HSY2601 The Spanish conquest of America

HSY2601 The Spanish conquest of America. The Spanish conquest of America • The American continent was isolated from other parts of the world. • There were two dominant empires there: the Aztecs in Central America and the Incas in South America. • The Spanish came across the Americas when they were trying to find a sea route to Asia by sailing westwards across the Atlantic. • They called the people they found in America the Indians, because they thought they had reached India. This study source was downloaded by from CourseH on :24:49 GMT -06:00 The process of conquest • Spanish conquest started with settlements on Caribbean islands such as Hispaniola, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. • They took over the land and introduced livestock and crops (especially sugar). • They forced the indigenous people to work for them, to learn their customs and to accept their Christian religion. This study source was downloaded by from CourseH on :24:49 GMT -06:00 The defeat of the Aztecs • The Aztec empire was large, powerful and wealthy. • Its capital, Tenochtitlan, was a large and thriving city built on an island in a lake. • Its emperor, Moctezuma, had a large army. • In 1519 a small force of Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernan Cortes, came to Mexico looking for gold and silver. • By 1522, they had defeated the Aztecs, destroyed their capital, and killed their emperor. • The Spanish victory was due to their superior weapons and the use of horses, the support of local Indians wanting freedom from Aztec control, Aztec myths and religious beliefs, and a smallpox epidemic.