Spanish Colonization of Americas-Readworks

When he established Hispaniola, who did Christopher Columbus take land from?

• the Indigenous Maya people of Guatemala

• the Guarani people of South America

• the Native Taíno people of the Caribbean

• the Nahua people of Mexico and El Salvador

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

The Taíno population suffered greatly because of the Spanish empire.

According to the text, what caused the population to decline?

• harsh forced labor and disease

• migration because of cold weather

• food shortages caused by flooding

• war and the ending of trade routes

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

According to the text, how did the Spanish mistreat the Indigenous people living in the Americas through the encomienda system?

• They forced Indigenous children to attend schools that did not allow them to practice their ways of life.

• They signed false treaties with Indigenous leaders and did not follow through on their promises.

• They hunted animals and stole crops from Indigenous lands without exchanging anything in return.

• They took land from Indigenous people to give to Spanish settlers and enslaved them on their own land.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RI.6.2

What is the main idea of this text?

• South and Central America were brutally conquered by Spanish conquistadors starting in the 1490s and the Indigenous peoples living there suffered greatly.

• Sugar plantations were important to the Spanish because sugar was a cash crop and plantation owners could make a lot of money by growing and selling it.

• Vasco Nùñez de Balboa was a famous Spanish conquistador who explored the Isthmus of Panama with Francisco Pizarro, another conquistador

• Christopher Columbus discovered the Caribbean islands in the 1490s and brought over settlers from Spain to be the first people to live there.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2