Spain's Empire in the Americas by Destiny

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Spain's Empire in the Americas

Published on Nov 23, 2015

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In 1519, the area near Tabasco, Mexico changed
Hernando Cortes brought an army into the Americas, ready to claim land for Spain.
The Aztecs were no match for Hernando Cortes and his army and Tabasco was claimed for Spain

Photo by RauLopez

Cortes conquered tried to the Aztec with 600 soldiers, 17 horses, numerous dogs and 10 cannons.
Cortes look upon the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. The Spainards were intrigued with the capital, because of its engineering and temples.
In the the spring of 1520, the Aztec rebelled against the Spaniards.
By the time Hernando Cortes begun a counterattack, smallpox and measles had mostly wiped out Aztec forces.
The Aztecs surrendered to Cortes forces after several months of fighting and Tenochtitlan was conquered and burned down.

Cortes made plans for the colony of New Spain, including a capital he called Mexico City

Spanish settlers in the Americans were mostly men and known as peninsulares.
It was common for marriages between native women and peninsulares to take place.
Marriages like this created mestizos or mixed Spanish and Native American populated families.
The Spanish forced the native to work along with the natives in the mestizos to labor with the system known as the encomienda.
Spanish priests such as Antonio De Montesinos felt that the encomienda was harsh and deliver the sermon in 1511 demanding it's end.

The Spanish monarchy agreeing with the priests, abolished the encomienda in 1542

In 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon spotted a beach and in honor of the Spanish holiday Pascua Florida or feast of flower,s he named the land La Florida
The Spanish searched Florida and surrounding areas for gold while having to deal with local residents, disease, and starvation
In 1562, the Spanish abandoned any further exploration of Florida because of the lack of success.
This however, tempted the French to try to search for gold and other wealth in Florida in what is now Jacksonville.
The Spanish sent in one of their best warriors Pedro Menendez de Aviles to drive away the French

Aviles drove out the French, but in 1565, he established an outpost that he called St. Augustine
St. Augustine is the oldest European-founded city in present day in the United States.

The Catholic Missionary of Mexico tried to the native people and impose spanish culture on them.
The natives resisted and eventually rebelled against the Spaniards.
Spanish priests and soldiers smashed and burned items deemed sacred to the native locals.
In the 1670s priests and soldiers of Santa Fe forced the locals to help support missions by paying a tribute and/or manual labor
Native Americans that refused to pay tribute or practiced native religions were beaten.

"One unfortunate Native American who felt the sting of the Spanish whip was the Pueblo religious leader Pope.
Pope was punished for his worship practices. The punishment left Pope with hatred for the Spanish and ready for rebellion.
In 1680, a well organized coup by Pope was planned with 17,000+ people from villages around Mexico.
The local army destroyed Spanish churches, killed priests and drove the Spanish back to New Spain
The Native Americans finally gained back the land and culture that was originally there's.

"Although the Spanish tried to regain control of the Americas, the British defeated the Spanish Armada, ending Spanish dominance in the Atlantic."
England will begin starting colonies along eastern North America, expanding what will then be called the New World