Chapter 3

New Empires in the Americas (1500 – 1700)

Chapter 3 New Empires in the Americas

Section 1The Conquistadores

Cortés and the Aztec

• Conquistadores – Spanish soldiers who led military expeditions in the Americas

• Moctezuma II was ruler of Aztec Empire. Aztecs greatly outnumbered Spanish, but didn’t have the weapons the Spanish had.

• An Indian woman (Malintzin) advised Cortés of who were enemies of Aztecs. The enemies joined Cortés to defeat Aztecs.

• Some Aztecs believed Cortes was Quetzalcoatl, their god, and gave him gifts

• Hernán Cortés – conquered the Aztecs

Pizarro’s Conquest of the Inca

• Francisco Pizarro had traveled with Balboa and heard rumors of the golden cities in South Americao Pizarro kidnapped Atahualpa (the Incan ruler).

Atahualpa promised gold and silver for his freedom, he delivered, but Pizarro still killed him.

o Pizarro joined forces with Incan rebels and together they conquered the Incan Empire

• The second great empire of the Americas had fallen

Conquistadores in Florida• Juan Ponce de León came to the Americas to find

gold and the Fountain of Youth oHe reached a land he called Florida, founded a settlement

there his second trip back to Florida. Later died after being wounded in a battle with American Indians

• Narvaez and his crew built simple boats to sail across the Gulf of Mexico, most of them sank.

• Cabeza de Vaca was one of the few survivors. He lived and worked with American Indians for 8 years. Later met with other Spanish explorers and traveled on to Mexico.

The Quest for Gold

• Hernando de Soto traveled through present-day North Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippio First European to cross the Mississippi Rivero During his travels among large, thriving cultures of American

Indians, de Soto stole food and fought with many American Indian groups

• Francisco Vásquez de Coronado searched for the Seven Cities of Cíbola o Successful in finding and conquering, but no goldo Angered American Indians he encountered

The Quest for Gold cont’d

• Cabrillo sailed along coast of present day California looking for gold. He did not find the wealth, but his journey gave Spain a claim to the Pacific coast of North America

Chapter 3 New Empires in the Americas

Section 2Spanish America

The Spanish Empire

• Council of the Indies – formed to govern the Americas from Spain– Wrote laws, selected officials, and judged legal cases– Appointed 2 viceroys (royal governors)

• Viceroyalty of Peru (included most of S. America)• Viceroyalty of New Spain (Central America, Mexico, and

southern part of present-day U.S.)• Governors chose local officials• All officials had great deal of independence because of

the distance between them and Spain

Ruling New Spain• 3 types of settlements that filled economic, religious or

military roles:– Pueblos – trading posts, sometimes centers of government– Missions – started by priests to convert local American Indians

to Catholicism; built around church– Presidios – military forts to protect towns and missions; many

built in frontier areas (present-day Florida and Texas)

• Royal Orders for New Discoveries – principal purpose for establishing new settlements was to convert American Indians to Christianity

The Economy of New Spain

• Encomienda system – gave Spanish (encomenderos) the right to tax local American Indians or to make them work– also supposed to protect and teach; convert to Christianity– Most treated Indians like slaves – forced to grow crops, work

in mines, herd cattle

• Bartolome de Las Casas – spoke out against encomienda system and defended rights of natives; originally supported African slave labor, then changed his mind

The Economy of New Spain cont’d• In Caribbean, native resistance and disease led

Spanish to begin bringing enslaved Africans to work

• Slaves worked on plantations, large farms that grew one type of crop– Sugar plantations were very common– Huge profits for owners

• Las Casas favored using enslaved Africans rather than American indians at first, but after seeing the harsh conditions and the slave trade grow he changed his mind

Expanding into the Borderlands

• Most colonists lived where they could gain the most wealth, few lived in the borderlands, outer reaches of the empire – northern Mexico, Florida, and parts of present-day Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas

• Spanish government wondered if Florida was worth risk since so many explorers died there and none found wealth; changed when French settled on Florida’s east coast

• Aviles founded fort of St. Augustine, first European city in North America

Expanding into the Borderlands (continued)

• Juan de Onate – first effort to settle New Mexico– helped found the town of Santa Fe – became trade

center and most important Spanish settlement in New Mexico

• Settlement depended on food and labor from Pueblo; Spanish abuses led to revolt in 1660– Popé led Pueblo to drive Spanish out of New

Mexico• Spanish regained control in 1692

Expanding into the Borderlands (continued)

• Spanish survivors of the Pueblo Revolt fled to what is now Texas. First major Spanish settlement in Texas was founded near the site of present day El Paso

• Spanish built El Camino Real, “the Royal Road”, built to connect scattered communities

Colonial Society• Spanish Empire in the Americas – between 3 and 4

million people; American Indian = 80% of population• Spanish law divided society into classes based on

birthplace and race– Peninsulares – white Spaniards born in Spain; held highest

government offices– Criollos – born in Americas to Spanish parents– Mestizos – both Spanish and American Indian parents– American Indians – limited rights– Enslaved Africans – little or no legal protection

• Women had fewer rights than men, but better than in most European countries…married women could own property and pass it on to their children

Chapter 3 New Empires in the Americas

Section 3Religious and Political Changes in Europe

The Protestant Reformation

• Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation in Germany – religious movement that began as an effort to reform the church

• Reformers became known as the Protestants because they protested the Catholic Church’s practices

• Printing press helped to spread the Reformation• Confrontations between Catholics and Protestants took

place all around Europeo French Protestants are Huguenots

• King Henry VIII founded the Church of England (Anglican Church)

Conflict Between Spain and England

• King Philip II used Spain’s wealth to lead Catholic Reformation against the Protestant movemento Sent troops to fight Protestants in the Netherlandso Hoped to drive Protestants out of England

• Queen Elizabeth I of England – Protestant daughter of King Henry VIII; wanted peace between England’s Protestants and Catholicso To fight without going to war, used sea dogs – veteran

English sailors she encouraged to raid Spanish treasure ships

o Raids hurt Spanish economyo Most successful sea dog = Sir Francis Drake

The Spanish Armada• Fleet of approximately 130 ships and 27,000 sailors and soldiers• Sent to invade England by King Philip who wanted to

overthrow Elizabeth and the Anglican Church• Problems:

o Leader was a poor sailoro Drake raided supplies delaying them for several monthso Even with problems, it was strong fighting force

• England had small fleet of ships, so Sea dogs, merchants, and fisherman added their ships to England’s defense to even the odds

• English advantages = speed, greater mobility, better cannons• English defeated Spanish Armada – Philip’s attempt to conquer

England failed

The Decline of the Spanish Empire

• Golden Age occurred as Spain’s power and wealth grewo Art became popular; many poets and playwrights

• Economic problems helped to bring Spain’s Golden Age to an endo Large amounts of gold and silver from the Americas

contributed to high inflation (rise in the amount of money in use and in the price of goods)

o Bought cheaper goods from other countries• Weakened navy could no longer protect Spain’s empire

in the Americas – leads to challenges of power by other European countries

Chapter 3 New Empires in the Americas

Section 4The Race for Empires

Early French Settlement• Huguenots built first official French North American

settlement in Florida– Destroyed by Spanish

• Explorations of Jacques Cartier and Samuel de Champlain had given France right to claim Canada

• Acadia – included what is now Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and part of Maine – temporary settlements; small trading communities and fishing villages

• Champlain founded town of Quebec in 1608 • Great Lakes region valuable because of the fur trade– Used by Europeans to make expensive hats– Traded tools, jewelry and cloth to American Indians for

furs• Montreal became a center for fur trade

The Expansion of the French Empire

• Fur traders, explorers and missionaries began spreading out from Great Lakes region

• Explorer Louis Jolliet and missionary Jacques Marquette set out to find the Mississippi River; traveled down it as far as present-day Arkansas

• Rene-Robert de La Salle – followed Mississippi River to Gulf of Mexico– Claim Mississippi Valley for King Louis XIV of France – named

Louisiana• French called new territory New France to honor King Louis XIV• Small population and value of fur trade led them to ally with the

Algonquian and Huron Indianso As a result of this alliance they became enemies of the Iroquois

New Netherland and New Sweden• Dutch came in search of trade• Henry Hudson’s first voyage gave them claim to land between the

Delaware and Hudson Rivers – New Netherland (included parts of present-day New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Delaware)

• Peter Minuit bought Manhattan from local natives – named New Amsterdam

• To attract more settlers, Dutch West India Company allowed other Europeans in; practiced religious toleration (New Netherland)

• Minuit helped Swedish settlers found New Sweden along the Delaware River– Swedish were among the first in North America to build log cabins

• Dutch felt Swedish presence threatened Dutch land and fur trade; two sides fought, governor of New Netherland (Peter Stuyvesant) conquered New Sweden

English Settlements• England attempted to strengthen its claim to North

America by sending expeditions to start colonies• Sir Humphrey Gilbert given charter-document giving

royal permission to start a colonyo failed when he drowned at sea

• Sir Walter Raleigh paid for expedition that landed in present-day Virginia and North Carolina – he named area Virginiao Sent another group to start colony on Roanoke Island

• Life hard, fought with local natives, trouble finding and growing food

• Sir Francis Drake stopped on his way back from raid on New Spain, offered to take remaining settlers home to England

English Settlements (continued)

• John White resettled Roanoke Colonyo Granddaughter Virginia Dare was the first English child

born in present-day U.S.• White returned to England at end of summer 1587;

returned in 1590o colony’s buildings still standing, but deserted

• CROATAN carved into a posto May have been the name of a nearby island inhabited by

Natives