United States History Student Edition

SPANISH EXPLORERS, 1513–1542 In the early 1500s, Spanish explorers traveled through parts of what is today the southeastern and southwestern United States, searching for gold.

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GEOGRAPHY CONNECTION 1. Patterns and Movement Which conquistador explored areas along the southern half of the Mississippi River?

The highest social class was the peninsulares , or people born in Spain. They were landowners, government leaders, and heads of the Catholic Church. Next were the Creoles, people born in the Americas whose parents were Spanish. The next level below were the mestizos (meh•STEE•zohs), people with one Spanish and one Native American parent. Still lower were native people and enslaved Africans. As Spain colonized North America, they brought with them disease and enslavement to the native peoples living there. In the 1500s, the Spanish and Portuguese received gold, silver, copper, dyes, tobacco, and sugar from their American colonies. They first used Native Americans as enslaved laborers in mines and fields. A Spanish priest, Bartolomé de Las Casas (bahr•TOH•loh•may day lahs KAHS•ahs), spoke out against the cruel treatment of Native Americans. He suggested replacing them with enslaved Africans—a suggestion he bitterly regretted later. By the mid-1500s, the Spanish and Portuguese were bringing enslaved Africans from West Africa to the Americas. The Africans who survived the brutal ocean voyage were sold to

forcibly work in the mines and on plantations, or large farms, in the Americas. By the late 1500s, enslaved people were an essential part of the economy of the colonies. 7 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 1. Explaining What was the significance of Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition? 2. Summarizing What kinds of settlements did the Spanish build in the Americas? LESSON ACTIVITIES 1. Explanatory Writing Write a paragraph explaining why Portugal was a leader in exploration. 2. Analyzing Information In the description of Dias’s expedition, the term pilots is used as a noun to refer to someone who navigates a ship. The word pilot can also be used as a verb meaning “to steer or guide.” With a partner, choose one explorer from the lesson and write two sentences that describe that explorer’s journey—one that uses pilot as a noun and another that uses pilot as a verb.

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