A BRINGING TOGETHER OF THREE PEOPLES BY THE SPANISH

It is important to understand that early European exploration and settlement actually brought together people from three societies: European, Native American, and African. It is crucial to understand the complex and sophisticated nature of Native American and African civilization before each came into contact with the Europeans.

The explorations and conquests of Hernando Cortes and Francisco Pizarro should be carefully studied. Both stated a desire to convert as many natives as possible to Catholicism, and economic factors were also careful considerations in their exploits. In 1519 Cortes invaded Mexico and encountered the rich and powerful Aztecs, centered at Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City). The Aztecs were defeated two years later by the Spanish, largely because of Spanish technological advantages (they had guns, while the Aztecs did not) and because of the diseases, such as smallpox, that the Europeans gave to the Native Americans. Ten years later Pizarro defeated the Inca Empire, located in the Andes Mountains. The effects of these conquests were that shipload after shipload of gold were shipped from the Americans back to Spain; in addition, a large Spanish empire was created in the Americas. In North America both missionaries and economic opportunists from Spain eventually settled in what is now the southwestern United States and in Florida.

The effects of the Spanish conquests were numerous. The number of Native Americans living in the Americas decreased, with disease brought by the Spanish also devastating the Pueblo tribes of the Southwest and other groups in Florida and the Southeast, Territories ruled by the Spanish were harshly maintained; Native Americans were forced to work as nearslaves on Spanish plantations. In addition, horses introduced by the Spanish did much to alter Native American life in both North and South America. Plants, animals, and diseases from the Americas were also introduced for the first time to Europeans.