The Spanish Conquerors

Spanish Conquistador What clues to the life of a conquistador can be learned from what he is wearing? How would you feel if you were a Native American and a conquistador arrived one day in your village dressed like this? Examine this picture of a conquistador.

WHY? The conquistadors conquered land in the Americas for three reasons: RANK IN THE WORLD RICHES RELIGION

(Stand near the Spain sign.) King Ferdinand (Stand near the Spain sign.) I am King Ferdinand of Spain, a very important country! My country will be even more important if we can spread our power into this new territory called the New World. We will conquer the people who live there and bring glory to Spain. I will send my best explorers and strongest warriors to win these territories for Spain! What motive(s) do I have for conquering?

(Stand by the Spain sign.) (Move to the Americas sign.) Juan Ponce de Leon I am Juan Ponce de Leon. (Stand by the Spain sign.) (Bow deeply and flourish your hand out to the side as if you have a grand hat in it.) I sailed earlier with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage. I helped take over the island of Puerto Rico. From the Native Americans who lived there I heard about an island called Bimini, where legend says there is a special spring of water called the “Fountain of Youth”. It is said that this spring has water that will make old people young again. How I would love to find that! (Move to the Americas sign.)

What motive(s) do I have for conquering? It is now the year 1513. I set out to find this wonderful island, but instead I have landed in what you know now as the state of Florida. I claim all of this land and the territory around it for Spain! What motive(s) do I have for conquering?

(Stand near the Americas sign.) (Hold up a hand to signal stop.) Southeastern Indians (Stand near the Americas sign.) (Hold up a hand to signal stop.) Stop right there! I represent the native peoples who have lived in these places for a long time. The Indian peoples have sometimes greeted the European people warmly. We have provided you with food and taught you important new survival skills. In some cases, we thought you might be divine spirits. Some of us have joined with Europeans to fight against our old enemies.

We are not sure whether to call you a friend or an enemy. But, others of us view Europeans as new enemies, to be grudgingly tolerated or strongly resisted. We native people have been disillusioned by treachery or mistreatment at European hands. Some of you carried diseases that wiped out hundreds of the Indians. We are not sure whether to call you a friend or an enemy.

(Stand by the Spain sign.) Hernando Cortez I am Hernando Cortes. (Stand by the Spain sign.) (Bow deeply and flourish your hand out to the side as if you have a grand hat in it.) In 1519 my king (point to the Spanish king) sent me to defeat the Aztec empire. Before sailing I told my soldiers, “We are waging a just and good war which will bring us fame… If you do not abandon me, as I shall not abandon you, I shall make you the richest men who ever crossed the seas.” What motive(s) do I have for conquering?

(Move to the Americas sign.) With the help of other Indians who hated the Aztecs, we tore down the Aztec temples and destroyed the old capital city. After our victory, we Spaniards used Indian laborers to establish our farms, ranches, and towns.

Panfilo de Narvaez What motive(s) do I have for conquering? I am Panfilo de Narvaez and this is one of my surviving African sailors, Esteban. (Stand by the Spain sign.) (Bow deeply and flourish your hand out to the side as if you have a grand hat in it.) My king (point to Spanish King) sent me on an expedition to conquer all the lands along the Gulf of Mexico. The king wants to build our empire. What motive(s) do I have for conquering? (Move to the Americas sign accompanied by Esteban.)

My ships arrived on the west coast of Florida in April of 1528 My ships arrived on the west coast of Florida in April of 1528. My party split up: 300 soldiers and 40 horses went ashore. The rest of the crew and the ships carrying the supplies were supposed to sail north and meet the landing party at a certain harbor, but they never did! After about a year of searching for the rest of the crew, only 240 soldiers survived from those who had gone ashore. They built rafts and tried to sail along the Gulf coast until they reached Spanish lands in Mexico.

(Stand near the Americas sign.) Esteban (Stand near the Americas sign.) After 31 days at sea our rafts were wrecked in a terrible storm. Eighty of us survived the storm, reached shore, and tried to walk to Mexico City. Only four of us survived the ordeal. I met Native Americans along the way who spoke of seven cities of gold. Later, I helped to lead my own expedition to find out if those seven cities really existed. What motive(s) do I have for exploring?

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado I am Coronado. (Stand by the Spain sign.) (Bow deeply and flourish your hand out to the side as if you have a grand hat in it.) I heard the story of the Seven Cities of gold and I set out in 1540 with 300 Spaniards, several Africans, and more than 1,000 American Indians to find the seven cities. I wanted their gold! What motive(s) do I have for conquering?

(Move to the Americas sign.) While looking for the gold, I explored the area that would now be called the southwestern region of the United States. We never found the gold.

(Stand by the Spain sign.) Padre (Stand by the Spain sign.) (Bow deeply and flourish your hand out to the side as if you have a grand hat in it.) We are padres and missionaries. Our great Spanish king (point to Spanish king) has said he wants to “bring the people of that land to our Holy Catholic faith.” What motive(s) do we have for conquering? (Move to the Americas sign.)

(Start at the Spain sign. Missionary (Start at the Spain sign. Join the Padre at the Americas sign.) We missionaries have been sent to the Americas to turn the American Indians into Catholics as well as loyal Spanish subjects. We have built many missions, or small religious settlements. You can see a map of our missions on the next slide.

Spanish Missions, 1565 to 1776

Southwestern Indians We are the Indian peoples of the southwest region. At first, some of us welcomed living at the missions you built. The missionaries and soldiers protected us from our enemies. We learned new ways. But some of your missionaries treated our peoples cruelly and unfairly. You changed the way we lived and worked. You asked us to give up our traditional religions for your Catholic beliefs. We have plans to fight back and destroy your missions.

(Stand by the Spain sign.) Hernando de Soto I am Hernando de Soto. (Stand by the Spain sign.) (Bow deeply and flourish your hand out to the side as if you have a grand hat in it.) I took more than 600 men to explore the area that is now called the southeastern region of the United States. (Move to the Americas sign.) I, too, was looking for gold!

What motive(s) do i have for conquering? Along the way, I met many Native American groups. For some reason, these Indians did not welcome our presence and many brutal battles occurred. It has been estimated that as many as 11,000 Native Americans were killed. Many of my own men deserted my expedition and ran away to save themselves. Even though we never found gold, I led the first group of European men to see the Mississippi River and I claimed much land in the southeast for Spain. What motive(s) do i have for conquering?