Get a broad overview of the key things to know for Period 1.

Bartolome de las Casas was a 16th century Spanish friar and social reformer. Bartolome was the first Spaniard, and by default, the first European, to begin to advocate for the rights of the Native Americans in the New World.

In 1492, Columbus sails the ocean blue and establishes contact between two worlds, the New World and the Old World, and this contact would change things forever. This is the Columbian Exchange.

Who are the European men that decimated the empire to the New World and established land claims for Spain and Portugal across South and Central America? These bold adventurers are known as the conquistadors, and that’s what we’re gonna be talking about today.

What is the encomienda system? How did it come to be? The encomienda system is a labor system established by the Spanish Crown in the 1500s. This new system rewarded Spanish explorers, conquistadors, and military men with land in the New World. But they didn’t just get the land, they got the labor of the people living on the land as well.

Can a new business structure change the world? Yes, absolutely. How is that possible? The answer can be found in the joint stock company.

How does exploration in the 16th century change a nation founded 200 years later?

Find out in this video.

Do you know who won the first morality debate about European colonization in the New World? Let’s take to look the Valladolid Debate of 1550, the first ethics debate of European colonization.

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