• Later explorers looking for a passage to China and India:

– Juan Ponce de León—the first European to discover Florida

– Vasco de Balboa—the first European to reach the Pacific coast of America

– Ferdinand Magellan—discovered the strait later named for him; his crew was the first to circumnavigate the globe.

Exploring America (cont.)

New Spain After defeating the Aztec Empire, the Spanish established the colony of New Spain.

• In 1521, Hernán Cortés, with the help of the Tlaxcalan, defeated the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan.

• Cortés then sent several expeditions to conquer the rest of Central America. The men who led these expeditions were known as conquistadors.

• Cortés used the encomienda system to reward his men.

New Spain (cont.)

New Spain, c. 1600

• New Spanish explorations:

New Spain (cont.)

– 1532—Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca empire.

– 1540—Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explored the region between the Colorado River and the Great Plains.

– Hernando De Soto explored parts of North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas.

New Spain, c. 1600

• 1598—Juan de Oñate pushed north of the Rio Grande, into the present-day state of New Mexico.

• The Catholic Church became the primary force for colonizing the Southwest but was met with much resistance.

New Spain (cont.)

New Spain, c. 1600

• New Spain had a highly structured society based on birth, income, and education. Rank from highest to lowest:

– peninsulares– criollos– mestizos

New Spain (cont.)

New Spain, c. 1600

A. AB. BC. CD. D A B C D

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Cortés rewarded his men by giving them which of the following? A. Gold and silver

B. Control over towns in the Aztec empire

C. The chance to sail back to Spain

D. New weapons and horses

New FranceFrance claimed a vast territory in North America, but its colony had a small French population.

• French explorers included:

– Giovanni da Verrazano—tried to find a northern route through North America to the Pacific Ocean

– Jacques Cartier—explored and mapped the St. Lawrence River

– Samuel de Champlain—founded Quebec, which became the capital of the colony of New France

New France (cont.)

– Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette—found the Mississippi River

– René-Robert Cavalier de La Salle—followed the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico and claimed Louisiana

• French explorers included:

New France (cont.)

• The Spanish were threatened by the French, so they built St. Augustine (in present-day Florida) and San Francisco de los Tejas (in present-day Texas) to defend their territory.

New France (cont.)

A. AB. BC. CD. D A B C D

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Why was exploration of the lower Mississippi difficult for the French?A. Spanish settlers would

ambush the French. B. Heat and mosquitoesC. Indians would ambush

the French.D. The river was too difficult

to navigate.

circumnavigate to sail around

conquistador Spanish for conqueror; the men who led the expeditions to conquer the Americas

encomienda system of rewarding conquistadors tracts of land, including the right to tax and exact labor from Native Americans