Effects of the Conquistadors

Spanish Settlements

• Hernan Cortes- captured the Aztec Empire• Francisco Pizarro- captured

the Inca Empire• New Spain- Spain’s government

wanted to control migration to the Americas and create a Spanish Empire

Spanish Empire

Social Structure• These explorers convinced

people from Spain to come to the Americas and settleoSocial structure: • Peninsulares- Born in Spain• Creoles- Born in the New World to

Spanish parents• Mestizos- People born to Spanish and

Native American parents• Mulattoes- People born to Spanish and African parents

Spanish Treatment of Native Americans and

Slaves• In 1650, the Spanish Empire was made up of 3-

4 million people- 80% were Native Americans• Forced Labor

o Encomienda System- a system which gave settlers the right to tax local Native Americans or to demand their labor in exchange for protecting them and converting them to Christianity

*****More often, the Spanish treated the Native Americans as slaves and were

cruel and abusive toward them****

Plantations•Plantations- large farms that grew just one kind of cropoPlantations made a lot of money for the owner, but required a lot of labor which was done by Native Americans

Diseases• Millions of Native Americans

died due to diseases they got from contact with the Europeans within years of the arrival of Columbus• Due to a decreasing population

of Natives, and therefore a decreasing labor force, the Spanish agreed to turn to slaves from West Africa for labor

Middle Passage•The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean that brought slaves from Africa to the Americas

Search for the Northwest Passage

•Northwest Passage- a non-existent water route through North America that would allow ships to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean

Search for the Northwest Passage

• Many Explorers tried looking for the Northwest Passageo English-sent John Cabot- he led England to the

Americaso French- sent Jacques Cartier- he claimed parts of

Canada for Franceo Dutch- sent Henry Hudson- landed in New York

(Hudson Bay/ Hudson River)o None of these explorers found a Northwest

Passage, however their explorations led to increased European interest in North America

o People began to have interest in creating colonies in North America