1. Conquest in the Americas and Spanish and Portuguese Colonies in the Americas
Age of Exploration Unit 3 Section 6
Essential Standards: Analyze the causes for exploration and the effects of increased global interaction and trade between the nations in Europe, Asia, Americas, and Africa . Analyze colonization in terms of the desire for access to resources and markets as well as the consequences on cultures, population, & environment.
I can: understand how the desire for wealth, resources, markets, and the Crusades, fueled by advances in technology, leads to global exploration, exchange of goods & ideas are contributing factors to mercantilism , capitalism and colonization.

2. First Encounters
1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the West Indies, in the Caribbean.
Spanish conquistadors, or conquerors, followed Columbus. They settled on Caribbean islands, seized gold from the Taínos, & forced them to convert to Christianity.
Meanwhile, smallpox, measles & influenza carried by the Europeans wiped out village after native village. Native Americans no immunity.
He encountered the Taíno people, friendly & generous.

4. The Conquistadors

5. CORTÉS IN MEXICO
Hernan Cortés landed on the Mexican coast in Cortés arranged alliances w/ discontented peoples who hated their Aztec overlords.
Aztec emperor, Moctezuma, thought Cortés might be a god. He offered tribute (gold & silver) to Cortés & welcomed him to Tenochtitlán, capital of the Aztec empire. When relations grew strained, the Aztecs drove the Spanish out.
In 1521, Cortés returned, captured & demolished Tenochtitlán, Mexico City is built on its ruins.

7. PIZARRO IN PERU
Helped by Indian allies, Pizarro captured the new king, Atahualpa after he had killed thousands of his followers.
Demanded a ransom for the king, that was paid, but he killed Atahulapa anyway. The Spanish then overran the Incan heartland.
Francisco Pizarro arrived in Peru in 1532, after a bloody civil war.

8. Land Claims in the Americas
Trade ships carried goods b/w Europe & the Americas & Africa. (Triangular Trade)
By 1675, Spain, France, Britain, & Portugal possessed sizable overseas empires.

9. Why Were the Spanish Victorious?
Superior military technology.
horses
Took advantage of division
Disease
Many Indians believed that the disasters they suffered marked the end of the world.
Tech: such as muskets, cannons, and armor.
Horses: which frightened some Indians, who had never seen such animals.
& discontent among the Indians. In fact, Indians provided the Spanish w/ much of their fighting power.
Disease: brought by the Europeans weakened the Aztecs & Incas.

10. Spanish and Portuguese Colonies in the Americas
Essential Standards: Analyze the causes for exploration and the effects of increased global interaction and trade between the nations in Europe, Asia, Americas, and Africa . Analyze colonization in terms of the desire for access to resources and markets as well as the consequences on cultures, population, & environment.
I can: understand how the desire for wealth, resources, markets, and the Crusades, fueled by advances in technology, leads to global exploration, exchange of goods & ideas are contributing factors to mercantilism , capitalism and colonization.

11. Ruling the Spanish Empire
California to South America.
GOVERNMENT
Maintain strict control over its empire.
Divided into 5 provinces, each of which was ruled by a viceroy, ruled in the name of the king. The Council of the Indies helped pass laws for the colonies.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
The Church worked w/ the gov’t to convert Native Americans to Christianity.
THE ECONOMY
Church leaders often served as royal officials. Spanish missionaries forcibly imposed European culture over Native American culture.
Couldn’t trade w/other European nations.
Export raw materials only to Spain & buy only Spanish manufactured goods.
Sugar cane, grown on plantations
At first, forced the Native Americans to work, through the encomienda system.

12. Bartolome de las Casas : wrote letters to the horrible conditions under the encomienda system. Laws passed to end this abuse, but the Spanish colonies didn’t follow them. Forced Native Americans to become peons, forced to labor to pay off a debt.

13. Colonial Society New social structure.
Peninsulares, people born in Spain, were at the top of society. Hold jobs in the gov’t & Catholic church.
Creoles, American-born descendants of Spanish settlers, were next. Owned plantations, ranches, & mines.
Mestizos were people of Native American and European descent.
Mulattoes were people of African and European descent.
Native Americans and people of African descent formed the lowest social classes.

15. The Portuguese Colony in Brazil
Challenging Spanish Power
Cities were centers of gov’t, commerce, & European culture.
To meet need for educated priests, the colonies built universities.
Colonial Culture
smugglers traded illegally w/ Spanish colonists.
Some of these pirates, called privateers, even operated w/ the approval of European gov’ts.
The Portuguese Colony in Brazil
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) Portugal claimed Brazil.
Economy: Sold brazilwood, used to make precious dye.
Brazilin culture blended European, Native American, & African.
Dutch, English& French pirates preyed on Spanish treasure ships.
The Dutch, English, & French hunted for other gold empires & for a northwest passage to Asia.