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SPANISH
HISTORYThe Spanish came to South America in 1492 when Christopher Colombus with his flagships the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Niña, looking for an all-water route to India, discovered the Indies of the Caribbean. They landed first at San Salvador, later at Cuba, and finally Haiti. (Mark this on a map.) Columbus died thinking that he had reached "the Indies" (Asia). In those days Spain was looking to expand her empire through trade and through discovering and conquering new places in the name of the King and Queen (Ferdinand and Isabella). Spain became commander of the open sea and established colonies in the newly discovered lands. Colombus returned to South America in 1493 on his second voyage, discovering Dominica, the Virgin Islands, back to Haiti and Cuba where he captured natives and took their gold to return with him to Spain. In 1498 Columbus sailed again and found Trinidad, then sighted Venezuela and the mainland of South America. In 1502 Columbus began his fourth voyage and discovered Martinique, returned to Haiti, continued westward reaching Honduras and explored the coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Now that Columbus had shown the way, a hundred other mariners rushed to the New World.
In
1497 Vespucci explored the coast of Venezuela and Vasco DeGama set out to
sail around South Africa (the Cape of Good Hope) to reach India and
establish a trade route to the East from Europe.
In 1500 Cabral explored the coast of Brazil and Ponzon discovered the
Amazon.
In 1513 Vasco Nuñez de Balboa sighted the Pacific and Ponce de Leon
discovered Florida.
In 1517 Hernandez Cordova discovered the Maya culture in the Yucutan.
In 1521 Hernando Cortez conquered the Aztec civilization.
Da Gama
In 1526-32 Pizarro conquered Peru and destroyed the Inca civilazation.
In 1520 Fernao de Magellan circumnavigated the globe.
Sebastian Cabot explored Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay
With these discoveries came about a great commercial revolution. More and more of the Americas' gold went to Spain. The Spanish conquered and sometimes colonized these newly discovered lands. Christianity was spread over a vast hemisphere, so that the Roman Catholic Church gained many more adherents in the New World. The Spanish and Portuguese languages were given to Latin America.
The 1500's was an exciting age for geography. Reports poured in from
missionaries, conquistadores, navigators, and travelers adding immensely to
Europe's knowledge of the globe. In this period the Spanish conquered Peru,
Central America and Mexico. The Spanish and Portuguese were interested in
lands that held precious metals, especially silver and gold, which they
would send to Spain. The Spanish held areas of North America: now
California, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, Florida. De Soto
crossed Florida and the Gulf States into Oklahoma. Pedro de Alvarado
discovered the empire of Texas and Francisco de Coronado moved through
Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma to Kansas. Hernando de Alvarado came to
Northern New Mexico in 1540.
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