C
While flames still flickered in the shattered capital, Cortés laid plans for the
colony of New Spain, whose capital he called Mexico City. Within three years,
Spanish churches and homes rose from the foundations of old native temples and
palaces in Mexico City. Cathedrals and a university followed.
SPANISH PATTERN OF CONQUEST
In building their new American empire, the
Spaniards drew from techniques used during the reconquest of Spain from the
Moors, a Muslim people from North Africa who had occupied Spain for centuries.
When conquering the Moors in the late 1400s, the Spanish lived
among them and imposed upon them their Spanish culture.
Spanish settlers in the Americas were mostly men and were
known as peninsulares. Marriage between peninsulares and native
women was common. These marriages created a large mestizo—
or mixed Spanish and Native American—population. Their
descendants live today in Mexico, other Latin American coun-
tries, and the United States.
Although the Spanish conquerors lived among and inter-
married with the native people, they also oppressed them. In their
effort to exploit the land for its precious resources, the Spanish
forced the native workers to labor within a system known as
encomienda, in which the natives farmed, ranched, or mined for Spanish land-
lords, who had received the rights to their labor from Spanish authorities.
The harsh pattern of labor that emerged under the encomienda caused priests
such as Antonio de Montesinos to demand its end in a sermon delivered in 1511.
A PERSONAL VOICE FRAY ANTONIO DE MONTESINOS
“ Tell me, by what right or justice do you hold these Indians in such a cruel and
horrible servitude? . . . Why do you keep them so oppressed and exhausted,
without giving them enough to eat or curing them of the sicknesses they incur
from the excessive labor you give them? . . . Are you not bound to love them as
you love yourselves? Don’t you understand this? Don’t you feel this?
”
—quoted in Reflections, Writing for Columbus
In 1542, the Spanish monarchy, which had tried to encourage fair treat-
ment of native subjects, abolished the encomienda. To meet their intense labor
needs, the Spaniards instead turned to other labor systems and began to use
African slaves.
The Conquistadors Push North
Dreaming of new conquests and more gold, and afraid that European nations might
invade their American empire from the north, Spain undertook a series of expedi-
tions into what would become the southeastern and southwestern United States.
EXPLORING FLORIDA
In 1513, on Easter Sunday—a day the Spaniards called
pascua florida, or “feast of flowers”— explorer Juan Ponce de León spied a tree-
covered beach. In honor of the holiday, he named the land La Florida. For almost
five decades, the Spanish probed La Florida and the surrounding areas for gold,
battling the local residents, disease, and starvation. In 1562, discouraged by the
lack of economic success, Spain abandoned further exploration of Florida.
Within months of Spain’s departure, a band of French settlers arrived near
what is now Jacksonville. Accompanying the settlers were French pirates, or buc-
caneers, who quickly took interest in Spain’s treasure-filled ships sailing from the
Gulf of Mexico. Consequently, Spain reversed its decision to abandon Florida and
ordered one of its fiercest warriors, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, to drive the French
out of the area.
38 C
HAPTER 2
“ You and your
people, . . . entering
with such speed
and fury into
my country, . . .
as to strike terror
into our hearts.”
NATIVE AMERICAN CHIEF, TO SPANISH
EXPLORER HERNANDO DE SOTO
MAIN IDEA
MAIN IDEA
C
Analyzing
Causes
Why did the
Spanish begin to
use African slaves
on their plantations
in the New World?
C. Answer
They needed
slaves to work
in the mines and
plantations after
the Spanish
monarchy
abolished the
encomienda.
Geography
Skillbuilder
Answers
1. Four.
2. English: 1497,
1609, and 1610.
They explored
the east coast
and upper
Canada.
French: 1524
and 1534–35. In
1673 and 1682,
they explored
parts of Canada
and the mid-
western and
southern United
States.
