Spanish and Portuguese:

Conquest of the Americas

What was the Encomienda system?

• Basic economic model for all Spanish settlements in the new world

• Colonists or Encomenderos were granted land by the King

• Colonists were allowed the use of native laborers so long as they taught christianity to their workers

What drew Hernan Cortez and other Spaniards to the mainland?

• Gold

• Cortez was a Conquistador, or conqueror

• 1519, arrived on the coast of Mexico

• Responsible for the conquest of the Aztec Indians

Why did the Aztec’s welcome Cortez, in the beginning?

• Believed he was a god, returning to claim his kingdom

• Aztecs greeted Cortez with gifts• Cortez captured Montezuma II,

the Aztec emperor • August 1521, the Aztec capital

fell to the Spanish

What did the Spanish do with their newly conquered Aztecs?

• Controlled most of Mexico• Took all of their gold & silver• Attempted to abolish the Aztec

religion and convert natives to Christianity

• Smallpox killed thousands of Aztecs

Why was the Inca empire already in decline before the Spanish came?

• Smallpox killed almost ½ of the population in the 1520’s

• The death of their emperor from smallpox

• Civil War

How did the Spanish eventually conquer the Incas?

• Francisco Pizarro invaded 1532

• Captured the emperor & later executed him

• 1572, the Spanish defeated the last of the Inca rulers

Where did the Portuguese establish their empire?

• Brazil, claimed for Portugal by Pedro Cabral

• 1549, the Brazilian capital of Salvador was established

• Portugal established mines and agriculture

What is Mercantilism?

• Dominant economic policy of Europe between 1500 & 1800

• Idea that a country’s strength or power was dependent on its wealth in silver & gold

How did Mercantilism effect trade with colonies?

• Colonies were not allowed to trade with other European nations

• Spain became very wealthy from the silver it alone gained from its colonies

How did Mercantilism eventually hurt Spain?

• Instead of making expanding manufacturing and agriculture, Spain relied on its wealth

• Spain purchased what it needed from other nations

• Eventually Spain would be left behind by industrialized nations