2-1: Spain’s Empire in the Americas The Spanish Conquest of Central and North America

Conquistadores (conquerors) Spanish explorers who sailed to America in the years after Columbus’s voyages in search of gold and silver Spanish explorers who sailed to America in the years after Columbus’s voyages in search of gold and silver

What motivated Spain’s conquest? Greed- the desire for gold and silver The desire to spread the Catholic religion The desire to expand Spanish power and wealth

How were the Spanish able to succeed? The Spanish had superior weapons and military supplies The Spanish brought diseases (smallpox) to the new world that killed thousands of native people The Spanish had native allies that helped them to conquer other rival native people

Hernado Cortes Conquistador who landed in Mexico in 1519 By 1521, Cortes’s army conquered the Aztecs and took their gold

The Spanish continue to seize power Between 1522-1528 followers of Cortes landed in the Mexican regions of the Yucatan and Guatemala where they conquered the Mayan people In 1531, Francisco Pizarro and his army conquered the wealthy Inca Empire on the western slope of South America

Juan Ponce de Leon Conquistador who explored present-day Florida

Spain establishes colonies in the New World The Spanish wanted to exploit the new colonies for its wealth, resources and goods The Spanish wanted to keep other European powers from gaining control of the area The Pope had decreed that the native people should be converted to Catholicism.

How did Spain control these colonies? Spanish settlers lived with the native peoples and imposed Spanish culture on them They established congregaciones (large communities started by Spanish priests to convert the native peoples to the Catholic religion) They forced native workers to work under the encomienda system. They made Native Americans farm, ranch, or mine the land. They used military force

Why did the Pueblos rebel against the Spanish? The Spanish had imposed their religion and culture on the Pueblos The Spanish made forced laborers of them The Spanish made the Pueblos pay tribute to them The Spanish physically abused them

The result of the Pueblo Rebellion (1680) Spanish churches were destroyed Spanish priests were executed Spanish settlers were driven out of New Mexico for 14 years