New Spain was established after the Spanish conquest of Mexico to give the Spanish crown control over the region. It was led by a Viceroy with limited power who was advised by an Audiencia. Gold and silver were the main exports, and New Spain became highly urbanized with over 200 towns by 1628. Starting in the 1530s, the Spanish began exploring North America in search of gold and silver, led by explorers like Cabeza de Vaca, Hernando de Soto, and Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, though they found no major riches. The Spanish then focused on establishing the colony of Florida in 1565 to counter the French, but other than St. Augustine, these early colonies failed

2. 
 New Spain was created shortly after Mexico’s conquest
by Cortes
 The Viceroyalty was set up to leave majority of power
with the crown
 Viceroy had limited power
 An Audiencia was set up to help the Viceroy
 No elected assembly
 Colonies led by three groups: Viceroy, Archbishop,
Audiencia
 Gold and Silver were the main exports out of the region
 New Spain also became highly urbanized for a colony
 210 chartered towns by 1628 AD
Creation of New Spain

3. 
North American
Exploration
 After 1530’s the Spanish
began to look to the fringes of
the America’s for opportunity
 Focus was on gaining access
to gold and silver
 Rumors drove much of the
exploration
 Cabeza de Vaca was the first
Spaniard to explore North
America
 Traveled in North America
from 1528 to 1536 traveling
from Texas to Central Mexico
 Was revered by the Native
Americans for his “Healing
Powers”
 Despite his report of no
precious metals exploration
soared after his return

5. 
De Soto Exploration
 Hernando de Soto led first
major expedition into the
Southeast
 Had participated in the
conquest of Central America
and Peru but wanted more
 Explored from 1539-43
 Relied heavily on local
Natives for support but
treated them terribly
 Soto never found any
precious metals and died on
the banks of the Mississippi in
1542
 The rest of the force soon gave
up and returned to Mexico

6. 
Coronado’s Expedition
 Started with the false report
from Fray Marcos de Niza
 Francisco Vasquez de
Coronado led main
expedition in 1640
 The Spanish soon discovered
the truth
 Coronado proceeds across the
Rio Grande looking for riches
 First runs into the Pueblo
peoples
 They tell him of the city of
Quivira sending him into the
Great Plains
 Proceeded to Massacre the
pueblos on their return to
Mexico in 1542

7. 
 Due to the combination of the failures of northern
expeditions and need to protect Mexico Spanish focus
switched to Florida
 Pedro Menendez de Aviles charged with setting up a
colony to counter the French at Fort Carolina in 1565
 Menendez and his soldiers surprised the French and
massacred them
 He then proceeded to found San Agustin in 1565
 Menendez went on to build a number of other forts along
the coast even as far north as the Chesapeake
 Despite this early success by 1587 all of the Spanish
possessions other than San Agustin failed
Florida

8. 
 As Florida was shrinking the Spanish once again looked
to the Rio Grande valley for expansion/protection
 The Spanish also changed their tactics with the adoption
of the Royal Orders for New Discoveries in 1573
 Stated all new conquest were called “pacifications”
 Called for adelantado’s to act peacefully
 Don Juan de Onate was given the Adelantado for the Rio
Grande Valley calling it New Mexico
 In 1598 Onate set off with 500 colonists founding their
settlement in the middle of a Pueblo community
New Mexico Colony

9. 
New Mexico Cont.
 Onate was focused on gaining
support for the colony via silver
mines which failed to materialize
 He then turned to the Great
Plains and the pacific coast but
found nothing
 As a result the Pueblo’s fell
victim to Spanish atrocities due to
Onate’s inability to lead
 Finally in 1607 Onate was
removed from power and the
Franciscan’s took control of the
colony
 While the colony continued to
remain poor and weak the
Franciscans did enjoy success
converting the Pueblo’s
 By 1628 the friars had spread 50
missions through the Rio Grande
Valley mainly in existing Pueblo
villages