Spain Claims an EmpireUS HistoryMs.Swearingen

Spain Claims an Empire

Main Idea:Spain claimed a large empire in the Americas.

Why It Matters Now:The influence of Spanish culture remains strong in modern America.

Key Terms & Names:

• Tready of Tordesillas• Missionary• Mercantilism• Amerigo Vespucci

• Conquistador• Hernando Cortés• Montezuma• Francisco Pizzaro

The Line of Demarcation-

In 1493, Spain and Portugal wanted the Pope to decide who would control the lands that sailors from their countries were exploring. Pope Alexander VI drew and imaginary line.

• Portugal could claim all non-Christian lands to the east of the line.

• Spain could claim all the non-Christian lands to

the west.

Spain and Portugal Compete

June 1494, Spain and Portugal agreed to the Treaty of Tordesillas moved the line 800 miles to the west.

Three main goals:(The three G’s)

• Gold • Glory• God

Missionaries- people sent to convert people to Christianity.

• This allowed Portugal to claim much of eastern South America.

• Allowed for the settlement of the Portuguese colony of Brazil.

Europeans Explore Foreign Lands

Amerigo Vespucci- Italian sailor. 1501. set out to find a sea route to Asia.

But his encounter was not Asia.• The continent was named after him because a

German mapmaker liked his account of the lands he saw.

Vasco Núñez de Balboa-- Spanish. 1513. led an expedition through the jungles of Panama and reached the Pacific. Claimed the ocean for Spain.

Ferdinand Magellan- Portuguese sailor. 1519. set out to sail West to Asia around the coast of

South America.

• Eventually made it to the Philippines and was killed. 1522, one ship made it back to Spain.

The Invasion of MexicoBy the time Columbus returned, the Spanish began their conquest of the Americas.

Spanish soldiers called Conquistadors, or Conquerors, explored the Americas and claimed them for Spain.

Hernando Cortés- Landed on the Central American coast 508 men in 1519.The Spanish arrival shook the Aztec empire, which dominated much of Mexico.

The Aztec emperor Montezuma feared that Cortés had been sent by an Aztec god to rule. So, he gave Cortés gifts of gold and

silver to get him to leave.

Spaniards marched inland and formed alliances with Aztec enemies. After a few months, they reached the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán.

Cortés held Montezuma captive, the Aztecs rebelled, surrounded the Spaniards.

On June 30, 1520 the Spaniards tried to sneak out- but fighting broke out and 800 Spanish and 1000 of their allies were killed- La Noche Triste.

Spaniards and their allies regrouped and in May of 1521, came back to Tenochtitlan.

The Aztecs had already been weakened by

Smallpox.Cortes held the city

under siege for three months.

The city eventually fell, and the Aztec empire lay in ruins.The Spanish built Mexico City on the ruins of Tenochtitlan.

The Conquest of the Incan Empire

The Inca empire, centered in the Cuzco Valley in modern day Peru.

1525, they ruled a 2,000 mile-long territory in the Andes Mountains.

The Inca possessed gold and silver.

In 1531, Francisco Pizarro led an expedition of 180 men into Peru.

Like the Aztecs, the Incas thought the Spanish might be gods.

Inca emperor Atahualpa ordered Inca warriors not to fight

• How do you think the Spanish reacted?

• The Spanish reacted with intrigue, wanting the riches because, of course, this was one of the reasons for the expeditions.

When Atahualpa went to the Spanish, they attacked quickly.

He offered them gold and silver in an attempt to free himself.

The Spanish strangled him

anyway.

With Atahualpa dead, the Inca would soon collapse.

Machu Picchu- Peru

4 Reasons for Spanish Victories

1.Spread of European diseases- killed millions of Native Americans and weakened resistance

2.Spanish were excellent soldiers and sailors.• Superior weapons

3.Spanish made alliances with Native Americans who were

enemies of the Aztec and Inca.

4.Spanish Conquistadors acted brutally towards natives under their control.

Other Spanish ExplorersÁlvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and Estavancio, a slave of North African descent survived a shipwreck.

• Wandered along the North American mainland

• Heard tales of cities of gold from natives

Between 1539 and 1542, three expeditions set out to find these ‘cities of gold’

Francisco Vazquez de Coranado- American southwest

Hernando de Soto- Florida

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo- California coast