Unit One: Pre-Columbian America The Entrada of the Conquistadors

First Discovers? The first people to discover the Americas were the ancestors of the Native Americans. The first Europeans to discover the Americas were the Vikings led by Leif Erickson the son of Eric the Red who landed in Vineland (Newfoundland) around 1000 A.D.. In 1421it is proposed that the Chinese led by Zheng He landed off the coast of California. It is also thought that Africans, Egyptians, Irish, and Romans had contact with the Americas, including connected trade routes.

Christopher Columbus In 1492 Christopher Columbus an Italian got the monarchs of Spain (King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella) to finance a voyage of three small ships (the Nina, Piñata, and the Santa Maria) to reach Asia by sailing West. The first island Columbus landed on in the Caribbean Sea was Guanahani which he renamed San Salvador.

Queen IsabellaKing Ferdinand Christopher Columbus Recreation of the Santa Maria Taino Indians

Columbus’s First Voyage Columbus sailed to the south discovering Cuba and explored its coastline. Columbus then sailed to a larger island named Ayiti (Haiti) which he renamed Hispaniola. The islands of the Caribbean Sea were occupied by the Taino and Arawak tribes, Columbus called these people Indians because he thought he had landed on islands off the coast of Asia.

Columbus’s First Voyage On the island of Hispaniola, Columbus set up Fort La Navidad to be a way- station and first attempt at settling the new lands. Columbus then sailed back to Spain carrying with him Natives, plants, and animals to show the monarchs. For his discovery, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand gave Columbus the title “Admiral of the Ocean Sea”.

Other Voyages of Columbus In 1493 Columbus made his second voyage to colonize the new territories for Spain. He explored the islands of the Antilles including Puerto Rico and Jamaica. I498 Columbus made his third voyage exploring the northern coast of South America. In 1502 Columbus made his fourth (final) voyage mapping the coast of Central America.

Occupation of Columbus The city of La Isabella (Santo Domingo) was established by Bartholomew Columbus in 1498 as the first use of the encomienda system (forced slavery of natives to farm, ranch, or mine on plantations) in the New World (the Americas). To be able to enslave the Natives the Spanish first had to read the Requerimento (Notification) stating that the Natives were now the subjects of Spain.

The Age of Exploration Columbus’s “discovery” of the New World sparked a time in world history known as the Age of Exploration.

Columbian Exchange After the “discovery” of the New World a clash of two worlds began known as the Columbian exchange. The Columbian exchange was the exchange of foods, plants, animals, cultures, people, and diseases between the Old World and the New World. This led to massive numbers of Native Americans dying from European diseases.

The Race for the “New World” The Spanish were mesmerized (fascinated) by the voyages of Columbus, by the accounts written, slaves,and animals brought back, but most importantly the gold they “found”. Columbus’s voyage began a race to conquer the New World for : 1. God, 2. Glory, and 3. Gold. Columbus’s voyage sparked a time in Spainish history known as Siglo de Oro (Golden Age of Spain)

William H. Powell, Discovery of the Mississippi. Commissioned 1847 God Glory Gold

America’s Name In 1501 Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian sailing for Portugal, traveled to South America and wrote of his accounts claiming that the New World was a continent and not a part of Asia. The German map maker Martin Waldseemuller made a map from Amerigo Vespucci’s accounts of the New World and named it America after him.

Conquistadors The Spaniards who came to the New World to conquer it were called conquistadors and started an event known as the Entrada (invasion). The conquistadors mostly came from a region in Spain known as the Extremadura. Most conquistadors were second or third born sons of noble families who had fought in the reconquista of Spain and only hope for land was to go to the New World.

Finding the Pacific Ocean In 1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa led an expedition across the Isthmus of Panama becoming the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean from the New World. In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer sailing for the Spanish, with five ships sailed around the southern tip of South America becoming the first persons to circumnavigate (sail around) the world.

Juan Ponce de Leon The Governor of Puerto Rico Juan Ponce de Leon led an expedition to the north of Hispaniola to find the “islands of Benimy” in 1513 where he found the Peninsula of la Florida (flowers) landing in what is St. Augustine today. Ponce de Leon was looking for the mythical waters of the Fountain of Youth, which would bring back youth to those who drank it. Ponce de Leon also found the Gulf Stream (powerful underwater current) which became the main route for ships back to Europe from the East Indies or Spanish Maine.

Hernan Cortes In 1519 the Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico to conquer the Aztec empire for its gold. Cortes then decided to wipe out the Aztec and was able to because of four factors: 1.Superior weapons – muskets, cannons and gunpowder. 2.Native American allies who hated the Aztec. 3.Malinche (Dona Maria) a native women used as a translator. 4.Germ warfare – European diseases that the Natives had no immunity (resistance) to like smallpox.

Francisco Pizarro In 1530 inspired by Cortes the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro decided to take over the Incan empire. Pizarro invited Atahualpa the leader of the Incans to a meeting where Pizarro ambushed the Incans and kidnapped Atahualpa. Atahualpa tried to buy his freedom by filling a prison cell full of gold, only to have Pizarro put him to death and replace him with a puppet emperor. After the defeat of the Aztec and Incans the Spanish were able to dominate most of the New World creating a massive empire.

Narvaez’s Expedition In 1527 Panfilo Narvaez was made governor of Florida, which he sailed to with an expedition of men to subjugate the natives and establish a colony. The expedition was attacked by the Apalachee Indians, where Narvaez was killed. Only four survivors including Alavar Nunez Cabeza d Vaca who wrote a detailed account called La Relación (The Report), and an African slave Estaban made it back to Mexico traveling overland across the Southeast of America.

Hernando de Soto In 1539 Hernando de Soto made his entrada in la Florida (Florida). De Soto was the first European to explore most of the Southeastern region of North America and discovered the Mississippi River. De Soto was supposedly looking for the legendary El Dorado (the city of gold) which he had heard about from a black slave named Estaban who had survived the Narvaez’s expedition.

Hernando de Soto As de Soto traveled through what is Alabama today he came into conflict with the Mabila Indians and chief Tuskeloosa ending with the Battle of Mabila. De Soto died on the expedition but his men made it back to Mexico.

Francisco Vasquez Coronado In 1539 Francisco Vasquez Coronado, a Spanish explorer, led an expedition into the Southwest North America. Unlike other Conquistadors Coronado treated the Native Americans fairly and led directly to the introduction of the horse culture of the Southwest and Plains Indians.

Bartholome de las Casas One of the first people to speak out against the Spanish Conquistadors treatment of the Natives and the Encomienda system was a Dominican monk named Bartolome de las Casas in his book A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies.

St. Augustine The first attempt to settle the area of Florida was made by the French explorer Jean Ribault with the founding of Fort Caroline in present day Jacksonville. All the French settlers were killed by the Spanish Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés To protect Spanish interests Aviles established the city of St. Augustine in 1565 making it the first permanent European settlement in the continental U.S.