 1400s Spain and Portugal Looking for trade routes to Asia  1492-Columbus

 Spain and Portugal sent explorers They tried to stop each other from claiming land  Line of Demarcation-imaginary line at 50 W longitude Spain got land to the west and Portugal got land to East

 (conqueror)  Went to America for riches  Rulers received 1/5 of wealth

 Arrived in Mexico in men and 16 horses Montezuma thinks he may be Quetzalcoatl (Aztec god) Other groups helped Cortes 1521 Aztecs were defeated, Montezuma dead

Hernan Cortez was a Spanish conquistador. He arrived in the West Indies in 1504 and explored the area, looking for rumored wealthy cities. He forced inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and met the Mayans who presented him with 20 young female slaves. One of these slaves was named Malinche, who was sold into slavery by the Aztecs and raised by the Mayans. She became Cortez’s translator. Some locals think of her as a traitor, but others think of her loyalty to her master. Malinche, even though she was a slave, was treated with respect by Cortez and his comrades. Both the Europeans and the Indians greatly respected her. In time, she bore Cortez a son Martin, the first mestizo, (mixed blood: Native American and European). She was eventually married to one of his officers. Malinche was eventually baptized as a Christian and was renamed Doña Marina by the Spaniards. In the year 1521, the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan fell to the Spaniards. They seized their fabulous treasure of gold and silver. Now, the Spanish Monarchs that treated their territories as possessions controlled the richest and most extensive Empire in the Americas.

 1531-sailed with 180 soldiers  Captured and killed many Incan leaders  1535 conquered most of the empire

 By 1600 Spain had claimed much of the land in LA

 Christian missionaries  Treasure hunters  Farmers  Force was used against Native American resistance

 Divided into provinces  Appointed viceroys  Social Classes Formed Powerful lived in the center of the city Mestizos-People of mixed race (Spanish/Native American)  Lived on the outskirts Native Americans in the country side  Forced to work on Haciendas-a plantation owned by the Spanish or Catholic Church

 Encomiendas (en koh mee EN dahs)-right to demand taxes or labor from Native Americans Worked on haciendas Worked in mines Disease  First 50 years of Spanish rule native populations declined 25 million to 3 million Where would they get workers?

 Toussaint L’Ouverture (too SAN loo vehr TOOR) Led movement for 10 years against the French Won in 1804 and Haiti became independent

 People became inspired by two other revolutions

 Struggle began in 1810 with Miguel Hidalgo Priest Criollo-had Spanish parents but were born in LA Appealed to meztizos and Native Americans

 “The Cry of Dolores” Plot discovered by Spanish He rang the bells in Dolores  80,000 fighter assembled  Was caught and executed in 1811  Fighting continued and Mexico became independent in 1821 led by Agustin de Iturbide

 Simon Bolivar “The Liberator” Bolivar vs. Ferdinand Help free Ecuador, Columbia, Venezuela, Panama  Jose de San Martin Surprised Spanish by going over the Andes into Chile Took Peru by Sea

 Bolivar and San Martin meet San Martin gives up command Bolivar drives Spanish out of South America

 Simon Bolivar wanted a United States of South America It was a huge area divided by landforms Other leaders were not interested Caudillos-military leaders who ruled very strictly  Many became dictators-rulers with complete power

 Depend on Imports-To bring products into a country Exports-Send products to another country  Foreign involvement  Gap between rich and poor  Foreign debt  NAFTA-North American Free Trade Agreement (1994)