United States History Student Edition

In this drawing by a native Mexican artist from the 1500s, Hernán Cortés, wearing a red coat, is shown meeting with Aztec leaders.

explorers known as conquistadors (kahn•KEES•tah•dohrz) listened eagerly. Two great Native American civilizations—the Aztec and the Inca—were the richest and most powerful kingdoms in the Americas. In 1519, the conquistador Hernán Cortés landed on the east coast of Mexico. Within two years, he conquered the Aztec Empire that had ruled the region. Huge amounts of Aztec gold made Cortés and Spain wealthy. In 1533, Francisco Pizarro led an army into the Inca capital in Cuzco, Peru. The Spanish later executed the Inca ruler. Without their leader, the Inca were not able to fight effectively. Pizarro soon controlled most of the vast and wealthy Inca Empire. Cortés and Pizarro conquered these mighty empires for many reasons. First, the Spanish had weapons and animals the Aztec and Inca had never seen. The Spanish had guns and cannons. They rode horses and had huge, ferocious dogs. Cortés also received help from some native people who were willing to overthrow their harsh rulers. Finally, disease played a large role. For many native groups, contact with the Europeans was deadly. With no immunity , or resistance, to European diseases, the Aztec and the Inca suffered terrible epidemics. Conquistadors hoped to find similar wealth to the north. Juan Ponce de León (pahn•suh day lee•OHN) made the first Spanish landing on the North American mainland in 1513. He never found the gold or the “fountain of youth” he was looking conquistador Spanish explorer in the Americas during the 1500s contact when two or more groups or objects come together immunity resistance of an organism to infection or disease

for, but his exploration led to the first Spanish settlement in what is now the United States—a fort built at St. Augustine, Florida, in the mid-1500s. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (kuh•BAY•suh duh VAH•kuh) trekked across the Southwest. When he arrived in Mexico in 1536, he told eager listeners stories he had heard about seven cities of gold called the “Seven Cities of Cíbola.” Excited by these stories, Hernando de Soto led an expedition to explore Florida and what is today the southeastern United States. After traveling west, de Soto died of fever. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (kawr•oh•NAH•doh) also searched for the Seven Cities of Cíbola. His travels took him through northern Mexico and what is today the southwestern United States. Spanish Settlement and Society A vast Spanish empire called New Spain arose from the conquistadors’ conquests. At first, New Spain included only Mexico and Central America. Eventually it spread north as parts of present-day Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California were colonized. New Spain was made up of three kinds of settlements. Pueblos , or towns, were centers of trade. Missions were religious communities. They included a church, a small town, and fields for crops. A presidio was a type of fort and was usually built near a mission. The Spanish created a strict social order in the settlements. pueblo a communal Native American structure; a town in Spanish-ruled lands mission religious community where farming was carried out and Native Americans were converted to Christianity presidio a fort

HeritagePics/Alamy Stock Photo

47

Exploration and Colonization