Company LOGO Colonial America Part 3 The Spanish Reach the New World

With Italians in firm control of Mediterranean trade, Europeans began to search for other trade routes.

Portugal, located on the southwest edge of Europe, turned to the sea, and its use of a ship known as a CARAVEL, to try and find a route around Africa.

Portuguese explorers made it to the bottom of Africa in the 1480s, and all the way to India by the 1490s.

An Italian explorer named Christopher Columbus proposed sailing west, into the Atlantic Ocean, in order to reach Asia.

Although much of the educated world accepted the idea that the earth was round, there were some who feared venturing far from land in case they fell off, or were attacked by sea monsters.

Columbus had approached Portugal with his idea, but they thought it was impractical, and chose to focus on their African route. Both Genoa and Venice were also not interested in his plan. He approached the Spanish monarchy, but was originally rejected. However, he was called back by the Spanish royalty, and he eventually achieved financing for his adventure.

Columbus in the presence of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella

1890s replicas of the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria

The 120 Voyagers left Spain on August 3, As the winds continuously blew them west, sailors worried about getting home. After weeks of traveling, Columbus faced the danger of MUTINY from his crew. On October 12, 1492, the exploration party landed on an island somewhere in what we now call the Bahamas.

Columbus was fortunate, in that the trade winds blew him westward, but on the return journey, he caught the winds that tend to blow eastward.

The First Voyage of Columbus 1492

While exploring, the Santa Maria was wrecked on Christmas Day, On the return trip, the captain of the Pinta sailed off on his own to try and beat Columbus back to Spain. However, Columbus arrived back in Spain first, on the Nina, March 15, The Pinta arrived a few hours later, with its ill captain dying a few days later.

News of Columbus’ successful journey spread rapidly throughout Europe. Mistakenly believing he was in Asia, he referred to the natives as “Indians”. He made a total of four voyages to this “New World”, as some called it. Note: HE NEVER TOUCHED WHAT IS NOW THE MAINLAND U. S.!!!

The Second Voyage of Columbus 1493

The Third Voyage of Columbus 1498

The Fourth Voyage of Columbus 1502

Columbus died in 1506, still believing that he had made it to Asia. In history, he is famous for making the journey, and then having so many other Europeans come after he did. Some Native Americans do not look on him fondly, because of all the changes that took place in the “New World” after his journeys. Despite your opinion of him, he made a huge impact on history.

The Columbian Exchange

Both Spain and Portugal were Catholic countries. Not wanting them to fight, the pope created an imaginary line, giving Portugal the riches of Africa, and Spain the riches of the “New World” Columbus had bumped into. Nobody knew how big the region really was.

The Pope divided new land between Spain and Portugal without knowing how far Brazil juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. That is why Portuguese is the dominant language there.

Around the year 1500, a Portuguese explorer by the name of Cabral was supposed to go around Africa. However, possibly by accident, or perhaps being blown off course, he landed on Brazil’s east coast. Eventually other Catholic Christian countries like France didn’t pay too much attention to this line, and Protestant Christian countries like England and Holland ignored it as well. However, it took awhile for those countries to catch up to Spain and Portugal in claiming the riches of this “New World”.

Conquistadors CONQUISTADORS were Spanish warriors who overpowered much of the New World. They took much of the region’s gold and silver, and set up colonies. So did the Portuguese. Many native people were enslaved, but then began to die off, especially from diseases like SMALLPOX. Eventually, imported African slaves were used as labor on places such as sugar plantations.

Hernan Cortez led the Conquest of Mexico. Cortez sank his ships so his men had to follow him. He forged alliances with natives who hated the Aztecs. Cortez used the legend of Quetzalcoatl to his favor.

According to legend, Quetzalcoatl, a bearded, white god, promised that one day he would return from the East. When the Spanish arrived, the Aztecs mistook Hernando Cortez, their leader for the god, They allowed he and his men into Tenochtitlan. This helped lead to their downfall.

The Emperor Montezuma greeting Cortez A jeweled mask of Quetzalcoatl, also known as the “Feathered Serpent”.

The emperor Montezuma was captured and held hostage for several months. Eventually, Montezuma was killed, and Cortez and some of the Spanish escaped with some of the wealth of the empire. Unfortunately, they left behind the disease smallpox, which weakened the Aztecs. The Spanish later returned with reinforcements, including Indian allies, and the Aztec civilization collapsed.

The Fall of Tenochtitlan

In the 1500’s, about 15 years after the fall of the Aztecs, the Inca emperor died from smallpox. This was the same deadly disease that had decimated the Aztecs. His oldest son also died from the disease, leading to a civil war between some of his other sons. Toward the end of this civil war, the Spanish arrived in this kingdom high in the Andes Mountains of South America. An initial small group of less than 200 soldiers began the conquest of the Inca.

A group of conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro entered the mountain kingdom of the Incas, and through trickery, kidnapped the emperor, held him for ransom, and eventually killed him. In later years, the Spanish were able to conquer the Incan Empire.

Vasco Nunez de Balboa Claiming the Pacific Ocean for Spain.

Ferdinand Magellan A Portuguese explorer working for Spain, he led an expedition of 237 men on five ships. When the expedition made it back to Spain three years later, there were only 18 men left, on one ship. It was the first expedition to make it all the way around the globe.

Francisco Vazquez de Coronado – Led an expedition through what is now the Southwest U. S., looking for the mythical “Seven Cities of Gold”.

Hernando de Soto – The first European to see and explore the Mississippi River

After the Europeans realized they were not in Asia or the Indies, they focused on gathering the riches of this “New World”.