1. The Conquerors

2. Vasco de Gama  1498-reaches port of Calicut  Amazed by spices, rare skills, and precious gems  Filled their ships returned to Portugal 1499  Received a hero’s welcome  Gave Portugal a direct sea route to India

3. Hernando Cortes  1519-lands on the shores of Mexico  Leads 600 men to Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capitol  Aztec Emperor Montezuma II  Convinced Cortes is a God agrees to share empire with Spaniards  Spring 1520 Aztecs rebel  Cortes conquers the Aztecs in 1521

4. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado  1540-leads exploration through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas  Found little gold  Spanish monarchy sends mostly priests to explore and colonize the future United States

5. Henry Hudson  Hudson was certainly an experienced seaman, commissioned by the Muscovy Company in 1607 to find a quick way from England to the "islands of spicery.“  He failed in that attempt, and again in 1608 -- each time foiled by ice floes as he attempted to find a fast northerly passage to "the east."

6. Magellan  With 230 men and five ships sailed into the Pacific  Went months without seeing land  Eventually reaches the Philippines  Becomes involved in a local war and Magellan was killed  18 crew members arrive back to Spain in 1552, becoming the first to circumnavigate the world

7. Pizzarro  Conquers the Inca Empire in 1532  Crush the Incan force and kidnap Atahualpa (their ruler)  Captures Cuzco (the Incan capitol) with no resistance