Spanish Conquest

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Conquests in the Americas

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Objectives •

Explain how Cortés and Pizarro gained control of the Aztec and Inca empires.

•

Understand the short-term and long-term effects of the Spanish conquests on Spain and on the peoples of the Americas.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

How did a small number of Spanish conquistadors conquer huge Native American empires? Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean islands in 1492 and sparked a wave of exploration and conquest that would forever change the world. He was followed by Spanish armies that quickly defeated the Aztec and Inca empires.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Christopher Columbus arrived in the West Indies and met the Taíno people in 1492. The Taínos lived in small farming villages. They were friendly to the Spanish.

Despite this, Columbus and his men were hostile. They claimed the land for Spain and killed any Taínos who resisted.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Conquistadors who arrived in the new world in Columbus’s wake followed this pattern. A cycle began in which Spanish conquerors seized native gold and massacred vast numbers of people.

Natives killed by force and disease (lacked immunity to Eur. diseases).

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Took only a few hundred conquistadors to conquer millions of Native Americans.

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The Spanish had guns, cannons, and metal armor.

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They also brought horses, which Native Americans had never seen.

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But the biggest factor was disease. Smallpox, influenza, and measles killed up to 90 percent of the native population.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Hernán Cortés landed on the coast of Mexico in 1519 with 600 men. •

He planned to conquer the Aztecs and headed inland to Tenochtitlán.

•

Aztec emperor Moctezuma heard about the Spanish before they arrived. He sent gifts in the hope they would turn back.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Cortés was aided by a young Indian woman named Malinche, whom the Spanish called Doña Marina. • Served as translator and advisor to Cortés. . • Helped Cortés form alliances with native groups previously conquered by the Aztecs and hated Aztec rule.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Cortés continued on to Tenochtitlán. •

Moctezuma welcomed the Spanish, but hostilities quickly grew.

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The Spanish tried to convert the Aztecs to Christianity.

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Cortés imprisoned Moctezuma to gain control of the city and its riches.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

A new force of conquistadors arrived and challenged Cortés. Cortés retreated to plan an assault and returned to Tenochtitlán in 1521.

In the resulting struggle, the Aztecs drove the Spanish out of the city. This time, Tenochtitlán was captured and completely destroyed.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Francisco Pizarro was inspired by Cortés to conquer the Inca empire in Peru.

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Began his conquest in 1532, directly after an Inca civil war.

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Atahualpa, the Inca ruler, refused to convert to Christianity. The Spanish captured and eventually killed him.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Pizarro and his men conquered the Inca empire for Spain. •

Like Cortés, Pizarro benefited from superior weapons and diseases that killed millions of natives.

•

Pizarro was killed by a rival Spanish group, but his actions forever changed the continent.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Effects of the Spanish Conquest

Spain became Europe’s greatest power. • They set up silver mines and seized huge quantities of valuable goods. •

On the Spanish

Many lost faith in their gods and converted to Christianity. On Native • Some continued to fight the Spanish. Americans • Some resisted by preserving parts of their own culture. •