 After Columbus, conquistadors were lured to the new world by the prospect of striking it rich  Cortez set off to conquer the Aztecs upon hearing about their vast riches  Upon first glance, the Spanish were amazed by Tenochtitlan

 The Aztec first agreed to give a portion of their gold to Cortez  The Aztec rebelled in the spring of 1520  Disease left the Aztec little hope  Cortez quickly made plans for the colony of New Spain

 The Spanish lived among the natives and forced their culture upon them  Often peninsulares often married native women and created a large mestizo  Spanish forced the natives to work in the encomienda  1542, the encomienda was abolished

 Juan Ponce de Leon  Pedro Menendez Aviles  Francisco Vasquez de Coronado

 After Coronado, most Spaniards went to New Mexico to spread Christianity  Sought to transform the Native Americans’ culture  Priests and soldiers began forcing Native Americans to pay tributes  Pueblo religious leader, Pope, was whipped and beaten for his “witchcraft”  Drove the Spanish out of New Mexico  Spain would never again have complete control of the Americas

 English colonies were originally joint- stock companies  1606, King James I granted a charter to the Virginia Company  1607, the VA Company’s three ships led by John Smith landed in Virginia  Named the settlement Jamestown

 “There was no talk, no hope, no work, but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold.”  1607, only 38 of the original 150 settlers remained alive  1609, 600 new colonists arrived  Winter of 1609 = The “Starving Time”

 John Rolfe introduced tobacco to the region  Virginia Company introduced a headright system  Many indentured servants were brought over to work plantations  Africans began to arrive in the colonies

 English settlers had no desire to live among or intermarry with the Native Americans  Leaders demanded tributes from the Powhatan  Chief Opechancanough attacked Jamestown in retaliation  King James I made Virginia a royal colony

 During 1660s and 1670s, Virginia’s poor settlers very unhappy  Berkeley imposed high taxes  1675, bloody clash between frontier settlers and local native tribes  1676, Nathaniel Bacon raised an army  Marched on the colony and drove Berkeley out