Chapter Intro

Spanish expansion in the 1500s

During the fifteen hundreds, Spain expanded its colonial empire to The Philippines, the Far East, and areas in The Americas that later became The United States.

Motivations for Spanish colonization

The Spanish sought mountains of gold and silver and imagined converting thousands of Native Americans to Catholicism.

Patriarchy in Spanish colonial society

Patriarchy—the rule of men over family, society, and government—shaped Spanish colonial society, with women occupying a lower status.

Spanish colonial social hierarchy

The Spanish held themselves at the top of the social pyramid, with Native Americans and Africans beneath them.