The meeting of Montezuma and Cortes, and the exploitation of two continents by the Spanish

 Belief that Cortes was the god Quezalcoatl  100 runners bring him gold but ask him to leave?

 Strategy to paralyze the will of population by a sudden frightful deed  Made allies with non-Aztec Indians  Cholula example  Heads of tribe in square w/ thousands of unarmed servants  Spaniards around the outside opened fire killing all

 Main evidence is a Spanish account  Beginning of Spanish control for 300 years

 Pizarro subjugates the Inca  Sought wealth and professed friendship initially  Killed Emperor Atahualpa and assumed control in  Spain dominated area for over 300 years.  Enslaved natives to mine gold / silver

 Explorers failed to find gold in present-day America  Ponce de Leon  St. Augustine, FL 1513  Hernando de Soto  Encounters Mississippi River 1541  Francisco Vasquez de Coronado  As far as Kansas in 1541  Cibola  Encounters Grand Canyon