European Background

1
European Background

• Renaissance1300-1600
• Europeans become more worldly, have better
  technology, and demand for luxury goods increases.

2
1492

• Columbus discovers America!
• Reconquista is complete.

3
Conquistadors

• Spanish fighters who explored and conquered vast
  tracts of North, Central, and South America. To
  serve God, the king and to get rich---or, God,
  gold and glory!

4
Hall of Fame (or Shame?)

• 1513 Ponce de Leon discovers Florida
• 1519 Hernando Cortez begins his conquest of the
  Aztecs
• 1531 Francisco Pizarro conquers the Incas

5
Cruel and Deceitful

• Pizarros feat was amazing---less than 200 men
  took over an empire of 6 million. But he was
  also cruel, killing the Inca after promising to
  release him for a huge ransom.

6
Spanish Disappointment

• North America was a disappointment because of its
  lack of gold. Settlement was limited to an arch
  of missions and a few towns, such as St.
  Augustine (1565).

7
New France

• Fish and Fur

8
Coureur De Bois

• The woods runners successfully adopted Indian
  ways and generally lived in harmony with the
  tribes. Everyone exploited the New World, just in
  different ways.