Transcript Spanish and French Exploration

Why?

Exploration of the Americas began for
three main reasons:
 God
 Glory
 Gold

Spanish rulers wanted to expand their
empire by taking control of the
Americas. Riches would add to their
power. They also wanted to spread
Christianity to the Americas.
Explorers

Alonso Alvarez de Pineda
 First person to map the Texas coast.
 Pineda’s maps were used to further Spanish
explorations.

Panfilo de Narvaez
 Dreamed of finding gold and riches.
 Took 5 ships and 600 soldiers and horses.
 Landed in Florida, then split up, looking for gold.
The first group who went to look for gold nearly
died. When they went to find the ships with the
others on it, it was gone. The second group had
gone back to Spain. The ones who were left
were in horrible shape. The built boats, set sail,
but wrecked. Only about 80 of them survived.
Cabeza de Vaca was a survivor, captured by the
Karankawa.

Cabeza de Vaca
 Later on, he met up with 3 original survivors
who had been held captive by the
Coahuiltecan.
○ Estevanico.
○ They escaped, traveling to Mexico
○ In 1536, 8 years later, they made it to a group
of Spanish soldiers in Mexico.
○ Later returned to Spain.
Cibola

For years, tales of a great gold-filled city
spread across Spain.
 A Catholic Friar named Fray Marcos de Niza
chose Estevanico to lead himself and 300
Mexican Indians to Cibola.
○ Estevanico was killed, and Fray Marcos sent
word back to Mexico City that he had found
Cibola.

Spain sent another force of 300 soldiers
and 1,000 Indians to find Cibola.
 Led by Francisco Vasquez de Coronado.
 Found the village that Fray Marcos had
seen, but it was not made of gold. It was a
pueblo village made of adobe.
Coronado still sought riches. He heard
of another town made of gold called
“Quivira”.
 He planned another expidition.


They traveled east into Texas, moving
south and then north into p.d.
Oklahoma.
 First people to see buffalo.
 Found “Quivira”: they found only grass huts
and corn.
○ The stories were only told to get Coronado
and his men out of the area.
 Although he explored much of Texas, his
expedition was deemed a failure.
French Exploration

At the same time Spanish conquistadors
were looking for gold, France had
claimed the land that is now Canada for
themselves.
 1682: Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La
Salle claimed all land around the Mississippi
for France.
○ Named it Louisiana
○ Wanted to establish a settlement at the mouth
of the river.

The La Salle expedition did not go very
well—they got lost and landed at
Matagorda Bay in Texas.
 Quickly moved inland and built Fort St. Louis.
 La Salle left to explore.
○ He returned five months later to find trouble.
Many had died. They decided to flee to Canada.
On the way, La Salle was murdered. 6 members
made it.
 Despite all it’s failures, the expedition gave
France a claim to Texas and challenged Spain’s
empire.
Consequences of Spanish
Exploration

Columbian Exchange:
 The exchange of goods between the
Americas and Europe (foods, plants and
animals) along with diseases between
Europeans and Indians.

Horses
 Spanish brought horses to Texas, which
gave rise to the Plains Culture of Indians.