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Spain and the ‘New World’, c1490–c1555

The start of an empire

  • 3 things to know
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Overview

Balboa's sighting and claiming of the Pacific in 1513, why it mattered, Velázquez's conquest of Cuba, Hatuey, Cuba as a staging post, and Magellan's voyage from 1519 to Elcano's return in 1522.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

How did Balboa claim the new ocean?

Numbers

Who conquered Cuba, and when?

Key term

With what force did Magellan set out in 1519, and what was he looking for?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What did Balboa achieve in September 1513?

    Model answer

    He led a small force across the narrow neck of land at Panama and became the first European to see the Pacific from the Americas.

  2. 2

    How did Balboa claim the new ocean?

    Model answer

    He waded into the surf in armour holding a banner and declared the sea, and every coast it touched, the property of the crown of Castile.

  3. 3

    Why did the sighting of 1513 matter so much?

    Model answer

    It proved another ocean lay beyond the lands already found, so they could not be Asia, and it opened the Pacific coast to Spanish expeditions.

  4. 4

    Who conquered Cuba, and when?

    Model answer

    Diego Velázquez, who took the island with about 300 men between 1511 and 1514.

  5. 5

    Who was Hatuey?

    Model answer

    A Taino chief who had fled Hispaniola and led the resistance in Cuba; he was caught and burned at the stake in 1512.

  6. 6

    Why did Cuba matter to Spain once it was taken?

    Model answer

    Its harbours, farms and settlers made it the staging post where expeditions to the mainland were recruited and supplied, including the one that reached Mexico.

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