The Conquest of Mexico Click the mouse button to display the information. In 1519 the Spanish government asked Hernán Cortés to lead an expedition to the Yucatán Peninsula to find Native Americans to work on the farms and in the mines of Cuba.  Cortés also wanted to investigate reports of a wealthy civilization there.

Equipped with swords, crossbows, guns, and cannons, the Spanish had a technological advantage over the people they encountered in the Yucatán Peninsula and quickly killed more than 200 warriors. The Conquest of Mexico (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

After learning that the Aztec were at war with many groups in the region, Cortés recruited the help of the Tlaxcalan people against the Aztec.  Montezuma, the Aztec leader, failed to stop the Spanish advance, and Cortés marched into Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire. Click the mouse button to display the information. The Conquest of Mexico (cont.)

In 1520 the Aztec organized a rebellion against the Spanish and drove them out of the capital.  However, in 1521 Cortés launched another attack and this time defeated the Aztec, who were greatly weakened by a smallpox epidemic. Click the mouse button to display the information. The Conquest of Mexico (cont.)

Why were the Spanish successful in defeating the Aztec? The Spanish had the technological advantage, having more sophisticated weaponry and the use of horses, which the Aztec had never seen before. In addition, a smallpox epidemic had devastated the Aztec population and weakened the Aztec defenses against the Spanish. Click the mouse button to display the answer. The Conquest of Mexico (cont.)

New Spain Expands Click the mouse button to display the information. On the ruins of Tenochtitlán, the Spanish built a new city named Mexico.  It became the capital of the Spanish colony of New Spain.  Cortés sent other expeditions into Central America.  The people who led the expeditions became known as conquistadors, or “conquerors.”  One conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, explored Peru and conquered the Inca Empire.

Other Spanish conquistadors explored other parts of America, searching for rumored wealthy cities.  Pánfilo de Narváez search for a fabled city of gold in what is today northern Florida. New Spain Expands (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

In 1540 Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led an expedition throughout the southwestern area of what is today the United States.  Hernando de Soto led an expedition and explored the area north of Florida.  They were the first Europeans to see the Mississippi River. New Spain Expands (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

The Spanish gave the name New Mexico to the territory north of New Spain.  They built presidios, or forts, throughout the region as trading posts and protection for the settlers.  Spanish priests also built missions throughout the region to spread the Christian faith among the Native American people there.  A road called El Camino Real linked the missions together. New Spain Expands (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

Why did many Spanish conquistadors set out on expeditions to America? Many of the conquistadors were searching for fabled wealthy cities, which they did not find. However, their search resulted in the exploration of various regions of America. New Spain Expands (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the answer.

Spanish American Society For most conquistadors, the main motive for coming to America was to acquire wealth and prestige. Click the mouse button to display the information.

Although the Spanish did not find vast deposits of gold in the Americas, they did discover huge deposits of silver.  Mining camps emerged all across northern Mexico.  To feed the miners, the Spaniards created large ranches for their herds of cattle and sheep. Spanish American Society (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

These ranches were called haciendas.  The men who worked the ranches were called vaqueros.  Cowhands in the United States later adopted many of the ways of the vaqueros. Click the mouse button to display the information. Spanish American Society (cont.)

Spanish colonial society operated on the system of encomienda, where encomenderos were granted control over Native American towns. Spanish American Society (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

The people in the Spanish colonies in the Americas formed a highly-structured society.  A person’s position in society was determined by birth, income, and education.  The highest level of society consisted of the peninsulares–those born in Spain.  Below this level were the criollos–those born in the colonies to Spanish parents.  Next were the mestizos–those born of Spanish and Native American parentage. Click the mouse button to display the information. Spanish American Society (cont.)

The lowest level of society included Native Americans, Africans, and people of mixed Spanish and African or African and Native American ancestry.  The Spanish king divided the empire in America into regions called viceroyalties.  A viceroy ruled each region as a representative of the king. Click the mouse button to display the information. Spanish American Society (cont.)

How were social classes determined in the Spanish colonies in the Americas? They were determined by an individual’s birth, income, and education. Click the mouse button to display the answer. Spanish American Society (cont.)

The French Empire in America Click the mouse button to display the information. In 1524 the French king sent Giovanni da Verrazano to map the North American coastline.  The king was interested in finding the Northwest Passage–the northern water route through North America to the Pacific Ocean.  Although Verrazano found no such passage, he did map a large area of North America’s east coast.  Jacques Cartier, another explorer, discovered and mapped the St. Lawrence River.

In 1602 the French king authorized a group of merchants to establish colonies.  The merchants, who hoped to build a fur trade with Native Americans, hired geographer Samuel de Champlain to help them colonize North America.  Champlain established Quebec, which became the capital of the new colony of New France. The French Empire in America (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

New France was founded for the fur trade.  Settlers were not needed to clear land or start farms.  Consequently, the population grew slowly.  Most of the fur traders did not live in the colony but among the Native Americans with whom they traded. The French Empire in America (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

In 1663 New France became a royal colony.  The French government then introduced a series of projects designed to increase the colony’s population.  The French also began exploring North America.  Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette explored the Mississippi River. The French Empire in America (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

René-Robert Cavalier de La Salle then followed the river to the Gulf of Mexico and claimed the region, which he named Louisiana, for France. The French Empire in America (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

What was the main purpose for establishing the colony of New France? The main purpose for establishing the colony of New France was to establish a fur trade. Click the mouse button to display the answer. The French Empire in America (cont.)

Settling Louisiana Click the mouse button to display the information. Settlements were established in Louisiana over the next few decades.  The French soon realized that crops that were suitable for the region required hard manual labor, which few settlers were willing to do.  As a result, the French in Louisiana imported enslaved Africans and forced them to work the plantations.

The Spanish had established the town of St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565 to protect their claim to the region after the French tried to settle the north.  The town became the first permanent settlement established by Europeans in present-day United States. Settling Louisiana (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

After the French arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Spanish established a mission in eastern Texas to attempt to block French expansion into the region. Settling Louisiana (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

Why did the French begin importing enslaved Africans to Louisiana in the early 1700s? The crops that were suitable for the region required difficult manual labor, which European settlers were unwilling to do. As a result, they imported enslaved Africans to compel them to work the plantations. Click the mouse button to display the answer. Settling Louisiana (cont.)