Conquests in the Americas

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Conquests in the Americas
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Objectives

• Explain how Cortés and Pizarro gained control of
  the Aztec and Inca empires.
• Understand the short-term and long-term effects
  of the Spanish conquests on Spain and on the
  peoples of the Americas.

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How did a small number of Spanish conquistadors
conquer huge Native American empires?
Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean
islands in 1492 and sparked a wave of exploration
and conquest that would forever change the
world. He was followed by Spanish armies that
quickly defeated the Aztec and Inca empires.
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Christopher Columbus arrived in the West Indies
and met the Taíno people in 1492.
The Taínos lived in small farming villages. They
were friendly to the Spanish.
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Conquistadors who arrived in the new world in
Columbuss wake followed this pattern.
A cycle began in which Spanish conquerors seized
native gold and massacred vast numbers of people.
Natives killed by force and disease (lacked
immunity to Eur. diseases).
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• The Spanish had guns, cannons, and metal armor.
• They also brought horses, which Native Americans
  had never seen.
• But the biggest factor was disease. Smallpox,
  influenza, and measles killed up to 90 percent of
  the native population.

Took only a few hundred conquistadors to conquer
millions of Native Americans.
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• Hernán Cortés landed on the coast of Mexico in
  1519 with 600 men.
• He planned to conquer the Aztecs and headed
  inland to Tenochtitlán.

• Aztec emperor Moctezuma heard about the Spanish
  before they arrived. He sent gifts in the hope
  they would turn back.

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Cortés was aided by a young Indian woman named
Malinche, whom the Spanish called Doña Marina.

• Served as translator and advisor to Cortés.
• Helped Cortés form alliances with native groups
  previously conquered by the Aztecs and hated
  Aztec rule.

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Cortés continued on to Tenochtitlán.

• Moctezuma welcomed the Spanish, but hostilities
  quickly grew.
• The Spanish tried to convert the Aztecs to
  Christianity.
• Cortés imprisoned Moctezuma to gain control of
  the city and its riches.

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A new force of conquistadors arrived and
challenged Cortés.
In the resulting struggle, the Aztecs drove the
Spanish out of the city.
This time, Tenochtitlánwas captured and
completely destroyed.
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Francisco Pizarro was inspired by Cortés to
conquer the Inca empire in Peru.

• Began his conquest in 1532, directly after an
  Inca civil war.
• Atahualpa, the Inca ruler, refused to convert to
  Christianity. The Spanish captured and eventually
  killed him.

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Pizarro and his men conquered the Inca empire for
Spain.

• Like Cortés, Pizarro benefited from superior
  weapons and diseases that killed millions of
  natives.
• Pizarro was killed by a rival Spanish group, but
  his actions forever changed the continent.

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Effects of the Spanish Conquest
On the Spanish Spain became Europes greatest power. They set up silver mines and seized huge quantities of valuable goods.
On Native Americans Many lost faith in their gods and converted to Christianity. Some continued to fight the Spanish. Some resisted by preserving parts of their own culture.