The Spanish and French Build EmpiresChapter 2 Section 1
Conquistador Chart Read pgs. 50-53
Conquistador People/Lands Conquered
Hernan Cortes
New Spain
•All the lands acquired by conquistadors in Central America and the United States
Spanish Settle the Southwest
•Failure to find gold in SW United States slowed settlement in this region▫Juan de Onate migrated north of Rio
Grande Gave thanks reaching Rio Grand
•New Mexico▫Territory north of New Spain
Built forts called presidios, for protection Few Spaniards migrated to NM
Spanish Settle the Southwest
•Driving force for colonizing in the Southwest was the Catholic Church▫Priest built missions to spread the Catholic
faith among Navajo and Pueblo people in NM
•Junipero Serra took missionaries to California▫Established a chain of missions from San
Diego to San Francisco El Camino Real=Royal Highway
Spanish Settle the Southwest
•California▫Priests and missionaries forced natives to
live close to the missions•New Mexico
▫Priest adapted to the lifestyle of the Pueblo Built churches near the Pueblo
▫Tried to end traditional Pueblo religious practices Pope ,Pueblo religious leader, organized an
uprising 17,000 warriors destroyed most of the missions
in NM
Spanish American Society• Society in the New Spain was a product of Spanish
conquest▫ Society reflected goals of conquistadors=wealth and
prestige• Encomienda System
▫ Read Encomienda System on pg. 54.• Society Based on Class
▫ Peninsulares-people born in Spain, usually appointed to highest positions
▫ Criollos (Creoles)-those born in colonies to Spanish parents, were wealthy but couldn’t obtain high colonial positions
▫ Mestizos- mixed Spanish and Native American , middle class to poor
Spanish American Society▫Mulatto- mixed African and Spanish
ancestry▫African▫Native Americans
Last 3 groups provided most of the labor New Spain's farms, ranches, and mines
•Council of Indies- advised the king and watched over all colonial activities
Mining and Ranching
•Established mines to extract minerals from the ground▫Wanted gold, instead found huge deposits
of silver in N. Mexico•Established ranches to feed the miners
▫Land was to dry to grow large amounts of food Created large ranches called haciendas,
herded sheep and cattle Were worked by vaqueros
French Empire in America
•King Francis I of France sent Giovanni Verranzo to map North America’s coast line▫Wanted to find the Northwest Passage-
northern route through N.A. to the Pacific Ocean
▫Paved the way for French explorers to explore N.A.
French Explorer
Discovery (land, lakes, rivers)
Jacques Cartier
Samuel de Champlain
Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette
Rene-Robert Cavelier de
La Salle
New France
•Colony established by the French in North America
•Life in New France▫Colony grew slowly=didn’t want to settle
Were interested in making $=fur trade coureurs de bois-runners of the woods
▫lived among Native Americans=traded fur▫Jesuit missionaries also lived among N.A.s
New France Expands
•In 1663, King Louis XIV made New France a royal colony▫Shipped 4000 immigrants
900 women=wives for single men Women married between 16 & 20=given a
royal wedding Families with more than 10
children=received financial bonuses•By 1670, population grew to 7,000 and by
1760 over 60,000
Settling Louisiana
•Count Frontenac=governor of New France▫Wanted to ship fur down Mississippi River
to Gulf of Mexico to France Unable to b/c of there were no good harbors
Heat=spoiled food Swamps=mosquitoes=malaria
•In 1698, Lord d’Iberville founded Biloxi▫Followed by Mobile and New Orleans▫Built forts up the Miss. River
Settling Louisiana
•French settlers grew several crops in S. L.A. to survive▫Sugar, rice, tobacco, and Indigo
Required hard manual labor=settlers wouldn’t work unless paid well Led to slaves being used=By 1721, 1,800
enslaved Africans
Rivalry With Spain
•French and Spanish empires bordered each other▫There was no serious threat=settling in
different areas Spain=SW U.S. French=along the Miss. River