37. New Spain

Columbus's Proposal

Jul 1, 1485

Columbus proposed to the Spanish Crown to go out and seek a westward spice route to the Indies. His proposal gets approved.

Spain in the New World

Period: Jul 1, 1485 to Jul 1, 1600

Columbus’s first voyage to the New World

Jul 1, 1492

Columbus landed in the Americas, and claimed the land and named it New Spain

Permanent Residence

Jul 1, 1496

A permanent base for Spain in the New World was established at Santo Domingo. Columbus began his fourth and last journey to the Caribbean in 1502, and he found all of the Caribbean’s major islands.

Trip Home

Jul 1, 1504

Columbus returned to Spain in 1504 and died there in 1506 due to poor health conditions. The Caribbean islanders working as slaves were dying as well. Europe was shipping slaves from Africa to work there.

Treatment of Indians

Jul 1, 1511

In 1511 a Dominican friar, Antonio de Montesino, returned to Spain concerned about the Indians. After persuading King Ferdinand, the Laws of Burgos were produced which declared that the Indians were by nature idle and given to vice. The Spaniards were instructed to congregate the Indians into villages near where Europeans had received land grants. The Spaniards constructed churches and maintained priests, who were to give Indians instructions in the Catholic Religion. The Indians were forbi

Search for Gold

Jul 3, 1515

The gold that they had mined in Hispaniola had run down, and the search for gold elsewhere in the New World had begun. Spain assigned Herman Cortes on a mission to Mexico. At this point, the islands of the Caribbean are under Spanish control.

Aztec Empire

Jul 3, 1518

A group of Spanish explorers and the Mexicans began exchanging goods for gold. The golden objects were sent back by the Spanish commander to his superiors in Cuba. An expedition is rapidly prepared to invade the wealthy kingdom now known to exist in Mexico. Hernando Cortes was elected leader.

Hernando Cortes

Jul 7, 1519

Cortes reaches the coast of Mexico in March of 1519 with eleven ships containing men, horses, and guns. They make peace with the Indians, and presents are exchanged. Then Cortes sails further along the coast and founds a settlement at Veracruz. The next battles are with the Tlaxcala people. The Spaniards defeat them and become allies.

Cortes and the Aztec Empire

Jul 7, 1520

Cortes and his men traveled to the Aztec Empire, where they conspired with Montezuma II, the emperor. Cortes captures the empire in August of 1521. The conquest of central Mexico is complete. Cortes governs this territory for the next ten years, and it becomes the central region of the viceroyalty of New Spain

Spaniards and the Indians

Jul 7, 1600

The settlement of the New Spanish colonies is achieved by encomiendas. Indians are assigned to a conquistador, giving him the responisbilty to protect and educate them in the Christian faith. In return they do paid labor. Entire Indian villages are often commended to an individual conquistador, giving him a status similar to a feudal lord.