Spain Builds an American Empire Section 1

What was fierce among European nations?

Competition for wealth in Asia.

What did this competition prompt a Genoese sea captain to do?

Make a daring voyage from Spain in 1492.

Who was this Genoese sea captain?

Christopher Columbus.

Which direction did Columbus sail instead of south around Africa and then east?

West across the Atlantic.

What was Columbus searching for?

An alternate trade route to Asia and its riches.

Did Columbus ever reach Asia?

No, he never reached Asia.

Where did Columbus step onto instead?

An island in the Caribbean.

What would that event bring together?

The peoples of Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

What were the names of Columbus's three ships?

The Niña, Pinta, and Santa María.

When did the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María sail out of a Spanish port?

Around dawn on August 3, 1492.

In a matter of months, what would Columbus's fleet reach?

The shores of what Europeans saw as an astonishing new world.

When did the long-awaited cry come?

The early hours of October 12, 1492.

Who caught sight of a shoreline in the distance?

A lookout aboard the Pinta.

What did the lookout shout?

"Tierra! Tierra!"—"Land! Land!"

By dawn, where were Columbus and his crew?

Ashore.

What did Columbus think he had successfully reached?

The East Indies.

What did Columbus call the inhabitants who greeted him?

Los indios.

What did the term los indios translate into?

"Indian."

How was the word "Indian" mistakenly applied?

To all the native peoples of the Americas.

What had Columbus miscalculated?

Where he was.

Had Columbus reached the East Indies?

No, he had not.

Where do scholars believe Columbus landed instead?

An island in the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea.

What did the natives there call themselves?

The Taino.

Who did Columbus claim the island for?

Spain.

What did Columbus name the island?

San Salvador, or "Holy Savior."

What was Columbus, like other explorers, interested in?

Gold.

What did Columbus find on San Salvador?

None.

What did Columbus do after finding no gold there?

Explored other islands, staking his claim to each one.

What did Columbus write was his wish?

"To bypass no island without taking possession."

When did Columbus return to Spain?

Early 1493.

How did the Spanish monarchs feel about the reports Columbus relayed?

Delighted.

What did Spain's rulers agree to do after funding his first voyage?

Finance three more trips.

When did Columbus embark on his second voyage?

September of 1493.

What role did Columbus journey as this time, rather than explorer?

An empire builder.

How many ships did Columbus command on his second voyage?

Some 17 ships.

How many soldiers, crewmen, and colonists did the fleet carry?

Over 1,000.

What did the Spanish intend to transform the islands of the Caribbean into?

Colonies.

What is a colony?

Lands that are controlled by another nation.

Over the next two centuries, what did other European explorers begin doing?

Sailing across the Atlantic in search of new lands to claim.

Who reached the shores of modern-day Brazil in 1500?

The Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral.

Who did Cabral claim the land for?

His country.

Who traveled along the eastern coast of South America a year later?

Amerigo Vespucci.

What was Amerigo Vespucci's nationality?

Italian.

Who was Vespucci in the service of?

Portugal.

What did Vespucci claim the land was, instead of part of Asia?

A "new" world.

Who named the new continent "America"?

A German mapmaker.

When was the new continent named "America"?

1507.

Who was the continent named in honor of?

Amerigo Vespucci.

Who led the boldest exploration yet in 1519?

Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

Who had marched through modern-day Panama several years earlier?

Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa.

What did Balboa become the first European to do?

Gaze upon the Pacific Ocean.

Who did Magellan convince to fund his voyage?

The king of Spain.

How many men and ships did Magellan have?

About 250 men and five ships.

What did Magellan sail around?

The southern end of South America.

How long did the fleet sail without seeing land?

For months, except for some small islands.

What soon ran out?

Food supplies.

What island did Magellan explore before reaching the Philippines?

Guam.

What happened to Magellan in the Philippines?

He became involved in a local war there and was killed.

What had greatly reduced Magellan's crew?

Disease and starvation.

Which direction did the crew continue sailing?

West toward home.

How many men and ships arrived back in Spain?

Only 18 men and one ship.

When did they arrive back in Spain?

1522, nearly three years after they had left.

What were they the first persons to do?

Circumnavigate, or sail around, the world.

Who landed on the shores of Mexico in 1519?

A Spaniard named Hernando Cortés.

After colonizing several Caribbean islands, where did the Spanish turn their attention?

The American mainland.

Why did Cortés march inland?

Looking to claim new lands for Spain.

What were Cortés and the other Spanish explorers who followed him known as?

Conquistadors (conquerors).

What lured the conquistadors?

Rumors of vast lands filled with gold and silver.

What regions did conquistadors carve out colonies in?

Regions that would become Mexico, South America, and the United States.

Who were the first European settlers in the Americas?

The Spanish.

As a result of their colonization, what did the Spanish do?

Greatly enriched their empire and left a mark on the cultures of North and South America that exists today.

What did Cortés learn of soon after landing in Mexico?

The vast and wealthy Aztec Empire in the region's interior.

How many men were in Cortés's force?

Roughly 600 men.

What Aztec capital did Cortés and his force reach?

Tenochtitlán.

Who was the Aztec emperor?

Montezuma II.

What was Montezuma II convinced of at first?

That Cortés was a god wearing armor.

What did Montezuma II agree to give Cortés?

A share of the empire's existing gold supply.

Was Cortés satisfied with that share of gold?

No, the conquistador was not satisfied.

What did Cortés admit he and his comrades had?

A "disease of the heart that only gold can cure."

When did some of Cortés's men kill many Aztec warriors and chiefs?

The late spring of 1520.

What were the Aztec warriors and chiefs doing when they were killed?

Celebrating a religious festival.

When did the Aztecs rebel against the Spanish intruders?

June of 1520.

What did the Aztecs do to Cortés's forces?

Drove them out.

What did the Spaniards do after being driven out?

Struck back.

When did Cortés and his men conquer the Aztecs?

1521.

Were Cortés and his men outnumbered when they conquered the Aztecs?

Yes, greatly outnumbered.

What was the first factor in the Spanish victory?

The advantage of superior weaponry.

What were Aztec arrows no match for?

The Spaniards' muskets and cannons.

What was the second factor in the Spanish victory?

Cortés enlisting the help of various native groups.

What was the name of the native woman translator who aided Cortés?

Malinche.

What did Cortés learn through Malinche?

That some natives resented the Aztecs.

What harsh Aztec practice did the natives hate, including?

Human sacrifice.

What did Cortés convince these natives to do, through Malinche?

Fight on his side.

What was the third and most important factor in the Spanish victory?

Disease, the invisible warrior that marched alongside the Spaniards.

What diseases did Europeans bring with them to the Americas?

Measles, mumps, smallpox, and typhus.

Had Native Americans been exposed to these diseases before?

No, never.

What had Native Americans developed to these diseases?

No natural immunity.

As a result, how many Native Americans died?

Hundreds of thousands.

By the time Cortés launched his counterattack, what had happened to the Aztec population?

It had been greatly reduced by smallpox and measles.

What would truly devastate the natives of central Mexico?

European disease.