1. Spanish Empire
With support from the Spanish monarchy (King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella),
Spain began to set up empires in the New World. The conquistadores set out
with three things in mind:
1. Glory (they wanted fame for themselves and their country)
2. God (they wanted to spread the Christian faith)
3. Gold (they wanted wealth for themselves and their country)
Cortes (1519)
- conquered the Aztec empire in Mexico
- conquistadores established themselves as the new rulers of Mesoamerica,
looted all the gold and silver they could find and built Mexico City on the
ruins of Tenochtitlan
Pizzaro ( )
- following rumors of large amounts of gold and silver, found the Incas
in the Andes Mountains and took over the empire after months of war

2. The Spaniards set up a system in the Americas that allowed them to become
very wealthy and powerful.
Encomiendas: titles to large estates or land grants with the right to extract
tribute from the renters for the land
Under the encomienda system Spain
- kept tight control over its colonies
- allowed these colonies to function independent of the throne, but still
established an elaborate hierarchal system
- controlled trade through one or two mines and focused on mining for
gold and sliver
The Spaniards spread this empire to North America, settling in St. Augustine
in 1565, making it the first European settlement in North America.
In order to mine for gold and silver, the Spaniards enslaved the native people.
- the treatment of native Americans was very harsh
- they demanded tribute from the tribes

3. - spread of diseases (smallpox, influenza, typhus) was the leading
cause of death
- some Spaniards worked with the Native Americans and intermarried
(mestizos)
- Spanish did bring new crops, domestic livestock and horses
Columbian Exchange: world-wide redistribution of plants, animals and diseases
that resulted from initial contacts between Europeans and Native Americans.
Social Consequences:
- political and spiritual leaders died and left traditions and cultures in
disarray
- subsistence cycles were destroyed
- family life was devastated
Native Americans were at a huge disadvantage and lost hundreds of thousands
of people due to this exchange. The Europeans had a huge advantage over the
Native Americans and went about the process of settlement.