Latin American Colonization

The Spaniards were technologically superior. They had firearms, swords, horses, and dogs trained for warfare. Yet they were only a small number of men before an empire.

Nov 9, 2009 - Sandra Gross

Christopher Columbus' initial landing at Salt River Bay in 1493 established the first European contact with what is now referred to as the United States Virgin Islands.

Oct 29, 2009 - Adam C'DeBaca

The Encomienda System was established in response to the colonists' need for Indian labour, but became the most destructive system in the history of Spanish America.

Apr 8, 2009 - Deanna Proach

Spain's preoccupation with gold and silver mining led to shortsighted outcomes resulting in European inflation and several national bankruptcies.

Mar 3, 2009 - Michael Streich

Mexicans have struggled for their own distinct identity since the effects of the Spanish Colonization.

Jan 3, 2009 - Arash Farzaneh

Moctezuma and the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan were expecting a god. Instead, they got Hernán Cortés and his merciless conquistadors, who brought them ruin.

Jan 14, 2008 - Henry Ramsager

Columbus spent his last days poor and embittered. And recent evidence has revealed that Columbus did not die from gout as was always thought but from heart failure.

Nov 3, 2007 - Henry Ramsager

Balboa was just about to embark on a new expedition to Peru, when he was arrested and charged with treason, after which he was inconvenienced by the removal of his head.

Oct 26, 2007 - Henry Ramsager

Vasco Núñez de Balboa had the privilege of being the first European to view the Pacific Ocean from the east after crossing the Isthmus of Panama.

Oct 24, 2007 - Henry Ramsager

Amerigo Vespucci was one of the early explorers to reach the New World. He was a contemporary of Columbus and is likewise well remembered--but mainly for his name.

Sep 20, 2007 - Henry Ramsager

Christopher Columbus was born into a wool-weaving family and, like many young men growing up in the port city of Genoa, Italy, went to sea at an early age.

May 29, 2007 - Henry Ramsager

The years leading up to Columbus' 1492 voyage were busy ones for the young, enterprising Genoan.

May 29, 2007 - Henry Ramsager

With a little persuasion, Portugal's most famous explorer was able to convince Spain's King Charles that he was the right explorer to get the spice-route-finding job done

May 22, 2007 - Henry Ramsager

Life for the common seaman aboard the Columbus voyages of discovery was fraught with peril and hardship, both real and imagined.

Aug 20, 2006 - Henry Ramsager

The arrival of Columbus in the New World ushered in an unprecedented era of wanton destruction, slaughter and abuse in the name of Christian enlightenment.

Aug 12, 2006 - Henry Ramsager

While on his third voyage, Columbus thought he'd reached the Garden of Eden; instead, he was soon to find himself in irons being shipped back in disgrace to Spain.

Aug 5, 2006 - Henry Ramsager