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TERMS & NAMES
Spanish Conquests
in the Americas
MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
The voyages of Columbus prompted the
Spanish to carve out the first European
colonies in the Americas.
Throughout the Americas, Spanish
culture, language, and descendants
are the legacy of this period.
• Christopher
Columbus
• colony
• Hernando Cortés
• conquistadors
• Montezuma II
• Francisco
Pizarro
• mestizo
• encomienda
SETTING THE STAGE As you read in the previous chapter, competition for wealth in
the East among European nations was fierce. This competition prompted sea captain
Christopher Columbus to make a daring voyage for Spain in 1492. Instead of sailing
east, Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic in search of an alternate trade route to
Asia and its riches. Columbus never reached Asia. Instead he stepped onto an island in
the Caribbean. That event set in motion a process that would bring together the peoples
of Europe, Africa, and the Americas. And the world would change forever.
Columbus’s Voyage Paves the Way
No one paid much attention as the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María slid out
of a Spanish port around dawn on August 3, 1492. In a matter of
months, however, Columbus’s fleet would make history. It would reach
the shores of what was to Europeans an astonishing new world.
First Encounters In the early hours of October 12, 1492, the
THINK THROUGH HISTORY
A. Clarifying
Why did Columbus
refer to Native
Americans as Indians?
A. Possible Answer
Because he thought
he had reached the
East Indies.
long-awaited cry came. A lookout aboard the Pinta caught sight of
a shoreline in the distance. “Tierra! Tierra!” he shouted. “Land!
Land!” By dawn, Columbus and his crew were ashore. Thinking he
had successfully reached the East Indies, Columbus called the
surprised inhabitants who greeted him, los indios. The term
translated into “Indian,” a word mistakenly applied to all the native
peoples of the Americas. In his memoirs, Columbus recounted his first
meeting with the native peoples:
A V O I C E F R O M T H E PA S T
I presented them with some red caps, and strings of glass beads to wear upon the neck,
and many other trifles of small value, wherewith they were much delighted, and
became wonderfully attached to us. Afterwards they came swimming to the boats
where we were, bringing parrots, balls of cotton thread, javelins, and many other things
which they exchanged for the articles we gave them . . . in fact they accepted anything
and gave what they had with the utmost good will.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, Journal of Columbus
Columbus, however, had miscalculated where he was. He had not reached the East
Indies. Scholars believe he landed instead on an island in the Bahamas in the
Caribbean Sea. The natives there were not Indians, but a group who called themselves the Taino. Nonetheless, Columbus claimed the island for Spain. He named it
San Salvador, or “Holy Savior.”
Columbus, like other explorers, was interested in gold. Finding none on San
Salvador, he explored other islands throughout the Caribbean, staking his claim to
each one. “It was my wish to bypass no island without taking possession,” he wrote.
In early 1493, Columbus returned to Spain. The reports he relayed about his journey
delighted the Spanish monarchs. Spain’s rulers, who had funded his first voyage, agreed
This portrait
of Christopher
Columbus was
painted by the
Spanish artist
Pedro Berruguete,
who lived at the
same time. It is
believed to be the
most accurate
depiction of the
Italian sea captain.
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European Exploration
of the Americas, 1492–1682
GREENLAND
Hudso
n 16
Hudson
Bay
0˚
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40˚W
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80˚W
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ICELAND
9
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Cabot 1497
ENGLAND
Cartier 1534-35
NORTH
AMERICA
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PACIFIC
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Tropic of Cancer
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to finance three more trips. Columbus embarked on his second voyage to the
Americas in September of 1493. He journeyed no longer as an explorer, but as an
empire builder. He commanded a fleet of some 17 ships and several hundred armed
soldiers. He also brought 1,000 settlers. The Spanish intended to transform the
islands of the Caribbean into colonies, or lands that are controlled by another nation.
Columbus and his followers began a process of colonization that would reach nearly every corner of the Americas. Over the next two centuries, other European explorers began sailing across the Atlantic in search of unclaimed lands.
Other Explorers Take to the Seas In 1500, Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares
Cabral reached the shores of modern-day Brazil and claimed the land for his country.
A year later, Amerigo Vespucci (vehs POO chee), an Italian in the service of Portugal,
also traveled along the eastern coast of South America. Upon his return to Europe, he
claimed that the newly discovered land was not part of Asia, but a “new” world. In 1507,
a German mapmaker named the new continent America in honor of Vespucci.
Eventually, America become the name for both continents in the Western Hemisphere.
In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the boldest exploration yet.
Several years earlier, Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa had marched through
modern-day Panama and had become the first European to gaze upon the Pacific
Ocean. Soon after, Magellan convinced the king of Spain to fund his voyage into the
newly discovered ocean.
With about 230 men and five ships, Magellan sailed around the southern end of
South America and into the mysterious waters of the Pacific. The fleet sailed for
months without seeing land. Food supplies soon ran out. “We were eating biscuits
484 Chapter 20
•
52
1
1. Movement How many different voyages did Columbus make to the
Americas?
2. Region Which general region did the Spanish and Portuguese explore?
Where did the English, Dutch, and French explore?
ew
Cr
Vespucci
1499
G E O G R A P H Y S K I L L B U I L D E R : Interpreting Maps
•
ll a
SOUTH
AMERICA
m
2150
b us
ge
Pizarro
1530-33
us
5
3-9
149
Ma
Dutch
mb
C olu
Balboa
1510-13
120˚ W
English
MADEIRA
Verrazzano 1524
HISPANIOLA
s 15
r té 1
Co
Veracruz
CANARY
ISLANDS
Ponce de León
1512-13
St. Augustine
Gulf
of Mexico
FRANCE
PORTUGAL
Santa Fe
Cabrillo
1542-43
EUROPE
0
Cabr
al 15
00
Mag
e ll a
n 15
19
0
Marqu
1,000 Miles
0
2
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THINK THROUGH HISTORY
B. Making
Inferences What
was the significance
of Magellan’s voyage?
B. Possible Answer
It proved once and
for all that the world
was round.
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that were no longer biscuits but crumbs full of weevils [beetles],” one crew member
wrote. “We also often ate sawdust.”
After exploring the island of Guam, Magellan and his crew eventually reached the
Philippines. Unfortunately, Magellan became involved in a local war there and was
killed. His crew, greatly reduced by disease and starvation, continued sailing west
toward home. Out of Magellan’s original crew, only 18 men and one ship arrived back
in Spain in 1522—nearly three years after they had left. They were the first persons
to circumnavigate, or sail around, the world.
Spain Builds an American Empire
In 1519, as Magellan embarked on his historic voyage, a Spaniard named Hernando
Cortés landed on the shores of Mexico. After colonizing several Caribbean islands, the
Spanish had turned their attention
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
to the American mainland. Cortés
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ HISTORY
■ ■ ■ ■ MAKERS
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
marched inward, looking to claim
new lands for Spain. Cortés and the
many other Spanish explorers who
followed him were known as
conquistadors (conquerors). Lured
by rumors of vast lands filled with
gold and silver, conquistadors carved
out colonies in regions that would
become Mexico, South America,
and the United States. The Spanish
were the first European settlers in
the Americas. As a result of their
colonization, the Spanish greatly
Hernando Cortés
Montezuma II
1485–1547
1480?–1520
enriched their empire and left a
To
look
at
Hernando
Cortés,
it
may
While
Cortés
was a feared leader,
mark on the cultures of North and
have been difficult to guess he was
Montezuma was a much beloved
South America that exists today.
a daring conquistador. According to
ruler who showed particular talent
Cortés Conquers the Aztecs
one description, Cortés stood only
about five feet, four inches tall and
had a “deep chest, no belly to
speak of, and was bow-legged. He
was fairly thin.”
But what Spain’s first
conquistador may have lacked in
physical strength, he more than
made up for in determination,
courage, and ruthlessness. Upon
arriving in Mexico, for example,
Cortés reportedly burned his ships
to keep his men from turning back.
The Aztecs also experienced
Cortés’s toughness when they
refused to surrender after months
of fierce fighting. In response,
Cortés ordered that the Aztec
capital, Tenochtitlan, be destroyed.
as an orator. “When he spoke,”
commented one historian, “he drew
the sympathy of others by his subtle
phrases and seduced them by his
profound reasoning.”
His words, however, would
ultimately fail him. During a
speech in which he tried to
convince his subjects to make
peace with the Spanish, the crowd
denounced him as a traitor. “What
is that which is being said by that
scoundrel of a Montezuma . . .”
shouted Montezuma’s own cousin,
Cuauhtémoc. “. . . We must give
him the punishment which we give
to a wicked man.”And with that,
the crowd stoned to death the
Aztec ruler.
Soon after landing in Mexico,
Cortés learned of the vast and
wealthy Aztec Empire in the
region’s interior. (See Chapter 16.)
After marching for weeks through
difficult mountain passes, Cortés
and his force of roughly 600 men
finally reached the magnificent
Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan
(teh nawch tee TLAHN). The
Aztec emperor, Montezuma II,
was convinced at first that Cortés
was an armor-clad god. He agreed
to give the Spanish explorer a
share of the empire’s existing gold
supply. The conquistador was not
satisfied. Cortés, who admitted that he and his comrades had a “disease of the
heart that only gold can cure,” forced the Aztecs to mine more gold and silver. In
the spring of 1520, the Aztecs rebelled against the Spanish intruders and drove
out Cortés’s forces.
The Spaniards, however, struck back. Despite being greatly outnumbered, Cortés
and his men conquered the Aztecs in 1521. Several factors played a key role in the
•
•
•
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Native Population of
Central Mexico
25
1519: 25.3 million
20
Population (in millions)
1523: 16.8 million
15
10
1548: 6.3 million
5
1605: 1.0 million
0
1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600 1620
Source: The Population of Latin America
Page 4 of 7
stunning victory. First, the Spanish had the advantage of superior weaponry. Aztec arrows were no match for the Spaniards’
muskets and cannons.
Second, Cortés was able to enlist the help of various native
groups. With the aid of a native woman translator named
Malinche, Cortés learned that some natives resented the Aztecs.
They hated their harsh practices, including human sacrifice.
Through Malinche, Cortés convinced these natives to fight on
his side.
Finally, and most important, the natives could do little to stop
the invisible warrior that marched alongside the Spaniards—
disease. Measles, mumps, smallpox, and typhus were just some of
the diseases Europeans had brought with them to the Americas.
Native Americans had never been exposed to these diseases.
Thus, they had developed no natural immunity to them. As a
result, they died by the hundreds of thousands. By the time
Cortés launched his counterattack, the Aztec population had
been greatly reduced by smallpox and measles. In time, European
disease would truly devastate the natives of central Mexico.
Pizarro Subdues the Inca In 1532, another conquistador,
Francisco Pizarro, marched an even smaller force into South
America. He conquered the mighty Inca Empire. (See Chapter
16.) Pizarro and his army of about 200 met the Inca ruler,
By what percentage did the native
Atahualpa (Ah tuh WAHL puh), near the city of Cajamarca.
population decrease between 1519
Atahualpa,
who commanded a force of about 30,000, brought
and 1605?
several thousand mostly unarmed men for the meeting. The
How did the sharp decline in the
native population—due greatly to
Spaniards crushed the Inca force and kidnapped Atahualpa.
disease—affect the Spaniards’
Atahualpa offered to fill a room once with gold and twice
attempts to conquer the region?
with silver in exchange for his release. However, after receiving
the ransom, the Spanish strangled the Inca king. Demoralized
by their leader’s death, the remaining Inca force retreated from Cajamarca. Pizarro
then marched on the Inca capital, Cuzco. He captured it without a struggle.
As Cortés and Pizarro conquered the once mighty civilizations of the Americas, fellow
conquistadors defeated other native peoples. Spanish explorers also conquered the Maya
in Yucatan and Guatemala. By the middle of the 16th century, Spain had created a widereaching American empire. It included New Spain (Mexico and parts of Guatemala), as
well as other lands in Central and South America and the Caribbean.
SKILLBUILDER:
Interpreting Graphs
1.
2.
•
•
THINK THROUGH HISTORY
C. Analyzing Issues
What factors enabled
the Spanish to defeat
the Aztecs?
C. Possible Answer
Superior weaponry,
help from other
natives, and the
spread of European
diseases.
•
Spain’s Pattern of Conquest In building their new American empire, the Spaniards
drew from techniques used during the reconquista of Spain. When conquering the
Muslims, the Spanish lived among them and imposed upon them their Spanish culture.
The Spanish settlers to the Americas, known as peninsulares, were mostly men. As a result,
marriage between Spanish settlers and native women was common. These marriages created a large mestizo—or mixed Spanish and Native American—population. Their descendants live today in Mexico, other Latin American countries, and the United States.
Although the Spanish conquerors lived among and intermarried with the native
people, they also oppressed them. In their effort to exploit the land for its precious
resources, the Spanish forced Native Americans to labor within a system known as
encomienda. Under this system, natives farmed, ranched, or mined for Spanish landlords.
These landlords had received the rights to the natives’ labor from Spanish authorities. The
holders of encomiendas promised the Spanish rulers that they would act fairly and respect
the workers. However, many abused the natives and worked many laborers to death, especially inside dangerous mines. The Spanish employed the same system in the Caribbean.
486 Chapter 20
Background
The Aztecs practice of
human sacrifice was
based on the belief
that if they did not
feed human blood to
the sun, it would fail
to rise.
Background
Beginning around
1100, the reconquista
was a centuries-long
effort to drive the
Muslims out of Spain.
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Background
In 1494, the Treaty of
Tordesillas between
Spain and Portugal
gave the Portuguese
the rights to Brazil.
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The Portuguese in Brazil One area of South America that remained outside of
Spanish control was Brazil. In 1500, Cabral claimed the land for Portugal. During the
1530s, colonists began settling Brazil’s coastal region. Finding little gold or silver, the
settlers began growing sugar. Clearing out huge swaths of forest land, the Portuguese
built giant sugar plantations. The demand for sugar in Europe was great, and the
colony soon enriched Portugal. In time, the colonists pushed further west into Brazil.
They settled even more land for the production of sugar.
Along the way, the Portuguese—like the Spanish—conquered Native Americans
and inflicted thousands of them with disease. Also like the Spanish, the Portuguese
enslaved a great number of the land’s original inhabitants.
Spain Expands Its Influence
Spain’s American colonies helped make it the richest, most powerful nation in the
world during much of the 16th century. Ships filled with treasures from the Americas
continually sailed into Spanish harbors. This newfound wealth helped usher in a golden age of art and culture in Spain. (See Chapter 21.)
Throughout the 16th century, Spain also increased its military might. To protect its
treasure-filled ships, Spain built a powerful navy. The Spanish also strengthened their
other military forces, creating a skillful and
determined army. For a century and a half,
Spain’s army never lost a battle. Meanwhile,
Spain enlarged its American empire by settling
in parts of what is now the United States.
Conquistadors Push North Dreams of new
D. Possible Answer
New Mexico offered
little in the way of
wealth, so the
Spanish were more
concerned there with
spreading the Catholic
religion.
THINK THROUGH HISTORY
D. Contrasting How
did Spain’s colony in
New Mexico differ
from its colonies in
New Spain?
conquests prompted Spain to back a series of
expeditions into the southwestern United
States. The Spanish actually had settled in parts
of the United States before they even dreamed
of building an empire on the American mainland. In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de
León wandered through modern-day Florida
and claimed it for Spain.
By 1540, after building an empire that
stretched from Mexico to Peru, the Spanish
once again looked to the land that is now the United States. That year, Francisco
Vásquez de Coronado led an expedition throughout much of present-day Arizona,
New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. He was searching for another wealthy
empire to conquer. Coronado found little gold amidst the dry deserts of the
Southwest. As a result, the Spanish monarchy assigned mostly priests to explore and
colonize the future United States.
Catholic priests had accompanied conquistadors from the very beginning of
American colonization. The conquistadors had come in search of wealth. The priests
who accompanied them had come in search of converts. In the winter of 1609–1610,
Pedro de Peralta, governor of Spain’s northern holdings—called New Mexico—led
settlers to a tributary on the upper Rio Grande. Together they built a capital called
Santa Fe, or “Holy Faith.” In the next two decades, a string of Christian missions
arose among the Pueblo, the native inhabitants of the region. Scattered missions,
forts, and small ranches dotted the lands of New Mexico. These became the headquarters for advancing the Catholic religion.
In this 19th-century
illustration,
Coronado leads his
army back to
Mexico after failing
to find wealth in the
southwest United
States. During his
return, Coronado
fell from his horse
and had to travel
part of the way on
a stretcher.
Opposition to Spanish Rule Spanish priests worked to spread Christianity in the
Americas. They also pushed for better treatment of Native Americans. Priests spoke
out against the cruel treatment of natives. In particular, they criticized the harsh
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pattern of labor that emerged under the encomienda system. “There is nothing more
detestable or cruel,” Dominican monk Bartolomé de Las Casas wrote, “than the
tyranny which the Spaniards use toward the Indians for the getting of pearl [riches].”
Largely in response to the writings of Las Casas and others, the Spanish government abolished the encomienda system in 1542. To meet the colonies’ desperate need
for labor, Las Casas suggested the use of Africans. “The labor of one . . . [African] . . .
[is] more valuable than that of four Indians,” Las Casas declared. The priest later
changed his view and denounced African slavery. However, many others promoted it.
The Spanish, as well as the other nations that colonized the Americas, would soon
enslave Africans to meet their growing labor needs.
This European
drawing of the
1600s depicts
Indians taking
revenge on a
Spanish colonist—
by pouring gold
down his throat.
Native Resistance Opposition to the Spanish method of colonization came not only
from Spanish priests, but from the natives themselves. Resistance to Spain’s attempt
at domination began shortly after the Spanish arrived in the Caribbean. In November
of 1493, Columbus encountered resistance in his attempt to conquer the present-day
island of St. Croix. Before finally surrendering, the inhabitants defended themselves
by firing poison arrows. Efforts to control the Taino on Hispaniola were even more
difficult. After several rebellions, the Taino submitted to Columbus for several years.
They revolted yet again in 1495.
As late as the end of the 17th century, natives in New Mexico fought against
Spanish rule. While there were no silver mines to work in the region, the natives
there still felt the weight of Spanish force. In converting the natives to Christianity,
Spanish priests and soldiers often burned their sacred objects and prohibited many
native rituals. The Spanish also forced natives to work for them and sometimes abused them physically. Native Americans who practiced their
own religion were beaten.
In 1680, Popé, a Pueblo ruler, led a well-organized uprising
against the Spanish. The rebellion involved some 17,000
warriors from villages all over New Mexico. The native fighters drove the Spanish back into New Spain. For the next 12
years—until the Spanish regained control of the area—
the southwest region of the future United States
once again belonged to its original inhabitants.
By this time, however, the rulers of Spain
had far greater concerns. Nearly 80 years
before Popé ran the Spanish out of New
Mexico, the other nations of Europe had
begun to establish their own colonies in
the Americas.
THINK THROUGH HISTORY
E. Analyzing Causes
Why did the natives
of New Mexico
revolt against Spanish
settlers?
E. Possible Answer
Spanish attempts to
destroy their culture
and repressive
measures, including
beatings.
Section 1 Assessment
1. TERMS & NAMES
Identify
• Christopher Columbus
• colony
• Hernando Cortés
• conquistadors
• Montezuma II
• Francisco Pizarro
• mestizo
• encomienda
2. TAKING NOTES
Using a diagram like the one
below, trace the major events in
the establishment of Spain’s
empire in the Americas beginning
with Columbus’s arrival.
Reread “A Voice from the Past“on
page 483. How might Columbus’s
view of the Taino Indians have led
the Spanish to think they could
take advantage of and impose
their will on the natives?
THINK ABOUT
Columbus arrives in Americas
488 Chapter 20
3. RECOGNIZING BIAS
• the Taino’s desire for Spanish
items even of “small value”
• the Taino’s willingness to give
whatever they had to the Spanish
• the Taino’s appearance as a
peaceful people
4. THEME ACTIVITY
Empire Building Working
in small groups, debate the merits
of Spain’s colonization of the
Americas. Have one half of the
group take the position of
conquistadors, and the other take
the position of Native Americans.
THINK ABOUT
• how colonization of the
Americas affected Spain
• what effect colonization had
on the Native Americans
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different PERSPECTIVES
The Legacy of Columbus
In the years and centuries since his historic journeys, people still debate the legacy of
Christopher Columbus’s voyages. Some argue they were the heroic first steps in the
creation of great and democratic societies. Others claim they were the beginnings of an
era of widespread cruelty and bloodshed.
H I S T O R I A N ’ S C O M M E N TA RY
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT
E S S AY
Samuel Eliot Morison
Bartolomé de Las Casas
Suzan Shown Harjo
Morison, a strong supporter of
Columbus, laments that the
sea captain died without
realizing the true greatness
of his deeds.
One only wishes that
the Admiral might
have been afforded the
sense of fulfillment that
would have come from foreseeing all
that flowed from his discoveries; that
would have turned all the sorrows of
his last years to joy. The whole history
of the Americas stems from the Four
Voyages of Columbus; and as the
Greek city-states looked back to the
deathless gods as their founders, so
today a score of independent nations
and dominions unite in homage to
Christopher, the stout-hearted son of
Genoa, who carried Christian
civilization across the Ocean Sea.
Las Casas was an early Spanish
missionary who watched fellow
Spaniards unleash attack dogs
on Native Americans. He
predicted that Columbus’s
legacy would be one of disaster
for America’s original
inhabitants.
. . . Their other
frightening weapon after the horses:
twenty hunting greyhounds. They
were unleashed and fell on the
Indians at the cry of Tómalo! [“Get
them!”] Within an hour they had
preyed on one hundred of them. As
the Indians were used to going
completely naked, it is easy to
imagine what the fierce greyhounds
did, urged to bite naked bodies and
skin much more delicate than that of
the wild boars they were used to. . . .
This tactic, begun here and invented
by the devil, spread throughout
these Indies and will end when
E S S AY
there is no more land nor
e
n
i
t
r
a
s
u
b
people to subjugate and destroy
e Lam olitician, praises Colusm.
s
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All of th nited in Colum of origin,
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Harjo, a Native American,
disputes the so-called benefits
that resulted from Columbus’s
voyages and the European
colonization of the Americas
that followed.
“We will be asked
to buy into the
thinking that . . .
genocide and ecocide
are offset by the
benefits of horses,
cut-glass beads,
pickup trucks, and
microwave ovens.”
Connect
to History
Contrasting What opposing
ideas are presented on this page?
SEE SKILLBUILDER
HANDBOOK, PAGE R7
Connect
to Today
Supporting an Opinion
Find several opinions about
Columbus in 1992—the 500th
anniversary of his discovery of
America. Choose the opinion you
agree with most and write a brief
paper explaining why.
For another perspective
on the legacy of
Columbus, see World History: Electronic
Library of Primary Sources.
CD-ROM
CD-ROM
The Atlantic World 489