SPANISH EXPLORERS

ESSENTIAL QUESTION1. What motivated the Spanish to explore the world?

Do Now

2. Who are the Spanish Explorers that you already know?3. Why do you think someone would want to be a explorer?

THE AGE OF EXPLORATIONWho were the explorers, where did they go, & how did they change world history?

SPANISH EXPLORER NOTESIn your notebooks

Copy information about each of the Spanish Explorers

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

• Made 4 voyages to the Americas between 1492 – 1504

• His reports of lands, peoples, and wealth drew other explorers after him.

BUILDING A SPANISH EMPIRE

“God, gold, and glory” • The three major motives

for conquering the region

• They wanted to spread the Christian religion, gain wealth, and win fame.

Hidalgos – adventurous young Spanish gentlemen led expeditions against Muslims in Spain for the same three motives.The conquistadors, or Spanish conquerors of the Americas, were continuing the tradition.

SPAIN’S MAJOR EXPLORERS

JUAN PONCE DE LEON Born to an upper class

familyAn isthmus is a narrow

strip of land that joins two larger land areas.

In 1513 Balboa and his Spanish companions became the first known Europeans to see the Pacific Ocean from the American continent.

Born into an upper class family in SpainFought against the MuslimsWhile searching in vain for the “fountain of youth,” he explored and named Florida in 1513.

VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA

EXPLORERS CONTINUEDFerdinand Magellan• First to cross the Pacific Ocean starting from the Americas. In

1519. They sailed for 99 days without fresh food or water. Starving, they were forced to eat the leather on the rigging of their ships.

• Portuguese, yet explored in Spanish ships for the Spanish king.

• Straits of Magellan…crossed the stormy tip of South America.

• Magellan was later killed in a fight with the people of the Philippine Islands.

• His crew continued on. After a three year voyage, they became the first humans known to sail around the Entire earth.

EXPLORERS CONTINUED

Hernan Cortes• Spanish explorer eager for wealth.• In 1519, he was sent by the Spanish governor of Cuba to conquer the vast

empire ruled by the Aztec people in Mexico.• The Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, had 400,000 inhabitants and was one of the

world’s largest urban centers.• The Aztecs governed 20 million people, a population twice as large as Spain’s

at the time.• Cortez had a force of 600 men.• Cortez learned the Native Americans in the area hated the Aztecs for

conquering and sacrificing untold numbers of them in brutal ceremonies.• With the help of a Native American princess, Malinche or Dona Marina, Cortez

played on the divisions among the NA and rallied thousands of them to his side.

• By 1521 Cortez and his soldiers had destroyed Tenochtitlan, and Cortez became conqueror of one of the largest empires in the world.

EXPLORER’S CONTINUED

Francisco Pizarro• Set out to conquer the

empire of the Incas, entered in what is now Peru in South America

• The Incas continued to resist as the Spanish attempted to take control of more and more of their empire.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Open google classroom

Read the two passages Spanish Explorers and Age of Exploration

Create a new document

Answer the questions in complete sentences on the new document

Spanish Explorers Mini-Biography VideosIf you finish the reading assignment early

Go to:

http://www.biography.com/people/groups/famous-spanish-explorers

Watch the mini Biography videos for a few of the spanish explorers.

EXIT SLIP1. Which reason is not one of the 3’gs (reasons why the Spanish wanted to explore the world.)

A.GoldB.GloryC.GodD.Globalization

2. Which Spanish explorer was first to circumnavigate the globe?E. ColumbusF. Magellan G.PizarroH.Ponce de Leon