1. by: Quinton, Jake, Ben, Zach
20.1
Spanish Conquest in the
Americas: Section 20.1

2. How did Spanish Conquistadors conquer new lands and what challenges did
they face?
Essential Question

3. 1. First Encounters
2.Other Explorers Take To The Seas
Vocab
Colonies- A land kept by a distant nation
Conquistadors--Spanish explorers
Niña,Pinta, and Santa Maria- Columbus’s fleet
Columbus’s Voyage Paves the Way

4. First Encounters
● Three ships Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria traveled for 6-8 months.
● Columbus thought he had landed in the East Indies but really he had
landed on an island in the Bahamas in the Caribbean sea.
● The natives were called the Taino but he called them Indians.
● Columbus claimed the island for Spain and called it San Salvador or “Holy
Savior”.
● They explored this island and many others looking for gold, like all
explorers.
● When he returned to Spain the monarchs were pleased and funded three
more trips.
● On his second voyage, Columbus brought 17 ships, several hundred
soldiers and 1000 settlers.
● The Spanish intended to make colonies, or lands that are controlled by
another nation on the Caribbean islands.

5. Other Explorers Take to the Seas
● 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral reached modern day Brazil, claimed as his
own.
● Amerigo Vespucci traveled there as well, discovered this was not Asia, but
a new born world. German map maker named it America after Amerigo.
● Ferdinand Magellan led a march through modern day Panama.
● He was the first person to gaze upon the Pacific ocean.
● They soon ran out of food a started to eat crumbs with beetles and
sawdust.
● When they finally reached land, they were killed in a local war, but they
were the first person to sail around the world.

6. Spanish Builds an American Empire
Sections
1.Cortes Conquers the Aztecs
2.Pizarro Subdues he Inca
3.Spain’s Pattern of Conquest
4. The Portuguese in Brazil
Vocab
Reconquista-The effort by Christian leaders to drive the Muslims out of Spain
Mesizo- Mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry.
Encomienda-a grant of land made by spain to a settler in the Americas
Peninsulares- in spanish colonial society, colonists who were born in spain

7. Cortes Conquers the Aztecs
● Hernando Cortes marched inward, after colonizing many Caribbean islands. He was a
conquistador (conqueror) as were many Spanish explorers and was looking for gold and silver.
● Cortes went to the wealthy Aztec Empire. They thought that he was a god and agreed to give
him gold.
● Cortes was not satisfied and made the Aztecs mine more gold and silver. They rebelled.
● The Spaniards fought back and, even thought they were greatly outnumbered, they won.
There are three main reasons the Spaniards won:
1.They had superior weaponry like muskets and cannons while the Aztecs had bows and arrows.
2. Cortes enlisted other native groups who did not like the Aztecs harsh practices, including human
sacrifice.
3. The Spaniards brought Smallpox and measles which killed thousands of Aztecs.

8. Pizarro Subdues the Inca
● Francisco Pizarro, the spanish king, used a force of around two-hundred to
capture the glorious Inca empire.
● He captured the leader, Atahualpa, and waited for Ransom.
● the ransom was one room of gold and two rooms filled with silver.
● Once they received the ransom they killed Atahualpa .
● Without their ruler the Incans were not the same and were captured
without a fight

9. Spain’s Pattern of Conquest
● Spain conquered the Muslims and they imposed their culture on them.
Marriage between the natives and the spanish became very common. The
marriages created and a large Mestizo population, which is mixed Spanish
and Native American people.
● Spanish settlers to the Americans were known as peninsulares.
● The Spanish, while marriage to them was common, made the Natives work
for them. The Natives ranched, farmed and mined for the spanish in a
system known as encomienda.
● Encomienda promised the natives they would be treated fairly but many
were beat to death or worked to death especially in the mines

10. The Portuguese in Brazil
● The Spanish could not conquer one area in South America
which was Brazil.
● Instead the Portuguese conquered it and began mining for
silver and gold.
● Finding little they cleared the forest and began planting sugar
which was in high demand in Europe.
● This was successful so they expanded, enslaving and
conquering Native Americans along the way.

11. Spanish Expands Its Influence
1. Conquistadors Push North
2.Opposition to Spanish Rule
3.Native Resistance

12. Conquistadors Push North
● Spain’s American colonies made it rich. Spain made a powerful Navy to
protect all the ships bringing back its riches from America.
● Spain turned its eyes to settling in America.
● Explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado did not find much gold in the
deserts of the southwest, so Spain assigned mostly priests to colonize the
future United States.
● Sante Fe or “Holy Faith” became the headquarters for the advancing
Catholic religion.

13. Opposition to Spanish Rule
● Spanish priests worked to spread christianity in the Americas
● They pushed for better treatment of Native Americans. Priests stood up
against the cruel treatment of the natives.
● The Spaniards were cruel to the Indians over riches.
● Africans were thought to be worth the same as four Indians.
● The Spaniards would soon enslave African to meet their labor needs.

14. Native Resistance
● The resistance started shortly after the spanish arrived at the caribbean in
1493.
● Columbus tried to stop the resistance by conquering St. Croix.
● They finally surrendered a was loyal to Columbus for several years. They
did revolt again 2 years later.
● Revolts and resistances were fought well into the 17th century.
● Spanish forced natives to become christian and did not allow other
religions and made the natives work for them.
● In 1680, the Pope ran the spanish back to spain with and 17,000 man
army that he put together. The spanish came back 12 years later.
● But when the spanish were gone for 12 years, the figured out that 80 years
before they were forced to leave, they started to establish colonies in
america.

15. Assignments
Quinton-
Jake-
Ben-
Zach- finish vocab/ opposition to spanish rule