New Spanish
Christopher Columbus
he first sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492 and he arrived n the New World
some people already lived there, the Native Americans
The era before the Spanish arrived in America is called pre-Columbian
he believed he had found a shortcut to Asia
he didn't, the Spaniards created a group of colonies they called New Spain.
the Indies were the source of spices and China was the source of silk and tea.
Europeans were looking for a way to reach the Indies by sea
they did not know if they could sail to the Indian Ocean or how big Africa was or whether they could get around it
If the world was round then it should be possible to get to Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic, but it was risky
Columbus needed money to reach his goal to find a new route for the Indies
he began approaching kingdoms that could support his voyage, but all of them refused his proposal
until, in 1486, he went to the Spanish court
they had just completed a 10-year-long war against the Islamic Kingdom of Granada,
the kindom was rich and full of soldiers without any occupation
he made four voyages to America and mainly explored the islands in the Caribbean Sea.
Cortés and Pizarro
Spain destroyed the native empires of South and Central America, it could move in and set up colonies
Hérman Cortés
native traditions, languages, and cultures lived on.
destroyed the entire Aztec civilization with no more than 500 men.
1485–1547
This happened because the Spanish brought new disease to the Americas, and the Native Americans had no natural resistance to them.
illness spread quickly and killed 90% of the natives in the first 100 years
Francisco Pizarro
(ca. 1475 – 1541) beated the Inca's soldeirs. He founded the city of Lima, which is the present-day capital of Peru.