1. Unit 2: Early Modern Europe
Exploration and Empires
EQ 2:
Which nations were involved, who were the explorers, where did they explore, and how did they deal with the native peoples?

2. Spain Builds a New Empire
The Caribbean
Encomienda System develops
Planters given large amount of land & number of Indian slaves
Attempts to Christianize Indians
Disastrous results
Overwork
Infanticide
Disease (smallpox)
Mexico
Hernan Cortes (conquistador)
Conquers the Aztec Empire in 1519
Allies with other enemy tribes
Advanced weaponry & armor
Disease
Fortune and timing

3. Spain’s New World Empire
Peru
Francisco Pizarro conquered Inca Empire of the Andes
Atahualpa held for ransom, Incas come up with 2 rooms full of silver & one of gold
Pizarro kills him in spite of ransom being met
Life in Spanish Empire
Government
Run by Viceroy system – King’s representative in New World
Economy
Mining (gold/silver)
Agriculture – enslaved Indians for labor

4. Portuguese in New World
Cabral’s voyage in 1520, gave Portugal claim to Brazil
Followed Spanish patterns of settlement
Large coastal plantations
Enslavement of natives
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) divided world in 2 halves btwn Portugal & Spain

5. Other Nations Get Involved
France
Established empire in Canada (New France)
Economy based on fur
Failed to attract many colonists
Treated Indians much more humanely than other nations
Eventually extended empire into America along the Great Lakes & Miss. River
Holland
Only 1 major colony in America  New Netherland (NY)
Purchased from Wampanoags in 1626
More interested in trade colonies in Indian Ocean (spices) & Caribbean (sugar)

6. Other Nations (cont…) England 1607 – Jamestown (VA)
Settled for gold/silver
Lost 80% in 1st year but saved by dev. of tobacco
1620 – Plymouth (MA)
Settled for religious reasons by Pilgrims (Calvinists)
English colonization characterized by:
Colonists’ eagerness to settle (land was theirs)
poor relations with Indians; resulting in years of conflict

7. French and Indian War,
Cause = dispute btwn French & British over upper Ohio Valley
Results =French lost and forced to leave North America (Treaty of Paris, 1763)
English controlled everything from Atlantic to Miss. River after 1763