Chapter 3

The European Conquest

of America
Columbus and the First Encounters
Queen Isabella defeated the last Muslim ruler
in Spain in early 1492, and commissioned
Columbus to sail West to find the Indies.
Columbus sailed in August with three ships
and 90 men.
Columbus landed on a Bahamian Island of
Guanaham on Oct. 12, 1492. He found
Fertile soil, fine harbors, lush vegetation, fresh
water, succulent fruits, & exotic birds.
Peaceful, friendly and generous natives.

Columbus and the First Encounters
Columbus then sailed on to the north Coast of
Cuba and thought it was Japan (Cipango).
He turned eastward Hispaniola. He then
kidnapped some Taino Indians to take back to
Spain.
His 2
nd
trip included 17 ships and 1500 men
and set sail in late 1493, with tools, domestic
animals, sugarcane, and other plants to set
up a colony.
The Caribbean Colonies
The early settlers supported themselves
Panning for gold in interior highlands;
Forcing the indigenous population to work;
Ponce de Leon landed in Fl in 1513.
Despite legends that he was looking for the
fountain of youth, he was looking for slaves.
Florida natives were forcibly removed to work
for Spaniards in the Caribbean.
The Caribbean Colonies
The indigenous population of the Caribe
Radically declined during the 20 years after
1492.
The Taino population of Hispaniola dropped
from half a million to only 2,000.
The natives were decimated by influenza and
bacterial infections almost immediately.
The first outbreak of smallpox came in 1518.
Bartolom de Las Casas 1474-1566
A true Christian saint.
Started out as just another Spanish
Conquistador in 1502 with Nicols de Ovando
Was ordained a Dominican priest in 1507.
Accompanied Diego de Velzquez to Cuba
and received an ecomienda and land grant.
He became disenchanted and renounced his
encomienda and started a campaign for
indian rights. Convinced the king to abolish
the Ecomienda just as Cortez Mx.
A Brief Account of the Destruction of
the Indies. [Kindle Edition]
Free on Kindle
Bartolom de Las Casas 1474-1566
1544 appointed Bishop of Chiapas.
Gave him an opportunity to try to influence
Spaniards in Mexico.
He denied last rites to Spaniards who
mistreated Indians.
He argued that the wealth gained from
exploitation of Indians was ill-gotten and
should be returned to the native Americans.
He was expelled from Mexico and returned to
Spain. Black Legend.
Question for discussion
Can Bartolom de Las Casas be
considered a man ahead of his time?
Why? Or why not?
Are there people in our own time who
resemble Las Casas in their ideas and
tactics?
Are they more successful in getting their
ideas acorss than he was? Why or why
not?
The Europeans Arrive
The Portuguese in Brazil
The Portuguese were on their way to India
when they discovered Brazil.
1500, Pedro Alvares Cabrals fleet of 13
vessels mistakenly sailed too far west.
1501, the Portuguese returned and began to
set up trading posts. Brazilwood.
Disastrous for the indigenous peoples
The Portuguese in Brazil
The Portuguese were more interested in
setting up their trading colonies in Asia.
The Portuguese only maintained trading posts
in Brazil until the French began to arrive.
1532 - King Joao sent a large fleet under
Martim Alfonso de Sousa to dislodge the
French and establish a more permanent
colony.
A few colonies prospered with sugar mills.
The Portuguese in Brazil
The development of sugar industry in
Brazil was disastrous for the natives.
For the first 30 years, the Portuguese lived
and traded peacefully with the Tup Indians
and often even intermarried with them.
Sugar production is labor intensive and led to
the enslavement of most of the Tup peoples.
Film: The Mission with Robert De Niro.
The Spanish in Mesoamerica and the
Andes
Corts and the Aztecs
The governor of Cuba, Diego Velasquez sent
Hernn Cortez with 11 ships to Mexico to
explore rumors of a large Indian empire.
Cortez found a shipwrecked Spaniard,
Jernimo de Aguilar, who spoke Mayan.
He also found a Indian slave woman, la
Malinnche, who spoke both Mayan and
Nahuatl. He burned his ships at Veracruz.
Corts and the Aztecs
Aztec Messengers begged Corts not to
venture on toward Tenochtitlan
Cortes disassembled his ships (all but one
small one) and started up the mountains
toward the capital of the Incan empire.
He formed an alliance along the way with
subject enemies of the Incas; Tlaxcala.
Corts attacked and massacred several
thousand warriors at Cholula as an example.
Corts and the Aztecs
On Nov. 19, 1519, Moctezuma met Cortez on
the causeway at the Southern edge of
Tenochitlan and offered them hospitality and
lodging in the city center.
Corts felt vulnerable and kidnapped the
emperor to insure the Spaniards safety.
This state of affairs lasted for several months.
Spring of 1520, Governor Velasquez sent an
expedition from Cuba to arrest Corts.
Corts and the Aztecs
Leaving 80 men to guard Moctezuma, Corts
traveled back to the coast and defeated the
new arrivals.
When Corts arrived back in Tenochitlan he
attempted to restore peace. He brought
Moctezuma out to talk to his people.
Noche Triste June 20, 1520.
They retreated to Tlaxcala were they planned
a new attack.
May 1521, The attack on Tenochtitlan.
The attack on Tenochtitlan.
Corts built boats to attack by water.
The Spaniards had a clear advantage with
swords, pikes, horse, mastiffs and armour ade
of steel against cotton armor.
The 550 Spaniard were accompanied by
10,000 Tlaxcalan warriors.
The Aztecs offered fierce resistance and the
fighting was hand-to-hand and block by block.
Fighting ended on August 13, 1521 when the
new king, Cuauhtemoc was captured.
The Conquest of New Spain
By Bernal Diaz del
Castillo
A gripping eyewitness
account.



New Spain and the Search for Otro
Mxico

Spaniards reasoned that there might be
Otros Mxicos. This initiated a frantic
search for other empires.
Corts went to Honduras in 1524.
Pedro de Alvarado founded Guatemala
City in 1524.
Nuo de Guzmn founded Guadalajara
and Francisco de Montejo = Yucatn.
New Spain and the Search for Otro
Mxico

1520s an attempt was made to establish a
Spanish colony in South Carolina.
Numerous expeditions explored Florida.
Nez Cabeza de Vaca shipwreaked on the
coast of Texas after leaving Florida.
He spent several years walking back to Mexico
City.
Francisco Vzquez de Coronado traveled to
New Mexico and Hernando de Soto traveled as
far as Colorado.

Search for Otro Mexico
The Spanish in Mesoamerica and the
Andes
The Incas peaked and began to decline
Huayna Capac was the son of the previous
ruler, Tpac Inca, and the grandson of
Pachacuti, who began the dramatic expansion
by conquest of the Inca Empire. Oldest son
was Ninan Cuyochic. Both died in 1528.
European disease arrived before the Spanish.
Another legitimate son, Huscar, and
illegitimate, Atahualpa, fought to inherit.
The Spanish in Mesoamerica and the
Andes
The Pizarros and the Incas
1523, Spaniards in Panama heard rumors
about a large empire to the South.
1531,Francisco Pizarro sailed with 180 men
to the Coast of Peru. (Atualpa & Huscar)
Pizarro found them sick and in confusion.
Pizarro seized Cuzco, killed Ataluhapa.
1536, Manco Inca led a revolt; civil war also
broke out among the Spaniards.
The Pizarros and the Incas
1535, Diego Almagro, a rival of Pizarro,
marched with his men to Chile but returned in
two years to find Pizarros brothers, Hernando
and Gonzalo in charge.
Both Almagro and Francisco Pizarro died in
the 10 years of civil war.
Hernando Pizarro spent 20 years in prison.
1546, Gonzalo Pizarro assassinated Perus
first viceroy, Blasco Nez Vela.
Gonzalo was defeated and beheaded in 1548.
Villacamba
1539-1572,
Manco Inca, and
later his son,
Tupac Inca,
managed to hold
out for 30 years
against the
Spaniards.
(80 miles west of
Cuzco)
Villacamba
Military Conquest or Strategic Alliance?
How did 180 Spaniards defeat the mightly
Incan Empire?
Superior European military technology
Infectious diseases: small pox killed Huayna
Capac
Psychological factors in explaining the
victories of Corts and Pizarro
Strategic assistance from thousands of
indigenous people.
Building a Colonial Society
The Ecological Conquest
Diseases such as small pox struck some
native Americans even before they saw
Spaniards.
Coastal Brazil lost 95 percent of its
indigenous population in the 16th century.
By 1600, only about 5,000 Tup remained.
Imported animals such as horses, cattle,
oxen, pigs, sheep, donkeys, goats and
chickens.
Building a Colonial Society
Conquistadors, Encomenderos, and
Native Peoples
By 1542 Peru had 467 grantees, and in
Mexico and C.A. there were 600.
The King of Spain was not happy and wanted
to end the encomendero system.
Trim the power of the encomenderos.
After Corts victory, he was forced to keep it
to use as leverage over the Conquistadors.
Encomenderos and New Laws 1542
Under the influence of Bartolome de Las
Casas, King Charles of Spain issued New
Laws in 1542 limiting ecomiendas to tribute
only, and eliminating forced labor.
Inheritance of ecomiendas was restricted.
Further enslavement of native Americans was
forbidden.
New Laws were never issued in the
Portuguese Empire.
A Multiracial Society in Formation
A Multiracial Society in Formation
A new cadre of Spanish bureaucrats arrived
in the Americas.
Thousands of peasant Spaniards flocked to
the Americas after rich silver lodes were
found.
Spanish artisans.
90 percent of the Spanish immigrants were
male. This led to interracial cohabitation.
A Multiracial Society in Formation
The children of European men and native
American women were known as mestizos.
In Brazil, they were known as mamelucos.
Martn Corts, the son of Hernn Corts and
Malinche became a page to King Phillip II.
Also, there was a growing population of free
blacks from Spain as well as enslaved
Africans brought to replace diminishing native
American labor. Africans had immunity to
European diseases. = mulattos.
The Spiritual Conquest of Latin
America
Revitalization of the Church
Monastic orders such as the Franciscans and
Dominicans attempted to rid the church of
corruption and participated in colonization.
12 Franciscan Friars arrived in Mexico in
1524. Augustinians, Dominicans and Jesuits
soon followed.
The Spiritual Conquest of Latin
America
Early Evangelization
Missionaries faced the daunting challenge of
communicating with their potential converts
The first book printed in Mexico was a
Nahuatl catechism produced in 1539.
In the 16
th
century, universities were
established in Mexico City and Lima and
began offering courses in Nahuatl and
Quechua for men training to become priests.

The Spiritual Conquest of Latin
America
The Impact of Evangelization
Family & community life changed dramatically
Franciscans and Jesuits in Brazil rounded up
Tupis in raids that resembled slave-gathering
expeditions and then relocated them to
compact mission villages called Aldeias.
The missions also served as tempting targets
for the slave traders.
Native peoples names were changes at
Baptism.
Resistance to Christianity
Militant mass rebellions such as Taqui Onkoy
in the Andes in the 1560s which rejected all
Christian symbols.
In Brazil, the santidade movement swept the
native Americans (and Africans). They
escaped the Portuguese and set up their own
communities. They had their own Pope and
bishops and sent out missionaries.
Syncretism: they often conformed outwardly
while secretly continuing to practice native
religions beliefs and practices.


The Consolidation of Colonial
Empires
The Viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru
Most powerful colonial officials in 16
th
century
were the vice kings in Lima and Mexico City.
1535, Viceroy Mendoza; relegated Hernan
Corts to the sidelines. Sent Coronado to
investigate rumors of another empire to the
north.

The Viceroyalties of Peru
The consolidation of Peru - less smooth.
Blaco Nez Vela assassinated by colonists.
1550 Antonio de Mendoza died after arriving.
1569, the decisive and heavy handed 4
th

viceroy, Francisco de Toledo arrived.
Toleda spent 5 years traveling around Peru.
He defeated the rebel state of Vilcamba 1572
Instituted the Mita, a labor draft to supply
labor for the silver mines.

The Spanish Colonial Bureaucracy
The Spanish Colonial Bureaucracy
1503, Casa de Contratacin.
1524, Council of the Indies.
Audiencias (courts) formed in Santo Domingo,
Guadalajara, Quito and Santiago Chile.
Provincial governors
Cabildos (Town councils)
Obedezco pero no cumplo.
Royal Government in Brazil
Royal Government in Brazil
For the first few decades, Portugal left the
administration of Brazil to entreprenneurs.
The French threat caused Joao to tighten
Tom de Sousa royal governor-general Brazil.
The king ordered an end to native enslavement.
Royal governors didnt achieve the power of
viceroys of Mexico & Peru in Spanish America.
Sousa founded Bahia in 1549 w/6 Jesuits
The Church in Spanish America and
Brazil
Not all clergy were subject to the same
degree of crown supervision
Pope Alexander VI granted broad powers to
the Monarchs: The Patronato.
In return the church received subsidies.
Regular clergy (Franciscans and Dominicans)
Secular clergy, answered directly to the
bishop of the diocese.
There was much competition between regular
and secular clergy and within the order.
The Spanish and Portuguese Empires
King Charles was incredibly powerful. King of
Spain and Holy Roman Emperor.
1556, abdicated to Phillip II, the worlds first
global monarch.
1565, the Philippines were added to Spain.
1580, Portugal was added.
Siglo de Oro, Spains golden age.
Cervantes, Don Quixote.

The Spanish and Portuguese Empires
Troubled horizon:
1566, the Netherland revolted against Spain.
1588, the Spanish armada was defeated.
The best ships in the Spanish armada were in
fact Portuguese.
The Dutch took over the sugar producing area
of Brazil in 1630.
1640, Portugal revolted under the Duke of
Braganza, King Joao IV, and expelled the
Dutch from Brazil in 1654.
The Spanish and Portuguese Empires
Iberias exclusive claims to the Americas were
shattered in 1607 with the establishment of a
British settlement at Jamestown.
Pilgrims and Puritans followed in 1620 and
1630.
Frenchman Samuel de Champlain sailed up
the St. Lawrence River in 1603 to found
Quebec.
1680s, French explorers had traveled the
entire Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.
Conclusion
Columbuss voyage launched a military,
biological, political, & ideological invasion
of the Americas
Led to the creation of the first two seaborne
empires of the modern era
The English, French, & Dutch empires
were taking shape as well