1. Chapter 2, Section 1 Spain Claims an Empire
Bell Ringer: 1. Look at the map on page 63. Which European country was the most active in exploring the Americas? 2. Which American empires existed at the time of European exploration?

2. Spain and Portugal Compete
Pope Alexander VI & the Line of Demarcation
What lands could Spain and Portugal claim?
Why was King John of Portugal unhappy? What was the solution?
What were the three goals during this “Age of Exploration?”
Spread Christianity
Missionaries
Expand their empires
Become rich

3. Study Guide Questions
1. Explain why Brazilians speak Portuguese today while other South Americans speak Spanish.
The Line of Demarcation gave Brazil to Portugal. Latin American countries on the other side of the Line went to Spanish-speaking Spain.
2. Which nation was given claim over Africa and India?
Portugal
3. Did the agreement with the Pope give Portugal the right to claim lands in Europe?
No. The agreement applied to non-Christian lands.
4. Did the knowledge gained from explorations affect Spanish and Portuguese attitudes about the Line of Demarcation?
Neither nation found the division of the world satisfactory.

4. Questions, continued
5. Why did European global exploration take place when it did, and not at some other period in history?
The Renaissance spirit of curiosity led to interest in travel and to scientific discoveries. New technology allowed for longer and riskier voyages.

5. Mercantilism
The main goal of mercantilism was to increase the money in a country’s treasury by creating a favorable balance of trade.
How did the colonies help nations enrich their treasuries?
Provided mines that produced gold and silver
Produced goods (like crops) that could be traded for gold and silver
Served as a market for the home country

6. Europeans Explore Foreign Lands
Amerigo Vespucci – Italian sailor
Knew “Asia” wasn’t Asia – how?
Sailed in 1499
Vasco Núñez de Balboa – Spanish sailor
Led an expedition in 1513 through Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean. He claimed the ocean and surrounding lands for Spain
Ferdinand Magellan – Portuguese sailor
Left Spain in 1519 with the goal of sailing around South America to reach Asia
What happened to Magellan?

8. Amerigo Vespucci

9. Vasco Núñez de Balboa

10. Magellan’s Route

11. Study Guide Questions
6. What were the main contributions of Vespucci, Balboa, and Magellan as explorers?
Vespucci – was 1st to realize that the Americas were not Asia
Balboa – reached the Pacific by crossing Panama
Magellan – led an expedition that traveled around the world

12. The Invasion of Mexico Role of conquistadors?
They explored the Americas and claimed the land for Spain
Hernando Cortés
Landed on the Central American coast with 508 men in 1519
What people does he encounter?
Why are those people afraid?
They believe Cortés had been sent by the god Quetzalcoatl
What do they do?

13. Spanish conquistadors vs. Aztecs
The Spanish continue to explore – with whom do they form an alliance?
What happens when they reach the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán?
Montezuma welcomed the Spaniards
Cortes takes Montezuma captive
Aztecs fight back (1520)
La Noche Triste
May Spanish go back to Tenochtitlán…who or what was the “invisible ally?”

14. Fall of the Aztecs What happens to the Aztec capital (Tenochtitlán)?
Spanish build Mexico City
Demolished Tenochtitlán, rename it Mexico City
Replaced Aztec temples with Catholic churches

15. Conquest of the Incan Empire
Incan Empire located in modern-day Peru
Had many natural resources, like gold and silver
Francisco Pizzaro
Spanish conquistador
Led expedition of 180 men
Like the Aztec, the Inca feared the Spanish might be gods.
Incan emperor, Atahualpa, ordered his troops not to fight.
Spanish took advantage and killed thousands of Incas, captured & killed Atahualpa
With his death, the Incan empire collapsed.
Spanish controlled the land and renamed it Peru

16. Reasons for Spanish Victories
How did the great Aztec and Incan empires fall?
Spread of diseases killed millions of Native Americans and weakened their resistance to conquest
Spanish were excellent soldiers and sailors. Had superior weapons, like guns, which helped them defeat the larger armies of the Native Americans
Spain made alliances with Native Americans who were enemies of the Aztecs and Incas
Spanish conquistadors acted brutally toward the Native Americans under their control

17. Other Spanish Explorers
After victories in Central and South America, Spanish focused on North America
Rumors of cities of gold motivated them
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and Estevancio
Their claim to fame?
Francisco Vázquez de Coronado
Traveled through present-day Arizona
Hernando de Soto
Explored the southeast and Florida
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Sailed up the California coast

18. KEY TERMS
Treaty of Tordesillas – the 1494 treaty in which Spain and Portugal agreed to divide the lands of the Western Hemisphere between them and moved the Line of Demarcation further west
Missionary – a person sent by the Church to preach, teach, and convert native peoples to Christianity
Mercantilism – an economic system in which nations increase their wealth and power by obtaining gold and silver and by establishing a favorable balance of trade
Amerigo Vespucci – Italian sailor; sailed in 1501 to find a sea route to Asia. A German mapmaker named America for him.
Conquistador – a Spaniard who traveled to the Americas as an explorer and a conqueror in the 16th century
Hernando Cortés – conquistador who conquered the Aztecs in Mexico
Montezuma – Aztec emperor
Francisco Pizarro – conquistador who conquered the Inca in Peru