The Spanish Colonies. Social Studies. 5th Grade

New Spain By the 1500s, several Europeans nations, including Spain, had sent explorers to claim land in the Americas. Spain formed colonies to protect its land and to govern the people there. A colony is a land ruled by another country. The colony of New Spain was formed in 1535.

Slavery in the Americas At first, very few Europeans settled in the Americas. After more gold and silver were found, many more colonists came. They hope to get rich. Others came to start large farms, called plantation.

The Growth of Slavery Both Spain and Portugal needed many workers to grow crops and to mine gold and silver. They forced the Native Americans they had conquered into slavery. Slavery is the practice of holding people against their will and making them work without pay.

Settlements of New Spain, 1650

Settling the Borderlands Spain also wanted to protect its lands north of Mexico City. These lands on the edge of Spain’s claims were called borderlands. The borderlands included parts of what are today northern Mexico and southern United States, from Florida to California.

San Augustine and Santa Fe Spanish soldier led the way, building presidios, or forts, in the borderlands. In 1565 , Pedro Menendez de Aviles and 1,500 soldiers, sailors, and settlers sailed from Spain. The same year they reached the area that is now St. Augustine, Florida. There they built the first permanent European settlement in what is now United States. What was Spain main goal in settling the borderlands? It was to protect the empire.

Missions The missionaries built religious settlement called missions in many areas of the southern half of North America. In such places, missionaries and native American lived near each other.

Hacienda Life in the Borderland Some settlers in the borderlands held much land. Some built large homes or states called haciendas where they often raised cattle and sheep . The Spanish and the animals they brought changed life for many Native Americans. At first, some Native Americans close to stay at missions. There they learned new ways of living and working, however, Native Americans were forced to work on mission farms and ranches.

REVIEW 1-Why did Spain set up colonies in North America? 2-Write a sentence using the terms hacienda and mission to describe life on the borderlands. 3-What role did religious play in Spanish settlements? 4-What it would be important to Spain to build different kinds of settlements in the borderlands? 5-Research and write a short report about why Spain set up missions.

Main Idea The Spanish built different kinds of settlements for different reasons. Details