Chapter 1 Notes

When Two Worlds Collide Two ecosystems long separated come together with

the discovery of Christopher Columbus. From the old world came, Wheat, Sugar, rice,

coffee, horses, cows, pigs, smallpox, measles, bubonic plague, influenza, typhus, diphtheria, scarlet fever.

Gold, Silver, corn, potatoes, pineapples, tomatoes, tobacco, beans, vanilla, chocolate, Syphilis, all were taken back to Europe

In the centuries after Columbus’s arrival as many as 90% of the native population perished

The Conquistadores

The Treaty of Tordesillas 1494 set up a line of demarcation the divided the new world between rivals Portugal and Spain

Spain will dominate the exploration of the New World

God, Gold, and Glory were the three driving factors.

Balboa discovers and lays claim to all the land washed by the Pacific Ocean in 1513

Magellan will circumnavigate the globe finishing in 1522 (Magellan had actually died in the Philippines and his crew finished the voyage.)

Ponce de Leon explored Florida in 1521 Coronado 1540 -1542 tried to find the seven cities of

gold but explored much of the Southwest Hernando de Soto1539 – 1542 looking for gold

discovered the Mississippi Pizarro Crushed the Incans in Peru Cortes subdues the Aztecs in 1521. The Aztecs were

fierce warriors who practiced human sacrifice. As many as 14,000 in a 48 hour period.

Spain became extremely wealthy in new world gold and silver, causing inflation of as much as 500% in Europe.

The native population of Mexico shrank from 20 million people to 2 million in less than a century.

More than conquest however: crops and animals language and laws customs and religion – the temple sites of the Aztecs

became the sites of Catholic cathedrals in Mexico city

intermarriage with the surviving Indians created a distinctive culture the mestizos (people of mixed Indian and European blood)

The Spread of Spanish America Missions on the California coast First Spanish settlement in the U. S. St. Augustine in

Florida 1565 Santa Fe New Mexico – Indian uprising in 1680 called

the Pope’s rebellion with the pueblo Indians – Indians will destroy the Spanish settlement and kill priests and Spanish settlers – they will build their KIVAS on the ruins of the plaza at Santa Fe.

The Spanish who were a 100 years before the English were the empire builders and cultural innovators in the New World.

Spanish will fuse with the Native Americans through marriage and incorporating their culture into their own rather than shunning and isolating the Indians like the English do.