Race for Empires: Spain, France & England

Cortes sent to present-day Mexico in 1519 Aztec ruled by Moctezuma II Aztec had several million people - wealthy Malintzin - American Indian woman helped Cortes Moctezuma sent Cortes gifts to keep him away from the capital city Cortes took Moctezuma prisoner - Moctezuma dies from battle wounds With help from other American Indian groups, Spanish conquer Aztec Hundreds of thousands of Aztec die from disease Cortes and the Aztec

Pizarro and the Inca  Pizarro arrives in Peru in 1531  Inca Empire - Chile to Colombia  Atahualpa - ruler - not worried about Spanish  People weakened by disease  Pizarro kills Atahualpa & conquers Inca in 1534

Spanish in Florida  Ponce de Leon reaches Florida on 1513  His attempted settlement of 1521 fails  Narvaez goes to Florida in 1528  Starving - build rafts and sail across Gulf of Mexico  Survivors, including Cabeza de Vaca reach Texas  Cabeza de Vaca lived with Indian groups 8 years until meeting Spanish soldiers in 1536

Quest for Gold  De Soto starts in Florida  First European to cross Mississippi  Treats American Indians badly  Vasquez de Coronado goes to New Mexicao in 1540  Goes to Kansas - returns to Mexico in 1542 without gold  Cabrillo sails along California coast

The Spanish Empire  Council of Indies created in 1524 to govern Americas from Spain  Appointed two viceroys or governors  Viceroyalty of Peru - S. America  Viceroyalty of New Spain - C. America, Mexico, southern part of what is now U.S.  Gold & silver from Americas made Spain wealthy

Spanish Colonial Society  Social classes: peninsulares - whites born in Spain, criollos - whites born in Mexico, mestizos - had both Spanish and Indian parents  Women had fewer rights than men. Could own property and pass it to their children.

Economy of New Spain  Enconmienda system - Spanish settlers could tax American Indians or make them work.  Plantations - large farms that grow one crop  Large number of dying American Indians led Spaniards to use African slaves.

Influence of the Catholic Church in New Spain  Priests started mission to convert American Indians to Catholicism  Played major role in ruling New Spain  De Las Casas, who became a priest, condemned the encomienda system’s treatment of American Indians

Early French Settlement  First Efforts:  Spain destroyed French Huguenot colonies in Florida in the 1560  Religious conflicts in Europe slowed French settlement  Quebec founded in 1608

Early French Settlement  Great Lakes Settlements  Valuable to France because of the fur trade, which brought wealth  Traders gave tools, jewelry, and cloth to American Indians in exchange for furs, which were then shipped to Europe  Traders often traveled deep into the wilderness

Question:  What industry in France was affected by the fur trade? What evidence of this effect remains today?

The Expansion of the French Empire  The Mississippi River  French heard stories about a large river  Louis Jolliet and others traveled down part of the Mississippi in 1673  In 1682 Rene-Robert de La Salle followed the river to the Gulf of Mexico

The Expansion of the French Empire  New France  France called its North American empire New France  Had few settlers  French allied with Algonquian and Huron Indians

Question:  How does the French relationship with American Indians compare to the Spanish relationship with American Indians?

English Settlement  A Failed Effort:  Humphrey Gilbert received a charter (document granting royal permission to start a colony) to start a colony in 1578  The effort failed and Gilbert drowned in 1583

English Settlement  A Mystery…  Gilbert’s half-brother, Walter Raleigh, tried to start another colony  The colony was established on Roanoke Island, Virginia, in 1585  Abandoned in 1586, resettled in 1587  Discovered deserted in 1590  Historians do not know what happened to the colony

Question  Why was it so difficult to keep a colony going?