17.1 Guided Notes: Conquest in the Americas
In 1492, the Spanish, under the leadership of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand,
were able to drive the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula. Later in the same year,
they sponsored Christopher Columbus’ journey to the Indies to find new trade
routes. The Spanish felt they were invincible. Columbus had discovered new
lands and people, the Taínos.
The Spanish had access to the new world and all it had to offer. The
conquistadors that came to the Americas were looking to find fortunes and to
make themselves, and Spain, the strongest in the world.
In 1519, Conquistador Hernán Cortés and his men arrive in Mexico, the home of
the Aztecs, looking for gold and riches. The Aztecs and their leader Moctezuma
met with Cortés because of the fear that the god Queztalcoatl had returned
according to their legend. Cortés and his men eventually surround the city of
Tenochtitlán in a siege and the battle ends in 1521 with the destruction of the
Aztec Empire.
Cortés’ story inspires other conquistadors. In 1532, Francisco Pizarro arrives in
Peru, searching for gold. The Incan Empire had been weakened by Civil War and
they were not able to fight the Spanish. Pizarro captured the Incan King
Atahualpa, demanded a large ransom, and then killed Atahualpa. Leaderless, the
Incan’s were unable to fight off the Spanish and their territory quickly fell under
Spanish control.
17.2 Guided Notes: Colonies in Middle and South America
By the mid 1500s, Spain controlled most of Central and South America with the
exception of Brazil. Brazil was discovered by Pedro Alvarez Cabral in 1500 and
established the colony for Portugal. In Brazil the Portuguese discovered
Brazilwood, a dense, colorful wood, which they sent back to Portugal by shipload.
It made great profits for the Portuguese.
Spanish Colonies:
The Spanish controlled a vast area in the Americas, including Southern North
America to the Southern tip of South America. In order to govern the large area,
the Spanish divided the land into two viceroyalties. The Viceroyalty of New
Spain included the area that is today Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Southern
California, Mexico, and Central America. The Viceroyalty of Peru was located on
the Pacific Coast of South America. Each viceroyalty was governed by a viceroy
who was appointed by the king. Viceroys had to be born in Spain and they were
watched by the Spanish government.
The Catholic Church sent many missionaries to the Americas and developed
many settlements. The Church acted as a local government in the colonies.
The new colonies created great wealth for the Spanish and shiploads of gold and
silver crossed the Atlantic. The Spanish also created large farms or plantations in
the new world to grow valuable cash crops like sugar cane.
Since the Spanish needed workers to work in the mines and on the plantations,
they used the encomienda system to provide the labor. An encomienda was a
document that gave the Spanish the right to control the Native Americans on the
land they controlled. This forced labor system went on until the Native American
populations were decimated due to diseases. Bartolome de las Casas was a
Spanish priest who spoke out against the treatment of Native Americans.
Eventually, the Spanish imported large numbers of African Slaves to work in the
colonies.
The economies of the Americas and Europe benefitted greatly from the
Columbian Exchange, or the movement of plants and animals between the
Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
In the years after Christopher Columbus, the Atlantic Ocean becomes a vast
highway of trade.