SPANISH COLONIALISM (The Basics) AP European History SPANISH COLONIALISM (The Basics)

SPANISH EXPLORATION Developed gradually, rulers became interested only in the 1490s Columbus convinced the Spanish crown to finance his voyage to E. Asia Columbus believed he could reach E. Asia by sailing west

SPANISH EXPLORATION Columbus used the calculations of Ptolemy in estimating the distance However, Ptolemy thought the earth’s circumference was about 16,000mi This was actually about 9,000mi short It is not so surprising then that Columbus really thought he had reached the East Indies when he arrived in the Americas

SPANISH EXPLORATION Columbus’s voyages inspired Spain to sponsor other New World ventures Many soldiers were available for hire in 1492, the last year of the Reconquista Much like the Crusades, the prospect of unlimited land and military adventure appealed to men of all social classes These men would become the Conquistadors

Notable Spanish Explorers Christopher Columbus, 1492; Americas Vasco Nunez de Balboa, 1513; first to look out from the east shore of Pacific Ocean Magellan, 1519-21, led an expedition to circumnavigate the globe

Notable Spanish Explorers De Soto, 1538-42, explores area of Southeast U.S. Vespucci, 1497; first to realize the Americas were not Asia Ponce de Leon, 1513; first European to explore Florida, looking for the Fountain of Youth

Notable Spanish Explorers Hernan Cortez, 1519; conquers the Aztecs Pizarro, 1530s; conquers the Inca Empire Coronado, 1540; explores the American Southwest; Seven Cities of Gold

Spanish Conquests After Cortez and Pizarro conquered the areas of Peru and Mexico the Spanish marched into other areas of S. America and North America They claimed land as they went, converting natives to Christianity, and searching for gold By the end of the 16th century, they built a massive colonial empire in the New World

Spanish Colonialism Disease may have helped the Spanish to defeat natives, but it also hindered the economic development of the colonies Mines and plantations were set up Encomienda system – forced labor These required large workforces This is how the slave trade came to the Americas

Spanish Colonialism African slaves were more expensive than finding natives to work However Africans were more resistant to diseases

Spanish Silver Silver mines were a mixed blessing Spanish galleons proved lucrative targets for pirates and European rivals Silver flowed out of Spain as fast as it came in due to wars and imports This influx of silver caused a period of inflation which badly hurt the Spanish economy

Spanish Colonial Society Politicians, military leaders, soldiers, and plantation and mine owners were European Workers were Amerindian or slaves Peninsulares and Creoles Few women came from Spain, so many Spaniards in the Americas took natives for wives/mistresses Mestizos and mulattoes = castas Traditional patriarchal societies continued Creoles=people of Spanish blood born in the Americas

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