Spanish Missions
1500-1580
Pgs. 195-200
Matching Activity
Spanish Conquistadors
• The Spanish Conquistadors who explored
America found gold and silver.
• Mining for gold and silver became the
most important money-making activity in
Spain’s American colonies.
• To protect its gold and silver mines, the
Spanish built presidos.
• A presido is a fort built in a buffer (land
that serves as a barrier) for protection
St. Augustine
• The largest and most important presidio
was named St. Augustine.
• It was located on the Atlantic coast of
Florida on a bay first explored by Ponce
de Leon.
• St. Augustine was built in 1565.
• It was the first permanent European
settlement in America.
• It was founded 42 years before the English
landed at Jamestown.
Building St. Augustine
• The Spanish were fearful of English
pirates and Indian raiders.
• To strengthen St. Augustine, they built
stone walls around the wooden fort.
• It took 25 years to complete.
• St. Augustine served as Spain’s military
headquarters in North America.
Spain’s Interest in America
1. Grow the Spanish empire.
2. Expand its economy.
3. Spread the Catholic faith
Ranches and Haciendas
• Realizing that gold was scarce, many
Spanish settlers made money by raising
livestock and selling the hides and animal
fats to nearby markets.
• Settlers often traded with the Pueblo
Indians for corn, pottery, and cloth.
• Settlers built large haciendas or houses
where they raised thousands of cattle and
sheep.
• The settlers wanted to be self-sufficient.
Indian Tribes
• The settlers brought horses (long extinct)
to America which changed the life of the
Plains Indians.
• The Plains Indians learned to tame the
horses and use them as transportation
which helped them in hunting and warfare.
• The Navajos learned to raise sheep and
weave the wool into colorful clothing and
blankets.
Spanish Missions
• The first Spanish Mission was Nombre de
Dios or Name of God.
• It was built near St. Augustine in 1565.
• It was the first in a chain of missions that
would link the Atlantic coast to the Pacific.
• Father Junipero Serra, a Spanish
missionary, helped build a string of 21
missions in California.
Spanish Missions
• When the Spanish built a mission, it
included a church, ranch and farm
buildings.
• Some missions were built near Indian
villages.
• The Spanish would bring livestock, fruit
trees, and seeds for crops.
• The goal was for the mission to become
self-sufficient.
Relations with the Indians
• The Spanish and Indians learned from one
another.
• The Indians taught the Spanish how to
build adobe houses and how to use herbs
as medicines.
• The Spanish taught the Indians how to
guide a plow instead of using a stick and
hoe in the Indian way.
Relations with the Indians
• Over time relations between the Spanish
and Indians changed.
• Many Indians were forced to give up their
religious traditions, many were forced to
work against their will, and missionaries
used cruel treatment to control the Indians.
• Some Indians fought back killing
missionaries and destroying churches.
El Camino Real
• To protect its missions the Royal Road (El
Camino Real) was built to connect
missions with presidos.
• The first section was built in the middle
1500s and stretched for more than 600
miles.
• Many cities such as San Antonio, Texas
and San Diego, California began as
missions.