The Spanish and French Build Empires

CONQUISTADORS HERNAN CORTES FRANCISCO PIZARRO HERNANDO DE SOTO

THE ENCOMIENDA SYSTEM ► P. 54 ► Cortes’ reward system  Gave his men control over parts of the defeated Aztec empire  Encomedero, commissioners, the villagers had to pay him a share of the products that they harvested or produced, and he was supposed to protect them and convert them to Christianity.  Many Native Americans were worked to death.

The Class System PENINSULARES CRILLOS MESTIZOS

The French Empire in America ► Giovanni da Verrazano ► Northwest Passage: the northern route through North America to the Pacific Ocean. ► Mapped the coastline from Newfoundland to North Carolina, but did not find the Northwest Passage.

► Jacques Cartier ► Discovered and mapped the St. Lawrence River. ► Returned intending to colonize, but the harsh winter convinced him to return to France. ► For 60 years, the French government made no attempt to return.

► French fisherman off the coast of North America travel inland and trade their goods for fur (beaver fur). ► Fur becomes very fashionable in France. ► King Henry IV of France authorized a group of French merchants to create colonies in North America. ► Samuel de Champlain was hired to help them colonize. ► Quebec became the capital of the new Colony of New France.

Life in New France ► The company that founded New France wanted to make money from the fur trade so they did not need many settlers. ► “runners of the woods” ► Lived with the Native Americans, learned their languages, and customs. ► The colony grew very slow, which became worrisome for the king who was watching England and Spain set up a prosperous empires.

► The government took over the colony and Louis XIV launched projects to expand the colony’s population.  P. 56 “New France Expands” ► Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette found the Mississippi River “big river” and followed it to the Arkansas River. ► La Salle followed the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico and claimed the region for France.  He named the territory Louisiana.  P. 57 “Settling Louisiana”

► Rivalry with Spain  Spain had founded St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 to protect their claim to the region.  St. Augustine became the first permanent town established by Europeans in what is today the United States.  The Spanish set up another mission in Texas and Spain and France’s territories bordered one another.  The French built forts to ensure control of the Mississippi River. ► Their biggest threat however would come from another sector: THE ENGLISH