Conquest
of the
New
World
In 1492, Christopher Columbus, supported by
the Spanish government, undertook a voyage
to find a new route to Asia and inadvertently
encountered “new” lands in the Americas full
of long established communities and cultures.
Other European countries quickly followed suit
and began to explore and invade the New
World. Jacques Cartier undertook a voyage to
present-day Canada for the French
government, where they began the settlement
of New France, developing the fur industry and
fostering a more respectful relationship with
many of the inhabitants. The Spanish
conquistadors invaded areas of Central and
South America looking for riches, ultimately
destroying the powerful Aztec and Inca
cultures. The course of New World
explorations was deeply affected by the
invaders’ interactions with indigenous groups
—interactions that, through a combination of
violence and disease, resulted in massive
declines in indigenous populations.
EMPIRES
• The Spanish Empire
• The French Empire
• The Dutch Empire
• The British Empire
• The Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon was an early invader of the Americas, traveling
to the New World on Columbus’ second voyage. He became the first governor of Puerto Rico
in 1509. Upon the death of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish did not allow Christopher’s
son, who like his father had committed atrocities upon the indigenous peoples of the
Caribbean, to succeed him. Instead, the governors were replaced with successors from Spain.
Leon found a peninsula on the coast of North America and called the new land Florida,
chartering a colonizing expedition. His presence there was brief, however, as he was attacked
by American Indian forces and subsequently died in nearby Cuba.
• By 1565, Spanish forces looked to expand their influence and Catholic religion in the New
World by attacking the French settlement of Fort Caroline. The Spanish navy overwhelmed
200 French Huguenot settlers and slaughtered them, even as they surrendered to Spain’s
superior military. Spain formed the settlement of St. Augustine as an outpost to ensure that
French Huguenots were no longer welcome in the area. St. Augustine is the oldest
continuously occupied European-established city in North America.
• From the middle of the 16th century forward, France tried to establish several
colonies throughout North America that failed due to weather, disease, or conflict
with other European powers. A major French settlement lay on the island of
Hispaniola, where France established the colony of Saint-Domingue on the western
third of the island in 1664. Nicknamed the “Pearl of the Antilles,” Saint-Domingue
became the richest colony in the Caribbean at that time. This colonial era ended with
a slave revolt in 1791, which began the Haitian Revolution and led to freedom for the
colony’s slaves in 1794 and complete independence for the country a decade later.
France also briefly ruled the eastern portion of the island, which is now the Dominican
Republic.
• French habitants, or farmer-settlers, eked out an existence along the St. Lawrence
River. French fur traders and missionaries, however, ranged far into the interior of
North America, exploring the Great Lakes region and the Mississippi River. These
pioneers gave France somewhat inflated imperial claims to lands that nonetheless
• Seventeenth-century French and Dutch colonies in North America were
modest in comparison to Spain’s colossal global empire. New France and
New Netherland remained small commercial operations focused on the
fur trade and did not attract an influx of migrants. The Dutch in New
Netherland confined their operations to Manhattan Island, Long Island,
the Hudson River Valley, and what later became New Jersey. Dutch trade
goods circulated widely among the native peoples in these areas and also
traveled well into the interior of the continent along pre-existing native
trade routes.
• Shortly after Columbus’ first voyage to the New World, the
British Empire funded an exploratory mission of its own led by
John Cabot. Cabot explored the North American continent,
correctly deducing that the spherical shape of the earth made
the north—where the longitudes are much shorter—a quicker
route to the New World than a trip to the South Islands where
Columbus was exploring. Encouraged, he asked the English
monarchy for a more substantial expedition to further explore
and settle the lands. He was successful in obtaining the
expedition and the ships departed, never to be seen again.
• England also took over the Dutch colony of New Netherland (including the
New Amsterdam settlement), which was renamed the Province of New
York in 1664. With New Netherland, the English also came to control New
Sweden (now Delaware), which the Dutch had conquered earlier. In the
north, the Hudson Bay Company actively traded for fur with the
indigenous peoples, bringing them into competition with French,
Aboriginal, and Metis fur traders. The company came to control the entire
drainage basin of Hudson Bay, which they called Rupert’s Land.
• At the start of the 17th century, the English had not established a
permanent settlement in the Americas. Over the next century, however,
they outpaced their rivals. The English encouraged emigration far more
than the Spanish, French, or Dutch. They established nearly a dozen
colonies, sending swarms of immigrants to populate the land.
• England had experienced a dramatic rise in population in the
16th century, and the colonies appeared a welcoming place
for those who faced overcrowding and grinding poverty at
home. Thousands of English migrants arrived in the
Chesapeake Bay colonies of Virginia and Maryland to work in
the tobacco fields. Another stream, this one of pious Puritan
families, sought to live as they believed scripture demanded
and established the Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, New
Haven, Connecticut, and Rhode Island colonies of New
England.
Conquest of Latin America by the Spanish
Empire
• Beginning with the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus, the
Spanish Empire expanded for four centuries (1492–1892)
across most of present-day Central America, the Caribbean
islands, Mexico, and much of the rest of North America. The
empire also claimed territory in present-day British Columbia;
the states of Alaska, Washington, and Oregon; and the western
half of South America. Colonial expansion under the Spanish
Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadors and
developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its
administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial
expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith
through indigenous conversions.
• Columbus’ initial landing and first mainland explorations were
followed by a phase of inland expeditions and conquests in the
Caribbean and South America, where the first European settlements
occurred in the New World. After the forming of Nueva Cádiz in
Venezuela and Santa Cruz on the present-day Guajira peninsula,
explorers led by Vasco Núez de Balboa conquered areas on the coast
of present-day Colombia in 1502. This area was inhabited by the
Chibchan speaking nations, including the indigenous Muisca and
Tairona people. The Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon
traveled to the New World on Columbus’ second voyage. He
explored areas to the north, looking for a Fountain of Youth, and
landed on a peninsula on the coast of North America, which he
named Florida
Attack on the Aztecs and Mayas
• The conquistadors, believing they held considerable military
and technological superiority over the native cultures,
attacked and destroyed the Aztecs in 1521. This campaign
was led by Hernán Cortés and featured the Tlaxcala and
other indigenous peoples allied against the Mexico/Aztec
Empire. The Spanish conquest of the Maya civilization—
based in the Yucatán Peninsula of present-day Mexico and
northern Central America—was a much longer campaign,
lasting from 1551 to 1697. The day Hernán Cortés landed
ashore at present-day Veracruz, April 22, 1519, marked the
beginning of 300 years of Spanish hegemony over the region.
• By the early 16th century, Spanish conquistadors had
penetrated deep into Central and South America. European
explorers arrived at Río de la Plata in 1516. Buenos Aires, a
permanent colony, was established in 1536, and in 1537,
Asunción was established in the area that is now Paraguay.
Buenos Aires suffered attacks by the indigenous peoples that
forced the settlers away, and in 1541, the site was abandoned.
A second and permanent settlement was established in 1580,
by Juan de Garay.
Attack on the Incas
• In 1532, at the Battle of Cajamarca, a group of Spanish soldiers under
Francisco Pizarro and their indigenous Andean Indian allies, ambushed
and captured the Emperor Atahualpa of the Inca Empire. It was the first
step in a long campaign—which took advantage of a recent civil war and
the enmity of indigenous nations the Incas had subjugated—that required
decades of fighting to subdue the mightiest empire in the Americas. In the
following years, the conquistadors and indigenous allies extended their
control over the greater Andes region, leading to the establishment of the
Viceroyalty of Perú in 1542.
• The brutal practices of the conquistadors (known as the Black Legend), as
recorded by the Spanish themselves, were applied through the
encomienda, a system ostensibly set up to protect people from warring
tribes as well as to teach them the Spanish language and the Catholic
religion. In practice, though, it was tantamount to slavery.
The British Empire
John Cabot
• England’s forays into the New World began in 1497 (just a few years after
Columbus’ initial voyage) with John Cabot’s journey to North America.
British exploration of the New World centered on searching for a
northwest passage through the continent. Cabot explored the North
American coast and correctly deduced that the spherical shape of the
earth made the north—where the longitudes are much shorter—a quicker
route to the New World than a trip to the islands in the south, where
Columbus was exploring. Encouraged, he asked the English monarchy for a
more substantial expedition to further explore and settle the lands that he
found. Cabot’s ships departed, never to be seen again.
• England remained preoccupied with internal affairs for much of the 16th century.
Cabot’s adventures failed to spark much interest, and England’s break with the Catholic
church in 1533 led to decades of religious turmoil. However, by the beginning of the
17th century, under the rule of Elizabeth I, the empire had consolidated much of the
British Isles and was becoming a much more formidable force on the world stage. With
the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, England replaced Spain as the dominant
world power. This led to the gradual decline of Spanish influence in the New World and
the widening of English imperial interests.
Sir Walter Raleigh
• Sir Walter Raleigh sought to establish an empire in the New World after having gained
considerable favor from Queen Elizabeth I by suppressing rebellions in Ireland. On
March 25, 1584, the Queen granted Raleigh a charter for the colonization of the area of
North America known as Virginia. Raleigh and Elizabeth I intended that the venture
should provide riches from the New World and a base from which to send privateers on
raids against the treasure fleets of Spain. Raleigh himself never visited North America,
although he led expeditions in 1595 and 1617 to South America’s Orinoco River basin in
search of the legendary golden city of El Dorado. Supplying the colonists became
troublesome due to continuing war with Spain. The end of the colony in 1587 is
unrecorded; as a result, the Roanoke settlement is referred to as the “Lost Colony.”
There are multiple hypotheses as to the fate of the colonists, including integration into
local indigenous tribes.
Henry Hudson
• Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early
17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English
merchants to find a prospective northwest passage via a route
above the Arctic Circle. He explored the region around the modern-
day New York metropolitan area and is known for exploring the river
which eventually was named for him, thereby laying the foundation
for Dutch colonization of the region. In 1611, Hudson discovered a
strait and immense bay on his final expedition while searching for
the Northwest Passage. After wintering on the shore of James Bay,
Hudson wanted to press on to the west, but most of his crew
mutinied. The mutineers cast Hudson, his son, and seven others
adrift, and they were never seen again.
French Exploration
Giovanni da Verrazzano
• The search for a northwest passage to
Asia and the burgeoning fur trade in
Europe drove the French to explore and
settle North America. Major French
exploration of North America began under
the rule of Francis I. In 1524, Francis sent
Italian-born Giovanni da Verrazzano to
explore the region between Florida and
Newfoundland for a route to the Pacific
Ocean. Verrazzano gave the names
Francesca and Nova Gallia to that land
between New Spain and English
Newfoundland, thus promoting French
interests.
Later, in 1534, Francis sent Jacques Cartier on the first of
three voyages to explore the coast of Newfoundland
and the St. Lawrence River, to investigate whether Asian
lands could be reached from the north. His journey in
1534 retraced many of the voyages of the Vikings and
established contacts with American Indians in modern-
day Canada. He explored some of northern Canada,
established friendly relations with the American Indians,
and discovered that the St. Lawrence River region had
neither abundant gold nor a northwest passage to Asia.
Cartier attempted to create the first permanent
European settlement in North America at Cap-Rouge
(Quebec City) in 1541 with 400 settlers, but the
settlement was abandoned the next year after bad
weather and native attacks.
Champlain and New France
During the 16th century, the taming of
the Siberian wilderness by the Russians
had brought about a thriving fur trade,
which created a great demand for fur
throughout Europe. France was quick to
realize that North America held great
potential as a provider of fur. Samuel de
Champlain began the first permanent
settlement of New France and Quebec
City in present-day Canada and created
a prosperous trade with the American
Indians for beaver pelts and other
animal hides.
• Meanwhile, further to the south,
French Protestants, called
Huguenots, had the opportunity
to leave hostile European lands
while advancing French claims to
the New World. Settlements in
present-day Florida and Georgia
created tension with Spanish
conquistadors, who after
conquering Caribbean lands,
would begin to expand
northwards in search of new
territory. From the middle of the
15th century forward, France
tried to establish several other
colonies throughout North
America that failed due to
weather, disease, or conflict with
other European powers.
