leaders
 By 1534 had control of the entire empire
Spain Builds and Empire
 Spanish Settlements
– Began to settle newly claimed lands
– Span wanted to control the migration though
 Jews, Muslims, and non-Christian forbidden in New
Spain
 Most immigrants were men
– Ruled through a council of officials
 Council of Indies (top)
– Viceroyalty of Peru- governed most of South America
– Viceroyalty of New Spain- governed most of Central
America, Mexico and Southern US
Spain Builds and Empire
 Settlements (Continued)
– 3 types of Settlements
 Pueblos- trading posts, and centers of government
 Missions- started by priests to convert Natives
 Presidios- military bases
– El Camino Real (The Royal Road)
 Connected Settlements
 Covered from Mexico City to Santa Fe and into
California
Spain Builds and Empire
 Exploring the Borderlands
– Southeast
 Ponce de Leon
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Landed in Caribbean in 1508
Discovered gold in Puerto Rico
Become governor
1512 discovered coast of Florida
Searched for Fountain of Youth (Never found it)
St. Augustine Florida
 Hernando de Soto
– 2 decades after Ponce de Leon got permission to go into what
would be the Carolinas
– Crossed the Appalachian Mountains
– Found the Mississippi River in 1541
– Died 1542 in what would be the Oklahoma area
Spain Builds and Empire
 Exploring the Borderlands (continued)
– Southwest
 1528- Alvar Nunez de Vaca & Paniflo de Narvaez when in to
North America
 300 men
 Started in Florida
 Problems with weather and disease
 Crashed a boat near what would be Galveston
– 4 survivors captured (Including a slave named Estevanico)
– After 6 years escaped and continued to explore
– The slave became a guide for other groups
 De Vaca returned to Spain and called for better treatment of
Natives
– Wrote a book about his expedition
Spain Builds and Empire
 Exploring the Borderlands (continued)
– Southwest
 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
– 1540 set out to explore the Southwest and look for Seven Cities of Gold
– Discovered the Grand Canyon
– Got as far north as Kansas
 Treatment of Native Americans
– Natives suffered greatly
– Forced Labor
 Peninsulares set up encomienda system- Spanish could tax local
native Americans or make them work, suppose to protect and convert
them, but really became slaves
 Set up plantations and forced Natives to work on haciendas (large
estates)
Spain Builds and Empire
 Role of Catholic Church
– Priests were ordered to convert natives to
Catholicism
– Cultures began to combine
– Many such as Bartolome de Las Casas said the
conversion needed to be gentle, but the
colonists rarely followed that path.