40 CHAPTER 2 BEFORE YOU READ SECTION 1 European Settlements in North America MAIN I DEA In the 1500s and 1600s, European nations, led by Spain, continued to explore, claim territory, and build settlements in America. READING FOCUS 1. Which Spanish conquistadors explored North America, and what were they seeking? 2. How did Spain build an empire? 3. What other nations explored North America? KEY T ERMS AND PEOPLE Treaty of Tordesillas conquistador Juan Ponce de León Hernán Cortés Francisco Vásquez de Coronado missionary Popé Sir Francis Drake At Tordesillas in 1494, Spain and Portugal divided the world for exploration. SPAIN or PORTUGAL? THE INSIDE STORY How did two European sea powers carve up the Americas? In 1493 Queen Isabella of Spain came to the pope with a problem. Columbus had just returned from his successful first voyage, and the queen wanted to move quickly to secure Spain’s claim to the Americas. Spain’s chief rivals, the skilled navigators of Portugal, were eager to seize land in the New World, as were other European powers. The queen wanted the Roman Catholic Church’s stamp of approval on her claims before others rushed in. Pope Alexander VI, a Spaniard himself, was happy to help. He drew an imaginary north-south line of demarcation from pole to pole in the Atlantic Ocean. Spain would control of all the lands west of the line that did not have a Christian ruler. Portugal got the lands to the east. At the time, of course, the ocean was a great mystery. Europeans did not know what lands might lie within it and across it. They did not know that Columbus had stumbled upon two giant continents. So the pope drew his line in the water, dividing the ocean’s unknown lands between the two Catholic countries in the hope of keeping the peace. King John II of Portugal protested. The line was so far east that it gave Portuguese navigators little room even to explore Africa. So in 1494, Spanish and Portuguese diplo- mats met at Tordesillas, Spain, and signed a treaty moving the line more than 800 miles west. The Treaty of Tordesillas Treaty of Tordesillas (tawr-day-SEE-yahs) gave Spain the best deal by far. The treaty did give Portugal a claim to Brazil, but Spain got the rest of the Americas. Not surprisingly, England, France, and Holland did not accept this division of the world. European explorers also found that other people—Native Americans—already held a claim to the Americas. TAKING NOTES As you read, take notes on the major explorations after those of Columbus. Record your notes in a graphic organizer like the one shown here. Major Explorations
Transcript
40 CHAPTER 2
BEFORE YOU READ
SECTION
1 European Settlementsin North America
MAIN IDEAIn the 1500s and1600s, Europeannations, led bySpain, continuedto explore, claimterritory, and buildsettlements inAmerica.
READING FOCUS 1. Which Spanish conquistadors
explored North America, and whatwere they seeking?
2. How did Spain build an empire?
3. What other nations explored NorthAmerica?
KEY TERMS AND PEOPLETreaty of TordesillasconquistadorJuan Ponce de LeónHernán CortésFrancisco Vásquez de CoronadomissionaryPopéSir Francis Drake
At Tordesillas in 1494, Spain and Portugal dividedthe world for exploration.
SPAIN or PORTUGAL?
THE INSIDE
STORYHow did two European sea powers carve up the Americas? In 1493 Queen Isabella of Spain came to
the pope with a problem. Columbus had just returned fromhis successful first voyage, and the queen wanted to movequickly to secure Spain’s claim to the Americas. Spain’s chiefrivals, the skilled navigators of Portugal, were eager to seizeland in the New World, as were other European powers.The queen wanted the Roman Catholic Church’s stamp ofapproval on her claims before others rushed in.
Pope Alexander VI, a Spaniard himself, was happy tohelp. He drew an imaginary north-south line of demarcationfrom pole to pole in the Atlantic Ocean. Spain would controlof all the lands west of the line that did not have a Christianruler. Portugal got the lands to the east.
At the time, of course, the ocean was a great mystery.Europeans did not know what lands might lie within it andacross it. They did not know that Columbus had stumbledupon two giant continents. So the pope drew his line in thewater, dividing the ocean’s unknown lands between the twoCatholic countries in the hope of keeping the peace.
King John II of Portugal protested. The line was so fareast that it gave Portuguese navigators little room even toexplore Africa. So in 1494, Spanish and Portuguese diplo-mats met at Tordesillas, Spain, and signed a treaty movingthe line more than 800 miles west.
The Treaty of TordesillasTreaty of Tordesillas (tawr-day-SEE-yahs) gaveSpain the best deal by far. The treaty did give Portugal aclaim to Brazil, but Spain got the rest of the Americas. Notsurprisingly, England, France, and Holland did not acceptthis division of the world. European explorers also foundthat other people—Native Americans—already held aclaim to the Americas.
TAKINGNOTES
As you read,take notes
on the major explorationsafter those of Columbus.Record your notes in agraphic organizer like theone shown here.
Major Explorations
Spanish ConquistadorsA wave of Spanish exploration in the Ameri-cas followed the Treaty of Tordesillas. Because Columbus had landed in the Caribbean, the Caribbean islands became Spain’s base for exploration in the early 1500s.
The Spanish explorers of the 1500s were called conquistadors conquistadors (kahn-KEES-tuh-dawrz), from the Spanish for “conquerors.” They trav-eled to lands an ocean away for “God, gold, and glory”—in other words, to spread Christianity, find wealth, and win fame. Just as the Portu-guese had led the way in finding the sea route to India, Spanish conquistadors pioneered the exploration of the “New World.”
Ponce de León and Florida Juan Ponce de León (wahn pahn-sun-day-lee-OHN) was a Caribbean settler who had sailed with Colum-bus in 1493. He explored the island of Puerto Rico and became its governor. In 1513 Ponce de León left Puerto Rico, searching not only for gold but also for a “fountain of youth.” Accord-ing to legend, this miraculous fountain was on an island called Bimini.
On Easter Sunday 1513, Ponce de León landed on a lush, green coast. He claimed the area for Spain, naming it “La Florida”—from Pascua Florida, the Spanish term for the Eas-ter celebration. It was the first time Spanish ex-plorers had touched mainland North America.
Cortés and the Aztec The search for gold led the conquistadors to the great Native American empires you read about earlier. In 1519 Hernán Cortés (ayr-NAHN cawr-TEHZ) and his soldiers landed on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Their goal was to conquer the Aztec Empire.
Remembering ancient legends, the Aztecs thought that the invaders might be messengers from the gods. Cortés took advantage of this belief as well as the resentment of peoples the Aztecs had conquered. The Spaniards marched across Mexico, gathering allies. One of Cortés’s most valuable helpers was Malinche, an Aztec woman who served as his interpreter.
Moctezuma, the Aztec ruler, sent gifts of gold to welcome the Spanish. Other Aztec nobles saw the danger and tried to resist. But in 1521, after a long, violent siege, the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, fell to the Spanish.
Conquistadors appearedlarge and frighteningmounted on horseback.Horses, native to Europe,had never been seenbefore in the Americas.
Conquistadors traveled to Americain the 1500s. Bringing horses andguns from Spain, they conqueredhuge Native American empires.
War dogs wereanother terrifyingSpanish weapon.
The Spanish in America
41
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44 CHAPTER 2
Land and labor At first, Spanish colonists tried to use Native Americans as laborers. Under Spain’s encomienda system, landowners received grants from the king, which gave them the right to control the people of a certain area. The word encomienda comes from the Spanish word for “entrust.” Under the encomienda sys-tem, the king expected the landowners to con-vert the Native Americans to Christianity and teach them European ways. The Native Ameri-cans, for their part, were to work as laborers.
Officially, Native Americans were to be treated humanely. In reality, many were en-slaved and worked to death on huge estates called haciendas. As Native American popula-tions declined from disease and ill treatment, landowners came to depend upon the labor of enslaved Africans. Indians and Africans also were forced to work in the silver mines that came to dominate New Spain’s economy.
The Pueblo Revolt In 1598 the king of Spain sent Juan de Oñate (wahn day oh-NYAH-tay) to settle New Mexico, which Coronado had abandoned a half-century before. Oñate founded the first Spanish settlements in New Mexico. Missionary work was a major part of these set-tlements. The Spanish missionaries wanted to replace the native religions with Christianity.
In 1680 the Pueblo Indians revolted against the Spanish missionary system. A shaman
named Popé (poh-PAY) led the revolt, encourag-ing other Pueblos to rebel and take back their traditional ways of life. Many villagers joined the Pueblos.
The Pueblo Revolt began in August 1680 with an attack on Santa Fe, the Spanish capi-tal, in what is now New Mexico. After a 10-day siege, the Spanish settlers fled the city. Popé then tried to restore traditional ways and wipe out every trace of Spanish culture.
Pueblo control of Santa Fe did not last. In 1692 Spanish soldiers retook the area. Pueblo culture, however, remained strong.
READING CHECK Identifying Cause and Effect What effects did Spanish conquest and coloni-zation have on Native Americans?
Other Nations ExploreSpain soon faced competition from other Euro-pean explorers in North America. England’s King Henry VII sent out his country’s first voyage of exploration in 1497. The captain was John Cabot, an Italian navigator. Cabot crossed the Atlantic and landed in Newfoundland. Like Columbus, Cabot thought he had reached Asia. He claimed the land for England.
By the early 1500s England had come to real-ize that North America was a separate conti-nent. In 1508 Cabot’s son Sebastian launched a
A Powerful QueenUnder the rule of “Good Queen Bess”—Elizabeth I—England developed a strong navy. Elizabeth I gave her sea captains unofficial permission to raid rival ships and ports.What does this painting of the queen attempt to convey about her reign and her character? Refer to details in the painting.
EUROPEAN COLONIES IN AMERICA 45
voyage looking for a Northwest Passage, a short-cut water route to the Pacific Ocean. A route through North America remained the goal of many later explorers because it would create a shorter sea route to Asia.
England’s navy England did not act on Cabot’s North American claim until the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Elizabeth built England into a sea power. Her daring ship captains attacked Spanish ships to steal their gold and silver.
The most famous of these naval captains was Sir Francis Drake. In 1577 he circumnavi-gated the globe, plundering Spanish ships and towns on the Pacific coast of South America along the way.
During this time, religious conflicts between Catholic Spain and Protestant Eng-land erupted in war. In 1588 the Spanish king sent a fleet of ships, the Spanish Armada, to invade England. Bad weather and England’s superior navy defeated the supposedly invinci-ble Armada. The defeat of the Spanish Armada opened the Atlantic Ocean and North America to English colonizing expeditions.
New France France also joined the colonial rivalry in North America. In 1524 the French king sent Giovanni da Verrazano to explore the Atlantic coast. He explored from the present-day Carolinas as far north as Maine.
Ten years later, an explorer named Jacques Cartier (CAHR-tyay) discovered the St.
Lawrence River and claimed the land that is now Quebec. On his second voyage, Cartier sailed up the river to an island he named Montréal.
Like so many explorers before them, the French hoped to find gold. Instead, they found that New France was rich in other resources: fish and furs. In 1608 Samuel de Champlain (sham-PLAYN) founded a fur trading post at Quebec, France’s first permanent settlement in the New World.
In 1666 a French noble, the Sieur de la Salle, emigrated to become a fur trader. He explored the Great Lakes region and followed the Mis-sissippi Valley to its mouth. He claimed the territory for France, naming it Louisiana after France’s king, Louis XIV.
New Netherland The Netherlands, though a small country, had a large fleet of merchant ships that traded in Africa and Asia. After it declared independence from Spain, the Neth-erlands sought to explore North America.
In 1609 the Dutch sent English explorer Henry Hudson to look for a Northwest Pas-sage. What he actually found is now called the Hudson River.
After Hudson’s voyage, the Dutch claimed territory along the Atlantic coast. The colony of New Netherland drew settlers from all over northern Europe.
READING CHECK Identifying the MainIdea How did other nations challenge Spain’s claim toNorth America?
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People 1. a. Identify What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?
b. Contrast In what ways did the expeditions of Ponce deLeón and Cortés differ?
c. Predict How might the conquistadors’ exploration andconquest of the Americas affect the future of the region?
2. a. Recall What was the Pueblo Revolt? b. Making Inferences What differing reactions do you thinkNative Americans had to the encomienda system and to theSpanish missionaries?
3. a. Recall What other European nations explored NorthAmerica after Spain began its explorations?
b. Analyze What issue made England and Spain becomeenemies, and what happened as a result?
Critical Thinking 4. Sequencing Copy the chart below and make a time line of
major explorations after Columbus.
FOCUS ON SPEAKING
5. Expository Assume the role of a sea captain who mustappear before a European monarch to ask the king or queento sponsor an expedition to the Americas. Write out the peti-tion you would make at court. Include an explanation of howthe monarch will benefit from your voyage.
