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Oct 12, 1492
Christopher Columbus lands in the Americas (San Salvador island)
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May 4, 1493
Papal Bull Inter Caetera grants Spain rights to colonize lands west of a meridian in the Atlantic.
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Feb 12, 1502
First Franciscan missionaries arrive in Hispaniola.
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Jan 20, 1503
Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) is created in Seville to control commerce with the colonies.
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Dec 27, 1512
Laws of Burgos are enacted, the first legal code governing the treatment of Indigenous peoples.
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Apr 2, 1513
Juan Ponce de León lands in Florida, the first documented European arrival in what is now the continental U.S.
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Aug 16, 1519
Hernán Cortés begins march to Tenochtitlán (Aztec capital).
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Aug 9, 1521
Fall of Tenochtitlán; the Aztec Empire is conquered.
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Jul 8, 1524
Council of the Indies is established to oversee colonial governance.
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Nov 16, 1532
Francisco Pizarro captures Atahualpa, emperor of the Inca Empire.
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Jul 26, 1533
Execution of Atahualpa; the Inca Empire begins to fall.
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Nov 14, 1535
Creation of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (capital: Mexico City).
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Jun 2, 1537
Pope Paul III issues Sublimis Deus, declaring Indigenous people as rational beings with souls.
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Nov 20, 1542
New Laws are issued to regulate the encomienda system and protect Indigenous rights.
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Mar 1, 1543
Creation of the Viceroyalty of Peru (capital: Lima).
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1546
Jesuits begin missions in Brazil and later expand into Paraguay and the Río de la Plata region.
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May 18, 1551
Founding of the University of San Marcos in Lima, the oldest in the Americas.
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Jan 22, 1565
Founding of St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest European city in what is now the U.S.
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1571
Establishment of the Inquisition in New Spain to enforce Catholic orthodoxy.
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Mar 28, 1573
Philip II issues Royal Ordinances regulating the establishment of new towns and missions.
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Creation of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (capital: Bogotá).
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Expulsion of the Jesuits from all Spanish territories, including the Americas.
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Creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (capital: Buenos Aires).