Transcript Spain’s Empire in the Americas

SPAIN’S EMPIRE IN THE
AMERICAS
Ch. 2.1
1492-1752
OBJECTIVES
Explain Spanish explorers’ achievements.
 Describe Spanish society in New Spain and Peru.
 Evaluate the causes and effects of Spanish
imperial policies in the American Southwest.

KEY PARTS
Religious Divisions Cause Conflict
 Spain Organizes Its American Empire
 Spanish Explorers Push North
 The Pueblos Revolt Against the Spanish

BACKGROUND
The Spanish did very well in their early
expeditions in the Caribbean, South America and
Central America.
 The conquistadors were very driven by their
leader Hernan Cortes. (who was a wealthy
lawyer)
 They pillaged and captured village after village
taking a large amount of gold as they went

BACKGROUND CONT..
Until finally they reached the Aztec’s, where
Cortes meets Moctezuma.
 Moctezuma brings Cortes into his immense city
with a population of 200,000. (dwarfed any
Spanish city)
 Seeing all the gold and wealth, Cortes attacks
Tenochtitlan and after four months of bloody
battle and disease Cortes comes out victorious; at
a high cost.

CONT..
Fuelled by his sense of accomplishment and his
enslaving of Indians, Cortes has the city rebuilt.
Using the same stones that were just torn down;
this time built into a massive Christian
Cathedral, and palace for Cortes to live in.
 With his city built, he sends out his
conquistadors to continue to conquer and
establish Spanish forts and missions into present
day North America.

READ CH.2.1
For the next 15 min read section one.
 As you read be thinking about how missions,
presidios, explorers, and Native Americans
helped strengthen the Spanish American Empire.
 Complete a concept web within your group to
summarize how each of the above stated items
strengthened the Spanish American Empire. (two
bullet points for each)

WHY ARE THE AMERICAS IMPORTANT?
In the mind of Spain, the Americas had immense
gold, silver and land for building up a new
Empire for Spain.
 However, we learn part of this is true and what
Spain doesn’t understand is the price at which
this land will come.

RELIGIOUS DIVISIONS
Spain financed an aggressive military policy in
regards to the Americas.
 This alarmed the French Dutch and English, who
also wanted their part of the wealth of the
Americas.
 During this same time the Protestant
Reformation of 1517 was beginning to occur.
 Martin Luther began challenging the Pope and
protesting against the Catholic Church; saying
that it was corrupt and materialistic.

DIVISION CONT..
This protest brought forth Protestants, which
began dividing them selves up into different
denominations.
 Lutherans, Calvinists, Baptists, Anglicans and
Quakers.
 This movement spread throughout Europe.
 French separated into hostile protestants and
Catholic camps, Spanish remained Catholic
though.

SPAIN ORGANIZES ITS AMERICAN EMPIRE
The conquistadors were very successful at
conquering territory and establishing colonies;
however they were not very good at running said
colonies.
 Because of this the Spanish King relied on Friars
to help run the colonies. They were also
missionaries working to convert Indians into
Catholics. (most would act Catholic while priests
were around then conduct their traditional
rituals on their own time)

VICEROYALTY
During the 1530’s-1540’s the Spanish Crown
divided the American Empire into two large
regions. These were known as Viceroyalties.
 A person appointed by the King called a Viceroy
had the duty of ruling over his Viceroyalty.
 The two Viceroyalties were: New Spain (Mexico,
Central America, Caribbean Islands)
New Peru(All South America except Brazil)

SOCIETY IN SPAIN’S AMERICAN COLONIES
During the sixteenth century, about 250,000
Spanish people immigrated across the Atlantic to
join the American empire.
 Most of these were men in search of wealth and
gold.
 Men began taking Indian wives and having
mixed children called mestizos.

CONT..
Colonial officials created a castas system to
maintain their authority.
 This is a complex racial hierarchy system.
 At the bottom lay the pure African and Indians
and the Spaniards were at the pinnacle.

SPANISH EXPLORERS PUSH NORTH
Hernan Cortes’s success in conquering Mexico
inspired other conquistadors to push north and
explore the land to find their own golden empires.
 Two of which were Hernando de Soto and
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado.

DE SOTO
Explores Florida in 1539
 Pushes further into Georgia, South Carolina,
North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi
and Arkansas.
 De Soto died in 1542 and his men gave up and
fled to Mexico.

CORANDO
In 1540 he searches the Rio Grande valley, and
defeats most of the Pueblo Indians.
 To rid them of Corando the Pueblo Indians
appeal to his greed and send him of telling him of
gold and riches just past the great plains at a
kingdom named Quivira.
 Of course Corando found nothing and returned to
the Pueblos and took his revenge before
returning to Mexico in 1542.

SPAIN COLONIZES FLORIDA
Due to the failure of De Soto and Corando not
finding gold the crown lost interest in the
northern frontier.
 Spain hears word that the French had developed
a fortified town on the Atlantic coast of Florida.
 In 1565 Pedro Menedez de Aviles attacked and
destroyed the French base.
 After destroying the base Menedez comes upon a
fortified city named St. Augustine, which would
become the first long standing colonized town in
what later would become the United States.

SPAIN COLONIZES NEW MEXICO
During the 1590’s, Juan de Onate set out an
expedition to establish a colony in the lands of
the Rio Grande.
 It was difficult to develop the colony due to the
fact it was so remote and poor. (roughly 2000
colonists)
 The only group to do well were the friars, they
built over 50 missions and worked to convert the
Indians to Catholicism.

PUEBLOS REVOLT
The Pueblos initial population was roughly
40,000 in 1628. By 1680 their population had
dwindled to around 17,000 from disease, violence,
and famine.
 The Pueblos team with the Apache Indians (long
time enemy) under the leadership of Pope’to
revolt against the Spanish.
 The Revolt was successful and drove the Spanish
Colonist back to El Paso.
