THE AMERICAS AND OCEANIA

HERNAN CORTES

• He was searching for Gold, God, and Glory.
• He was trying to establish a new Spanish Empire in the New World
• by creating an imperialistic system in these Latin American regions.

POLITICAL STRUCTURES

• Spanish government took the form of a monarchy.
• The king/queen was assisted by a council of Indies,
• an advisory committee consisting mainly of lawyers

SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN SPANISH AMERICA

• The top of the social class included people born in Spain
• Then came the creoles, who were Spanish-born in colonies
• Then came Mestizos, who were a mix of Natives and Spaniards
• And finally came the native peoples

PORTUGAL AND BRAZIL

• Brazil was claimed by Portugal in April 1500
• The Portuguese discovered Silver,
• which made them interested in Brazil.
• They used African slaves to mine for Silver.

RELATIONSHIP WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

• The French and the English did not have good relations with Natives
• French and English looked down upon these people,
• This created a negative relationship.
• The Native Americans were also mistreated by Europeans.

TREATY OF TORDESILLAS

• Divide the land between Spain and Portugal
• Divided along meridian 100 leagues west of Cape Verde Islands
• The papal bill also specified that lands under Christian princes would remain
• under the control of these individuals.