PBS
Pbs: The Conquistadors
A huge website that provides a virtual field trip exploring the Spanish adventurers who quested for gold and land in the New World. The site has information on Pizarro, Orellana, Cabeza de Vaca, Cortes as well as extensive information...
Bullock Texas State History Museum
Bullock Museum: Conquistadors
Immerse in the campfire stories of the people who defined Texas. Read about the Spanish soldier-explorers who came to Texas in search of gold and glory.
Other
American Journeys: Map of the Spanish Entrada Into North America [Pdf]
Map showing the routes taken by fourteen Spanish explorers in the Americas between 1509 and 1543.
PBS
Pbs: The Conquistadors: Beginning of the End of the Inca Empire
A look at the Inca Empire as rumors began to fly about pale strangers arriving on the coast. Read about the illnesses and civil wars that weakened the empire just in time for the appearance of the conquistadors. Be sure to click on the...
PBS
Pbs: Conquistadors: Cabeza De Vaca
Click on "The Marvelous Adventure" to follow Cabeza de Vaca's several year journey through the Southeast and Texas. Part of a larger site on the Spanish conquest of the Western world, these pages focus on Cabeza de Vaca. Includes de...
PBS
Pbs: Conquistadors: Franciso Pizarro
Use the navigation at the left to click into more information on the Incas and the Spanish conquest by Francisco Pizarro.
Library of Congress
Loc: Teaching With Primary Sources: Hispanic Exploration in America [Pdf]
This is a great lesson plan from the Library of Congress that shows how to use primary sources in the examination of the Spanish Conquistadors in America. The lesson offers many possible activities for students to use with the primary...
The Newberry Library
The Aztecs and the Making of Colonial Mexico: Europeans Invade the Aztec Empire
Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes invaded the Aztec empire in the 16th century. This conquest led to the colonization of Mexico. The Newberry Library provides an in depth look into this period of Mexican history through photos,...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: The Spanish, American Beginnings: 1492 1690
Two maps and four accounts of the Spanish exploration of North America that reflect the goals of the conquistadors and fascination with the land they examined-and the brutality of their treatment of native peoples.
Other
Spanish Explorers of Texas: Alonzo Alvarez De Pineda
A short biography of the Spanish explorer, Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda.
PBS
Pbs: The Conquistadors: Aztec Life and Times
Read about what life was like for the Aztecs before the Spanish Conquest. This is part of a larger PBS site about the conquistadors.
Curated OER
National Park Service: Hernando De Soto
A biography of Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto who explored the southern coast of what became the United States. Read about his travels and demise.
Texas State Historical Association
Texas State Historical Association: Alvarez De Pineda, Alonso
An account of the Spanish expedition led by Alonso Alvarez de Pineda in 1519 that explored the Gulf of Mexico between Florida and Cabo Rojo, Mexico. The explorers tried to establish the Panuco colony but were unsuccessful.
CZBrats
Guaymi Warrior
This page is an article entitled "An Indian Warrior's Ornament," by Jose T. Tunon. It contains information about the Spanish conquistadors (colonial period of Panama's history.) There are also links to great photos.
PBS
Pbs: Conquistadors: Francisco De Orellana
This site has information on the search for El Dorado and the exploration of Amazonia by Francisco de Orellana. He travelled to the mouth of the Amazon River. The site has plenty of images, maps and video too.
PBS
Pbs: Hernan Cortes and the Fall of the Aztec Empire
Learn about the fall of the Aztec Empire. You can use the navigation tool at the left to click into more information on the Aztecs and the Spanish conquest of Cortes. Uses popups.
Other
Spain's Empire in the Americas [Ppt]
A brief slideshow that presents key ideas about the Spanish Empire in the Americas. Students must then answer four questions in an assessment.
Curated OER
Macmillan/mc Graw Hill: People, Places and Cultures: Grade 6 Unit 3 Lesson 4 Quiz
Take this five question quiz on Spanish and Portuguese exploreration.
A&E Television
History.com: Ferdinand Magellan
A biography of Ferdinand Magellan, a 16th century Portuguese explorer who travelled with a Spanish fleet, and an account of his voyage around the world, from which he did not return.
Curated OER
National Park Service: Coronado National Memorial: Coronado's Seven Cities
Read about Francisco Coronado's quest for the Seven Cities of Cibola that took him across the Southwest and into the Midwest. Included is a link to a map showing his route.
Mex Connect
Mexico's Colonial Era Part Ii: Religion and Society in New Spain
This article examines religion in Mexico beginning with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, and some of the changes since then.
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: Early Spanish Map of Peru, 1774
A facsimile of an early Spanish map of Peru and northwest South America, from the Paris (1774) edition of Zarate. The map is in French, and the map coverage extends from Panama to the Paria River delta (Orinoco) of Venezuela in the north...
Other
Aztec Centers in the Region of Lake Texcoco
A map of Lake Texcoco, showing the Aztec centers in the region at the time of the Spanish conquistadors. The entry route of Cortes into the city of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, is designated along with causeways into the city. A few...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: The First Europeans
The first Europeans to arrive in North America -- at least the first for whom there is solid evidence -- were Norse, traveling west from Greenland, where Erik the Red had founded a settlement around the year 985. In 1001 his son Leif is...