Summary
In 1496, Diego Columbus established a settlement in Santo Domingo, located on the island of Hispaniola. It was the only secure Spanish settlement in the new world during the first decade of the 16th century. "An equivalently stable settlement was not achieved in continental America until 1510, when Balboa found Santa María la Antigua del Darién."
Spanish expansion and control quickly gained speed and by 1515, the islands of the Caribbean were under Spanish control with the conquest of Cuba and the discovery of Havana. "They became the launch pad for further adventures."
Panama became an important place for the development of the Spanish empire. There, expeditions were sent out to colonize the Pacific coast.
Hernan Cortes was the leader of a Spanish expedition to the city of Tenochtitlan, an Aztec empire, in 1519.
The Aztec monarch, Montezuma, welcomed him with gifts and a palace to stay in, in belief that he was sent from a god. However, the Spaniards took him hostage and pillaged the city.
After being driven out by the natives, small pox had wiped out many Aztecs, so Cortes and his new allies took over the city and began the start of a Spanish government. "Between 1531-1550, the Spanish gained control of northern Mexico."
Small pox had devastated the flourishing Inca Empire by wiping out entire villages and killing the Inca emperor. In 1530, Francisco PIzarro landed on the Pacific coast of South America and captured the Incan capital, Cuzco. By 1535, Pizarro had established a capital at Lima for a new colony of the Spanish empire.
Spanish expansion and control quickly gained speed and by 1515, the islands of the Caribbean were under Spanish control with the conquest of Cuba and the discovery of Havana. "They became the launch pad for further adventures."
Panama became an important place for the development of the Spanish empire. There, expeditions were sent out to colonize the Pacific coast.
Hernan Cortes was the leader of a Spanish expedition to the city of Tenochtitlan, an Aztec empire, in 1519.
The Aztec monarch, Montezuma, welcomed him with gifts and a palace to stay in, in belief that he was sent from a god. However, the Spaniards took him hostage and pillaged the city.
After being driven out by the natives, small pox had wiped out many Aztecs, so Cortes and his new allies took over the city and began the start of a Spanish government. "Between 1531-1550, the Spanish gained control of northern Mexico."
Small pox had devastated the flourishing Inca Empire by wiping out entire villages and killing the Inca emperor. In 1530, Francisco PIzarro landed on the Pacific coast of South America and captured the Incan capital, Cuzco. By 1535, Pizarro had established a capital at Lima for a new colony of the Spanish empire.
Hernan CortesCortes was born in Medellin, Spain around 1485. At the age of 19, he first set sail for the new world and later went on an expedition to Cuba. He went on an expedition to Mexico in 1519 and after conquering the natives, he was appointed governor of New Spain in 1522 by King Charles the I. In 1547, he died in Spain.
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Francisco PizarroPizarro was born in 1476 in Trujillo, Spain. In 1513, he joined Balboa in his march to the "South Sea." Pizarro and his brothers conquered Peru in 1532, and in 1535 he founded the nation's new capital, Lima. Pizarro was assassinated in Lima, Peru on June 26, 1541, by vengeful, enemy conquistadors.
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