Spanish conquest

Early Expeditions and Encounters

1492

Christopher Columbus
reaches the Americas, landing on an island in the Bahamas. This marks the beginning of Spanish exploration and colonization.

Early Expeditions and Encounters

1504

Columbus undertakes three more voyages to the Caribbean, exploring various islands including Hispaniola, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.

Conquest of the Caribbean

1508

Juan Ponce de León
begins the conquest of Puerto Rico.

Conquest of the Caribbean

1511

Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar
starts the connuest of Cuba.

Conquest of the Aztec Empire

1519

Hernán Cortés lands on the coast of Mexico and begins his expedition towards the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.

Conquest of the Aztec Empire

1521

Cortés captures
Tenochtitlan, leading to the fall of the Aztec Empire and the establishment of Mexico City.

Conquest of Central America

1524

Francisco Hernández de Córdoba and Gil González Dávila start the conquest of Nicaragua.

Conquest of Central America

1524

Pedro de Alvarado begins the conquest of Guatemala.

Conquest of the Inca Empire

1531

Francisco Pizarro starts
his expedition to Peru.

Conquest of the Inca Empire

1533

Pizarro captures the Inca emperor Atahualpa and subsequently conquers the Inca Empire.

Expansion into North and South America

1535

Pedro de Mendoza
establishes Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Expansion into North and South America

1537

Sebastián de
Belalcázar conquers parts of Colombia and Ecuador.

Final Stages and Consolidation

1541

Santiago is founded in Chile by Pedro de Valdivia.

Expansion into North and South America

1542

Francisco Vázquez
de Coronado explores the southwestern United States.

Final Stages and Consolidation

1542

The Spanish establish the Viceroyalty of Peru.

Final Stages and Consolidation

1562

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
founds St. Augustine in Florida, the oldest continuously inhabited European-established
settlement in the continental
United States.