Mr. McCaskill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8waBR2Hpsgk
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As Cortes and Pizarro conquered the
civilizations of the Americas, other
conquistadors defeated other native peoples.
The Spanish found a lot of gold when they
first arrived but it was never enough to get
SUPER RICH!
By the middle of the 16th century, Spain
had created an American empire.
Yellow= Spanish
Purple= Portuguese
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The Spanish settlers to the Americas were
mostly men.
As a result, the relationships between
Spanish settlers and native women were
common.
However, the Spanish settlers still
oppressed the natives.
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In an effort to exploit the land for its resources,
the Spanish forced Native Americans to work.
This system forced the natives to farm, ranch,
and mine for Spanish landlords.
 Does this sound familiar?
Many of the people who mined typically got
mercury poison and died.
 The Spanish typically abused the natives and
worked many laborers to death, especially inside
dangerous mines.
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1/7 of the native population was forced to
mine the Potosi mountain until they found
enough silver to please the Spanish.
 They never found “enough”
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These mountains contained a high level of
mercury.
Mercury poison was so common that many
parents would typically maim their children
to prevent them from working in the mines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihFkyPv1jtU
LETTER TO A KING
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Because of this, Spain became the riches
nation in the world.
Throughout the 16th century, Spain became
rich and increased their military power.
For nearly 150 years, the Spanish army rarely
lost a single battle.
This impacted the natives because even if
they decided to rise up, it would do them no
good.
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The Portuguese saw how much Spain was making
and began their own colonies in the Americas.
During the 1530s, colonies began settling Brazil’s
coastal region.
Finding little gold or silver, the settlers began
growing sugar.
This made the Portuguese build giant sugar
plantations.
The demand for sugar in Europe was great and the
colony soon made Portugal extremely rich.