European Colonization of North America

Spanish and New Spain Conquistadors- conquerors who marched into the Americas in the 1500s They searched for gold and glory within the New World The King and Queen of Spain gave them the rights to set up new colonies and the conquistadors agreed to give Spain one-fifth of all the gold they found

Hernando Cortes Spanish conquistador looking for gold and glory himself heard of a fabulously wealthy American Indian Empire in Mexico He sailed with 600 soldiers and 16 horses in 1519 in search of this empire and their gold

Moctezuma Ruler of the Aztec Empire and lord of Tenochtitlan Aztec prophecy said that “white skinned god would come from the east to rule the Aztec” Moctezuma heard that a ship was coming closer to them than ever before so he invited the traveler in as his guests After a short time of peace Cortez captured Moctezuma and kept him as prisoner within the capital Half of a year went by and the Aztec were able to kick the Spanish out of the capital

Continued This was a short-lived victory because Cortes returned to the capital with a mixed army of Native Americans and Spanish soldiers This army was made with the people that the Aztec had conquered When they returned they destroyed Tenochtitlan and killed Moctezuma

The Fall of the Incan Empire Francisco Pizarro set his sights on the Incan Empire and a sailed all the way to the Pacific side of South America with only 200 soldiers In 1532 he captured the Incan emperor Atahualpa and executed him Without Atahualpa the Incan resistance collapsed By 1535 Pizarro controlled much of what was the Incan Empire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t5BxjEPox0

Spanish Explore lands to the North Their search for treasure lead them beyond the lands of the Aztec and Inca and into the southern United States from California to Florida Juan Ponce De Leon- fountain of youth

Difficult expeditions Panfilo Narvaez- led an expedition that was caught in a storm in the Gulf of Mexico The survivors landed on an island off of Texas and were held prisoner by the native people who lived there In 1533 Alvar de Vaca escaped with a small group of surviors They walked across the plains of Texas searching for a Spanish settlement They walked by foot for over 1,000 miles through the southwest

Hernando de Soto Explored Florida and other parts of the southeast In his search for gold he came across the Mississippi River But he died along the riverbank and never found any gold

Francisco Coronado He had heard stories about “seven cities of gold” In 1540 he led an expedition into the southwestern borderlands, he traveled through Arizona and New Mexico Some of his men actually made it to the Grand Canyon but they never found the cities of gold After the many expeditions with limited success and strong Native America resistance the Spanish decided to focus instead on bringing order to its empire in the south

Colonizing New Spain The Spanish set up many colonies throughout the New World They had many different reasons for setting up so many but the main driving force was WEALTH Settlements provided bases from which expeditions could set out in search of gold from Farming and trading also lead to wealth because they could bring back to Europe the new goods that they had grown and traded with the Native Americans

Colonizing… The second reason was the spread of CHRISTIANITY This was important at the time because they believed that Christianity was the only religion that was actually a true religion This goes along with how the Europeans believed that their culture was the most dominate and of higher importance than the Native American cultures

Colonizing… The third reason was to satisfy a thirst for adventure and exploration “Gold, God, Glory” Thousands of Spanish immigrants moved to Spanish settlements looking for opportunities the colonies offered, especially farming

Spanish Settlements At first Spain let the conquistadors govern the lands the conquered When they proved to be poor rulers the Spanish King took away their authority He set up a strong system of government to rule his growing empire In 1535 he dived his American lands into New Spain and Peru He then put a viceroy in charge of each region

Settlements… He created set of laws called the “Laws of the Indies” that stated how the colonies should be organized and ruled The laws provided for three kids of settlements in New Spain: pueblos, presidios, and missions Some large communities contained all 3 types Pueblos- towns; were centers of farming and trade Presidios- forts where soldiers lived, these included everything an army needed to stay supplied and well organized Missions- settlements run by Catholic priests and friars whose goal was to convert Native Americans to Christianity They often forced Natives to live and work on the missions

Social Classes Peninsulares- at the top of the social scale, born in Spain and normally held the highest jobs in government and church, they also held the largest pieces of land along with gold and silver mines Creoles- born in the Americas to parents of Spanish origin, wealthy and well educated, owned farms and ranches, taught at universities, practiced law Mestizos- Mixed Spanish and Native American background, worked on farms and ranches, worked as carpenters, shoemakers, tailors, and bakers

Bartolome de Las Casas Fought for Native American rights In the 1540s the royal government passed laws prohibiting the enslavement of American Indians Also allowed them to own cattle and grow crops Thought of an alternative option: Transatlantic Slave Trade Reasons the Las Casas’s gave….