Spanish Exploration

1
Spanish Exploration

• Chapter 2, Section 3 Pages 51 - 56

2
Did You Know?

• The legend of the fountain of youth was a
  tradition
• of the Native Americans of Puerto Rico.
• They believed that on the island of Bimini, there
  was
• a wonderful fountain that produced drinking water
• that could make people young again.
• Juan Ponce de Leon set out to find this fountain,
• hoping it would make him forever young and rich.

3
Spanish Conquistadors

• The Conquistadors were explorers who settle in
  the
• Americas.
• They received land grants from the Spanish rulers
• in exchange for one-fifth of gold or treasure
  taken
• from the Americas.

4
Spanish Conquerors

• In 1521 Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec capital
• of Tenochtitlan. He took their emperor Montezuma
• prisoner and gained control of the region.
• Franciso Pizarro capture the Inca ruler Atahualpa
  in
• 1532 and later gained control of the Inca Empire.
• The Spanish conquistadors conquered great Native
• American empires with their strong armies using
• guns, cannons, and horses.

5
Hernan Cortes
6
Aztec Empire
Inca Empire
7
Spanish Conquerors

• The Spanish invaders also received the helped of
• the Native Americans in overthrowing many
  existing
• rulers.
• Because the Native Americans in overthrowing had
• no immunity to European diseases, many of them
• became sick and died.

8
Spain Explorers in North America

• Spanish conquistadors also explored the
  southeastern
• and southwestern parts of North America in hopes
  of
• finding riches
• Juan Ponce de Leon landed on the east coast of
• present-day Florida in 1513, looking for gold and
  the
• fountain of youth.
• In 1565 the first Spanish permanent settlement in
  the
• United States was established at St. Augustine,
  Florida.

9
Spain Explorers in North America

• Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Cava and Panfelo de Narvaez
• explored Florida and the coast of Mexico.
• In 1541 Hernando de Soto explored the
  southeastern region
• of North America. He crossed the Mississippi
  River and
• traveled as far west as present-day Oklahoma.
• Francisco Vasquez de Coronado traveled through
  northern
• Mexico and present-day Arizona and New Mexico.
  In 1540
• he reached a town belonging to the Zuni people,
  but found
• no gold.

10
Spanish Settlements

• The Spanish established three kinds of
  settlements in the
• Americas
• Pueblos or towns --- centers of trade.
• Missions --- religious communities.
• Presidios --- forts, usually built near a mission.

11
Spanish Social Classes

• The hierarchy of the Spanish social classes from
  upper to
• lower included
• Peninsulares --- those who owned land, ran the
  local government, and served in the Catholic
  Church.
• Creoles --- people born in the Americas to
  Spanish parents.
• Mestizos --- people with both Spanish and Native
  American parents.
• Native Americans.
• Enslaved Africans.

12
Spanish Encomiendas

• The Spanish developed a system of encomiendas
  that
• created enslaved Native Americans.
• A conquistador could demand taxes and labor from
  the
• Native Americans living on the land.
• Many Native Americans died from malnutrition and
• disease because of this grueling labor.

13
Bartolome de Las Casas

• Bartolome de Las Casas, a priest, condemned the
  harsh
• treatment of Native Americans and fought against
  it.
• As a result, Spain passed the New Laws in 1542
  that
• forbade enslaving Native Americans.

14
Plantation System

• The Spanish also developed the plantation system
• or large estate.
• The Spanish used Native Americans to work on the
• plantations, but in the mid-1500s, Africans were
• transported from West Africa to replace enslaved
• Native Americans.
• As a result, slave labor became an essential part
  
• of the Spanish and Portuguese economies.

15
Discussion Questions

• What personality traits do you think the
  conquistadors might have had?
• What similarities do you see between these early
  conquistadors and the immigrants of today who
  are settling in the United States?
• Why do you think the social class system
  developed in the Americas?