Exploration and Expansion Section 2

Conquest and Colonies

Preview
• Main Idea / Reading Focus
• Spain Builds an Empire
• The Portuguese in Brazil
• French, Dutch, and English Colonies in the Americas
• Quick Facts: Causes and Effects of the French and Indian War
• Map: Colonies in the Americas
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Conquest and Colonies

Main Idea
The countries of Europe established colonies in the lands they
had discovered but, in some cases, only after violently
conquering the native people who lived there.

Reading Focus
• How did Spain build an empire in the Americas?
• What kind of colony did the Portuguese establish in Brazil?
• What was life like in the French, Dutch, and English colonies in
the Americas?
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Spain Builds an Empire

• Scramble to establish colonies and empires in new lands
• Spain first to successfully settle in the Americas
• Eventually conquered native empires, the Aztecs and Incas

Spain in Caribbean Encomienda Millions Died

• First areas settled • Colonist given land • Disastrous system
by Spanish, and Native for Native
Caribbean islands, Americans to work Americans
Hispaniola, Cuba the land
• Mistreatment,
• Columbus hoped to • Required to teach overwork took toll on
find gold, did not native workers about population
Christianity
• Spanish introduced • Europeans spread
encomienda new diseases
system there
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The Conquest of Mexico

Conquistador
• Some Spaniards moved from Caribbean to mainland to set up colonies
• Hernán Cortés led expedition to Mexico, ended with conquest of Aztecs
• Cortés a conquistador, military leader who fought against Native Americans

Cortes Marches on Capital

• Moctezuma II, Aztec emperor at time of Spanish arrival in Mexico
• Aztecs powerful, ruled much of Mexico; unpopular with those they conquered
• Cortés joined by thousands of those who wanted to defeat Aztecs

Other Advantages
• In addition to Native American allies, Cortés had metal weapons, heavy
armor, guns, horses—animals never seen before in Americas
• Disease also swept through Aztec Empire, killing thousands of people
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Aztec Empire

November 8, 1519, Cortés, army entered Tenochtitlán,

Aztec capital
• Cortés, Moctezuma greeted each other respectfully
• Spanish soon took emperor prisoner
– Battle erupted
– Moctezuma killed
• Months of heavy fighting followed
– Cortés eventually took city
– Defeated entire Aztec empire
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The Conquest of Peru
Francisco Pizarro
• 10 years after conquest of
Aztecs, Francisco Pizarro led
expedition to Peru
• Had heard of fabulous wealth of
Inca Empire; hoped to win
wealth for himself
• Inca Empire already weakened
by smallpox; many killed,
including emperor
• Civil war had also broken out
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New Ruler
• 1532, new ruler, Atahualpa,
agreed to meet with Spanish
• Pizarro demanded Atahualpa
accept Christianity, hand over
empire to Spain
• Atahualpa refused
• Spanish killed Atahualpa,
destroyed Inca army, took over
empire
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Life in the Spanish Empire

• With Mexico, Peru, Spain gained control of huge empire in Americas
• Spanish king chose officials, viceroys, to govern American holdings
• Spanish colonial economy based on gold, silver mining, farming
• Spanish drafted Native Americans for labor in mines, on farms

Beginnings of Slavery
• Disease, mistreatment took toll on native population
• Some appalled at treatment
• One reformer, Bartolomé de Las Casas recommended replacing
Native Americans as laborers with imported African slaves
• Slave labor soon became common practice in Americas
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Summarize

How did the Spanish create an empire in the

Americas?
Answer(s): conquered Aztec and Inca empires;
appointed viceroys to govern
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The Portuguese in Brazil

Portuguese built an empire in the Americas
Because of treaty, their empire was not as large as the Spanish one

Treaty
• 1494, Treaty of Tordesillas
drew imaginary line through
Atlantic Ocean
– Everything west, including most
of then-undiscovered
Americas, would belong to
Spain
– Everything to east would be
Portuguese
– Only Brazil remained as
Portuguese colony
Colonization
• Heavy Brazilian jungles made
mining, farming difficult
• Portuguese in no hurry to settle
• 1530s, colonists slowly moved
in, mostly along Atlantic coast
– Established huge farming
estates, as in Spanish lands
– First used Native American,
then African slave, labor to
work on farms
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Explain

Why did few colonists originally move to

Brazil?
Answer(s): Heavy jungles made farming and
mining difficult.
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French, Dutch, and English Colonies in the Americas
Silver and gold from American colonies began to circulate in Europe;
other European countries paid close attention.
Leaders in France, England, and the Netherlands decided that they
needed to establish colonies in the Americas.
New France Trade and Colonization
• French explorers established • Waters of North Atlantic swarming
colonies in New France, or Canada with fish, staple of European diet
• Hoped this would be a rich source • Forests yielded valuable furs
for gold, silver
• French did not send large numbers
• Did not find riches, but found other of colonists; small groups of traders
potentially valuable trade goods
• Did not enslave Native Americans
Native American hunters were the French traders’ main source of furs.
Many traders married Native American women, intermingling the two cultures.
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Further Explorations
South from New France Mississippi to Gulf of Mexico

• A few French explorers headed • 1682, René-Robert La Salle

south to seek more lands to canoed down entire Mississippi
claim River to Gulf of Mexico

• 1608, Samuel de Champlain • Claimed enormous Mississippi

founded city of Quebec region, tributaries for France

• French also explored • Named huge, fertile area

Mississippi River Louisiana, after King Louis XIV

• Thought it flowed to Pacific,

would provide route to Asia
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The Dutch of New Netherland
Trade Interests
• Dutch who came to North
America interested in trade
• Only large colony, New
Netherland, in Hudson River
valley
Slow Growth in Americas
• New Netherland did not grow
• Dutch focused on developing
colonies in other parts of world
• Other colonies more profitable
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New Amsterdam
• 1626, governor bought island of
Manhattan from Wappinger
• Founded city of New
Amsterdam, later New York City
More Valuable Goods
• Produced goods that could not
be obtained in Europe,
Americas
• Caribbean sugar, Asian spices
more valuable
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The English Colonies

• 1607, first English colony established at Jamestown
• Settlers hoped to find gold, silver, river route to Pacific
• Instead found marshy ground, impure water
• 80 percent of settlers died during first winter in America
• Colony still endured

Pilgrims Native Americans

• 1620, Pilgrims sailed from England
• Pilgrims had been persecuted in
England for religious beliefs
• Established colony at Plymouth,
Massachusetts
• Persevered despite difficulties
• Colony self-sufficient within 5 years
• English settlers did not share same
relationship with Native Americans
as French, Dutch
• Jamestown, Plymouth colonies
received aid from local peoples
• Still, colonists viewed Native
Americans with distrust, anger
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British-French Conflict
Problems
• English ran into conflict with French settlers in Americas
• Mid-1700s, English colonists attempted to settle in French territory, upper
Ohio River valley; tension in region grew; war broke out, 1754

French and Indian War

• Both had Native American allies; English called it French and Indian War
• War began badly for British; French had more soldiers than English
• British turned tide, took city of Quebec

Costly War
• Eventually French surrendered, yielded Canada, all French territory east of
Mississippi
• War costly for British; king tried to place costs of war on colonists
• Led to resentment, which eventually brought about American Revolution
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Sequence

What series of events led to the French and

Indian War?
Answer(s): English attempted to settle in Ohio
River valley; tension grew between English and
French; Native Americans allied with each side