Transcript East Meets West

The Conquistadors

 Columbus takes gold from the Hispaniola islanders
 Cortez came to Mexico and formed alliances with
groups that were conquered by the Aztecs
 Cortez saw the Aztec’s “city of gold” and even though their
leader welcomed them, they captured and destroyed
Tenochtitlan
 The conquistadors took all the gold and silver that
the Natives had and then forced them to mine more
 Forced labor in New Spain was called the encomienda
system
The Encomienda System

 Viceroys were
given the
responsibility
of watching
over “New
Spain” in
making sure
everything runs
smoothly
Cultural Blending

 When the explorers and merchants came to the
Americas, it was mostly men that came.
 There was a lot of mixed races because of this.
 Even though Spanish culture was dominant in cities,
there was a lot of Native American influences in
buildings, foods, and art.
 When African slave trade started to come to the
Americas, there was a new layer of cultural
blending.
Treaty of Tordesillas

 When explorations started to increase rapidly, all of
the major countries involved started to fight over
who owns which areas.
 The pope decided to divide the world into two, half
for Spain and half for Portugal
 This was called the Treaty of Tordesillas
 Portugal gained Brazil according to the treaty and
also invoked a slavery system for the Native
Americans.
French Exploration

 Samuel de Champlain
built the first French
permanent settlement in
Quebec.
 Jesuits sent missionaries
all around the Canada
are to convert Native
Americans
 Settlers changed from
being farmers to fur
trappers.
English Colonies

 The first few tries to settle in the Americas were
failures: Jamestown and Roanoke
 Eventually the Pilgrims came to Plymouth and
signed the Mayflower Compact, which was the first
government document in our history
 13 colonies were created as a safe haven for the
religious persecuted
British-French Rivalry

 Because of the competition of resources, there was
fierce rivalry.
 This led to the Seven Years War between Britain and
France, fighting over land
 The French had the Native Americans on their side
while the British had the colonists
 The French had more land but the British had more
people living in the Americas