After finding gold in recoverable quantities nearby, the Spanish quickly overran the island and spread to Puerto Rico in 1508, to Jamaica in 1509, and to Cuba in 1511. What was the first Spanish settlement in North America?
Full Answer
Where did the Portuguese settle in the New World?
At the turn of the 17th century, with the union with Castile, the Spanish kings favored the free movement of the people, and other lands of the New World, such as Peru and the Gulf of Mexico, were open to the Portuguese merchants. The Portuguese founded the first Uruguayan city, Colónia do Sacramento, and Guanare in Venezuela.
Why did the Spanish and Portuguese explore the world?
There were different reasons for the Spanish and Portuguese exploration, with the Portuguese establishing a trading post empire to protect their goods, and Spain focusing on empire-building. Part of this Age of Discovery was the creation of a new occupation, that of conquistador.
How did the acquisition of the new world affect Spain?
Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella promoted the acquisition of these new lands in order to strengthen and glorify their own empire. As Spain’s empire expanded and riches flowed in from the Americas, the Spanish experienced a golden age of art and literature.
What was the significance of the Portuguese colonization of the Atlantic?
Portuguese colonization of Atlantic islands in the 1400s inaugurated an era of aggressive European expansion across the Atlantic. In the 1500s, Spain surpassed Portugal as the dominant European power.
How did Spanish and Portuguese settlement spread?
Hoping to salvage Portugal's Atlantic holdings, King João II began negotiations with Spain. The resulting Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 drew a north-to-south line through South America; Spain gained territory west of the line, while Portugal retained the lands east of the line, including the east coast of Brazil.
How did Spanish and Portuguese went to America?
Although Portugal opened the door to exploration of the Atlantic World, Spanish explorers quickly made inroads into the Americas. Spurred by Christopher Columbus's glowing reports of the riches to be found in the New World, throngs of Spanish conquistadors set off to find and conquer new lands.
How did the Spanish and Portuguese colonize the New World?
On June 7, 1494, the governments of Spain and Portugal agreed to the Treaty of Tordesillas, named for the city in Spain in which it was created. The Treaty of Tordesillas neatly divided the “New World” of the Americas between the two superpowers.
How did the Portuguese and Spanish motives for exploration and colonization differ?
Spain was more uncompromising with its colonies' natives; whereas, Portugal would do this only in situations of economic opportunity. Nonetheless, both Spain and Portugal had the initial will, sufficient military strength, and the systems of slavery and trade, at that time, to consolidate and support colonies.
Why did Spain and Portugal lead the way in exploration?
Motivated by curiosity, a desire to expand into new places, a longing to spread Christianity, and especially, a hope to tap into the lucrative Far East trade, Europeans of the 15th and 16th centuries looked outward and began to explore their world.
What are two reasons why the Spanish and Portuguese established colonies in South America?
The crown created civil and religious structures to administer the vast territory. The main motivations for colonial expansion were profit through resource extraction and the spread of Catholicism through indigenous conversions.
Why and how the Spaniards and Portuguese came to the East?
Spain and Portugal wanted to break the Italian monopoly on trade with the East and avoid hostile powers along the Silk Road. The best way to do this was to find a sea route to Asia. The desire to find such a route is what led to the European Age of Exploration.
What were the three main motivating factors for Spanish to begin colonizing?
Motivations for colonization: Spain's colonization goals were to extract gold and silver from the Americas, to stimulate the Spanish economy and make Spain a more powerful country. Spain also aimed to convert Native Americans to Christianity.
When did Spanish and Portuguese split?
Portugal's independence was recognized in 1143 by King Alfonso VII of León and in 1179 by Pope Alexander III. Portugal's Reconquista finished in 1249. Spain began with the Union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon in 1469, although it was not until 1516 when they had a single unified King.
How did the Spanish and the Portuguese establish their empires in the Americas so quickly?
How did the Spanish and the Portuguese establish their empires in the Americas so quickly? The Spanish exploited both the resentment of the Aztec subject peoples and the chaotic royal succession of the Inca. European horses and guns scared the Amerindians.
Why were the Portuguese so successful in their explorations?
Under the leadership of Prince Henry the Navigator, Portugal took the principal role during most of the fifteenth century in searching for a route to Asia by sailing south around Africa. In the process, the Portuguese accumulated a wealth of knowledge about navigation and the geography of the Atlantic Ocean.
What were the results of Spanish and Portuguese conquests in America?
What were the results of Spanish and Portuguese conquests in America? Spain created an empire by destroying civilizations and killing the native population. Portugal took control of Brazil.
How did the Portuguese get to America?
After succeeding in finding a maritime route to the East, Portugal left Spain to concentrate on the Americas, opened up by Christopher Columbus's (1451–1506) voyages in 1492.
Why did the Portuguese come to America?
Portuguese from the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands manned New England's whaling ships. They signed on as low-paid laborers in order to avoid military service and to escape the poverty in which they lived at home. Many of them settled in New England, especially around New Bedford, Massachusetts.
How did the Spanish discover America?
In 1493, during his second voyage, Columbus founded Isabela, the first permanent Spanish settlement in the New World, on Hispaniola. After finding gold in recoverable quantities nearby, the Spanish quickly overran the island and spread to Puerto Rico in 1508, to Jamaica in 1509, and to Cuba in 1511.
Why and how the Spaniards and Portuguese came to the East?
Spain and Portugal wanted to break the Italian monopoly on trade with the East and avoid hostile powers along the Silk Road. The best way to do this was to find a sea route to Asia. The desire to find such a route is what led to the European Age of Exploration.
PORTUGUESE EXPLORATION
Portugal’s Prince Henry the Navigator spearheaded his country’s exploration of Africa and the Atlantic in the 1400s. With his support, Portuguese mariners successfully navigated an eastward route to Africa, establishing a foothold there that became a foundation of their nation’s trade empire in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
SPANISH EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST
The Spanish established the first European settlements in the Americas, beginning in the Caribbean and, by 1600, extending throughout Central and South America. Thousands of Spaniards flocked to the Americas seeking wealth and status.
THE SPANISH GOLDEN AGE
Explore the collection at The Cervantes Project for images, complete texts, and other resources relating to Cervantes’s works.
Section Summary
Although Portugal opened the door to exploration of the Atlantic World, Spanish explorers quickly made inroads into the Americas. Spurred by Christopher Columbus’s glowing reports of the riches to be found in the New World, throngs of Spanish conquistadors set off to find and conquer new lands.
Civil governance
The empire in the Indies was a newly established dependency of the kingdom of Castile alone, so crown power was not impeded by any existing cortes (i.e. parliament), administrative or ecclesiastical institution, or seigneurial group.
Catholic Church organization
During the early colonial period, the crown authorized friars of Catholic religious orders ( Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians) to function as priests during the conversion of indigenous populations.
Society
It has been estimated that over 1.86 million Spaniards emigrated to Latin America in the period between 1492 and 1824, with millions more continuing to immigrate following independence.
Economy
In areas of dense, stratified indigenous populations, especially Mesoamerica and the Andean region, Spanish conquerors awarded perpetual private grants of labor and tribute particular indigenous settlements, in encomienda were in a privileged position to accumulate private wealth.
19th century
During the Napoleonic Peninsular War in Europe between France and Spain, assemblies called juntas were established to rule in the name of Ferdinand VII of Spain . The Libertadores (Spanish and Portuguese for "Liberators") were the principal leaders of the Spanish American wars of independence.
In popular culture
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Dominions
Spanish and Portuguese empires. Settlement in the Americas, ca. 1600. Although the crowns asserted sovereignty over great expanses of territory, this modern map shows the sparseness of actual European settlement in dark blue.
Settlements in North America
Portuguese North America (in present-day Canada ); Vaz Dourado, c.1576.
Colonization of Brazil
In 1549, the Captaincy Colonies of Brazil were united into the Governorate General of Brazil, where they were provincial captaincies of Brazil; Luís Teixeira, 1574.
Caribbean merchants
The Early Navigators practically have been to the entire Caribbean, from The Bahamas to Jamaica. Papiamento, one of the languages spoken in the islands, is a mixture of Portuguese , Spanish and African languages.
Colonization of Uruguay and Venezuela
The Portuguese founded the first Uruguayan city, Colónia do Sacramento, and Guanare in Venezuela.
External links
The Corte-Real explorations of North America in the official Library and Archives Canada website.
Overview
Imperial expansion
The expansion of Spain’s territory took place under the Catholic Monarchs Isabella of Castile, Queen of Castile and her husband King Ferdinand, King of Aragon, whose marriage marked the beginning of Spanish power beyond the Iberian peninsula. They pursued a policy of joint rule of their kingdoms and created the initial stage of a single Spanish monarchy, completed under the eig…
Civil governance
The empire in the Indies was a newly established dependency of the kingdom of Castile alone, so crown power was not impeded by any existing cortes (i.e. parliament), administrative or ecclesiastical institution, or seigneurial group. The crown sought to establish and maintain control over its overseas possessions through a complex, hierarchical bureaucracy, which in many ways was decentr…
Catholic Church organization
During the early colonial period, the crown authorized friars of Catholic religious orders (Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians) to function as priests during the conversion of indigenous populations. During the early Age of Discovery, the diocesan clergy in Spain was poorly educated and considered of a low moral standing, and the Catholic Monarchs were reluctant to allow them to spearhea…
Society
It has been estimated that over 1.86 million Spaniards emigrated to Latin America in the period between 1492 and 1824, with millions more continuing to immigrate following independence.
Native populations declined significantly during the period of Spanish expansion. In Hispaniola, the indigenous Taíno pre-contact population before t…
Economy
In areas of dense, stratified indigenous populations, especially Mesoamerica and the Andean region, Spanish conquerors awarded perpetual private grants of labor and tribute to particular indigenous settlements, in encomienda they were in a privileged position to accumulate private wealth. Spaniards had some knowledge of the existing indigenous practices of labor and tribute, so that lea…
19th century
During the Napoleonic Peninsular War in Europe between France and Spain, assemblies called juntas were established to rule in the name of Ferdinand VII of Spain. The Libertadores (Spanish and Portuguese for "Liberators") were the principal leaders of the Spanish American wars of independence. They were predominantly criollos (Americas-born people of European ancestry, mostly Spanish or Portuguese), bourgeois and influenced by liberalism and in some cases with mi…
In popular culture
In the twentieth century, there have been a number of films depicting the life of Christopher Columbus. One in 1949 stars Frederic March as Columbus. With the 1992 commemoration (and critique) of Columbus, more cinematic and television depictions of the era appeared, including a TV miniseries with Gabriel Byrne as Columbus. Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) has Georges Corroface as Columbus with Marlon Brando as Tomás de Torquemada and Tom Selleck a…