Embedded Files
NINETEENTH-CENTURY ARTWORK BY GALLO GALLINA ILLUSTRATING ONE OF THE MANY CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE SPANISH CONQUISTADORS AND THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE AMERICAS
INTRODUCTION
In 1492 the explorer Christopher Columbus set off from Spain in search of a sea route between Europe and Asia. He returned in triumph to Europe believing he had found a quick path to the riches of the Orient. Columbus had mistakenly discovered something far more important than a sea route. Columbus had sailed to the Americas.
With this discovery the European known world doubled in size, and a vast empire opened up to Spain. Columbus presented the evidence of his discovery to the court of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. He offered some gold ornaments, specimens of unusual plant and animal life and six native people from the Americas. As news of the discovery spread, another group of explorers followed the path set by Columbus. These adventurers were called conquistadors.
Within 50 years the conquistadors dragged two great empires, Aztec and Inca, under Spanish control. The conquistadors brought terrible destruction as they marched their way across the mountains and deserts of the Americas. The combined force of armed invasion and European disease crushed civilisations that had developed and flourished on the great continent over thousands of years. The meeting of the conquistadors of Europe and the people of the Americas brought great change and eventually created a ‘New World’.
1. Civilisations and cities of Pre-Columbian lIfe
2. Society in the Pre Columbian area
4. Belief systems in Tenochtitlan
5. Reasons for Spanish conquest & settlement in the Americas
6. Spanish conquered societies
7. Geographic features influencing Spanish conquest of the Aztec world
Page updated
Report abuse