The Spanish Explorers

Key terms  Reconquista – Reconquest  Indigenous - originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.  Conquistadors - a conqueror, especially one of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16th century  Tribute - a payment by one ruler or nation to another in acknowledgment of submission or as the price of protection  Viceroyalty - a territory governed by a viceroy  Viceroy - a ruler exercising authority in a colony on behalf of a sovereign

Beginning of Age of Contact

Reconquista 300 years before Columbus set sail on his voyage Spanish were trying to reconquer the Iberian Peninsula Regaining control of this land in Europe was called the Reconquista or reconquest

Christopher Columbus 1492 Propelled by Europe’s goal of finding new trade routes to Asia, Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón) sailed to the Americas. However, not until after his death would the value of his discovery truly be known

Christopher Columbus Tried to get funding for trip from Portugal After Being turned down he turned to Spain Because of the success of the Reconquista King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were ready to gain glory and wealth in other areas They happily funded Columbus’ trip at Portugal’s expense

COLUMBUS’S FOUR VOYAGES

At first they called the land the Indies because of the early belief that they were in India Eventually Spanish explorers realized that the Americas could provide even greater riches than what could have been earned through trade with Asia. For the next 150 years after Columbus’s voyages, adventurers explored the new lands in search of wealth. Precedent - an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be considered in subsequent similar circumstances

After Columbus’s 4 th voyage he became the governor of a new settlement in Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola. He was disliked by his men because he enslaved and killed thousands of natives. He was eventually arrested and sent back to Spain in chains. Columbus died in This is his Tomb in Seville, Spain Enslave - To make someone a slave

Columbus’s voyages led to further European exploration and colonization, forever changing the Americas.

SPANISH EXPLORERS: 1519–1598

The Conquistadors Spanish Explorers at this time are called Conquistadors which means conquerors. They were looking for glory, gold, and adventure. They would often practice brutality to get it. Believed it was their Christian duty to defeat all non-believers

"We Spaniards have a disease of the heart, for which the only cure is gold." Cortes

1521 Cortes Hernan Cortes was a Conquistador that landed in modern Veracruz, Mexico. He marched into the interior of Mexico and into the capital of the Aztec Empire, He marched into the interior of Mexico and into the capital of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan Took control of the city by kidnapping the Aztec King, Moctezume, then fought and destroyed the Aztec army with their superior weapons.

Cortes renamed the city Mexico and the land became New Spain. This established a Spanish Empire in the Americas Won tons of gold and silver for Spain and himself

1519 Alvarez de Pineda In 1519 Pineda was the first European to travel along the coast of Texas and map and explore the Gulf of Mexico