A conquistador was an explorer/general from the Spanish Empire or the Portuguese Empire. From 1460 to 1697 the two nations sent out explorers who conquered foreign lands from indigenous peoples, and they made colonies where they exported spices, silk, and other goods. In the Americas the Conquistadors were like Mafia bosses, fighting each other over their land claims, money, and honor.
History[]
The Age of Discovery began around 1460 with Henry the Navigator, who sent out Caravels and explorers to discover the New World for Portugal. Vasco de Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and he explored a new trade route to the Orient. Spain followed suit, with Christofo Colombo exploring the Caribbean in 1492-93. The Spanish would use guns, germs, and steel to conquer all of South America and Central America, but the Portuguese eventually gained Brazil from Spain and set up colonies in India. The Spanish conquistadors included Hernan Cortes, Diego Velazquez, Pedro de Alvarado, Juan Ponce de Leon, and Francisco Pizzaro, while the Portuguese had Vasco de Gama, Bartolomeu Dias, and Pedro Alvares Cabral.
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