allies, spearheaded by a small Spanish force of conquistadors. The Aztecs did not govern over an empire in the conventional sense but were the rulers of a The Spanish colonization of the Americas began in 1493 on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) after the initial 1492 voyage of Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus under license from Queen Isabella I of Castile. These overseas territories of the Spanish Empire were under the jurisdiction of Crown of Castile until the last territory was lost in 1898. Spaniards The spectacular conquests of central Mexico (1519–1521) and Peru (1532) sparked Spaniards' hopes of finding yet another high civilization. Expeditions continued into the 1540s and regional capitals founded by the 1550s. Among the most notable expeditions are Hernando de Soto into southeast North America, leaving from Cuba (1539–1542); Francisco Vázquez de Coronado to northern Mexico (1540–1542), and Gonzalo Pizarro to Amazonia, leaving from Quito, Ecuador (1541–1542). In 1561, Pedro de Ursúa led an expedition of some 370 Spanish (including women and children) into Amazonia to search for El Dorado. Far more famous now is Lope de Aguirre, who led a mutiny against Ursúa, who was murdered. Aguirre subsequently wrote a letter to Philip II bitterly complaining about the treatment of conquerors like himself in the wake of the assertion of crown control over Peru. An earlier expedition that left in 1527 was led by Pánfilo Narváez, who was killed early on. Survivors continued to travel among indigenous groups in the North American south and southwest until 1536. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was one of four survivors of that expedition, writing an account of it. The crown later sent him to Asunción, Paraguay to be adelantado there. Expeditions continued to explore territories in hopes of finding another Aztec or Inca empire, with no further success. Francisco de Ibarra led an expedition from Zacatecas in northern New Spain, and fo Portugal's claim to part of South America under the Treaty of Tordesillas resulted in the creation of Portuguese colony of Brazil. Although during the rule of Charles V, the Spanish Empire was the first to be called "The empire on which the sun never sets", under Philip II the permanent colonization of the Philippine Islands made it demonstrably true. === General principles of expansion === The Spanish expansion has sometimes been succinctly summed up as being motivated by "gold, glory, God", that is, the search for material wealth, the enhancement of the In the extension of Spanish sovereignty to its overseas territories, authority for expeditions (entradas) of discovery, conquest, and settlement resided in the monarchy. Expeditions required authorization by the crown, which laid out the terms of such expedition. Virtually all expeditions after the Columbus voyages, which were funded by the crown of Castile, were done at the expense of the leader of the expedition and its participants. Although often the participants, conquistadors, are now termed "soldiers", they were not paid soldiers in ranks of an army, but rather soldiers of fortune, who joined an expedition with the expectation of profiting from it. Unlike Spanish contact with indigenous populations in the Caribbean, which involved limited armed combat and sometimes the participation of indigenous allies, the conquest of central Mexico was protracted and necessitated significant numbers of indigenous allies, who chose to participate in defeating the Aztec Empire for their own purposes. The conquest of the Aztec Empire involved the combined effort of armies from many indigenous allies, spearheaded by a small Spanish force of conquistadors. Records of the conquest of central Mexico include accounts by the expedition leader Hernán Cortés, Bernal Díaz del Castillo and other Spanish conquistadors, indigenous allies from the city-states altepetl of Tlaxcala, Texcoco, and Huexotzinco. In addition, indigenous accounts were written by the defeated from the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, a case of history being written by those other than the victors. The capture of the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II, by Cortés was not a brilliant stroke of innovation, but came from the playbook that the Spanish developed during their period in the Caribbean. In the following years the conquistadors and indigenous allies extended control over Greater Andes Region. The Viceroyalty of Perú was established in 1542. The last Inca stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572. Peru was the last territory on the continent under Spanish rule, which ended on 9 December 1824 at the Battle of Ayacucho (Spanish rule continued until 1898 in Cuba and Puerto Rico). === Chile === Chile was explored by Spaniards based in Peru, where Spaniards found the fertile soil and mild climate attractive. The Mapuche people of Chile, whom the Spaniards called Araucanians, resisted fiercely. Expeditions continued to explore territories in hopes of finding another Aztec or Inca empire, with no further success. Francisco de Ibarra led an expedition from Zacatecas in northern New Spain, and founded Durango. Juan de Oñate, is sometimes referred to as "the Last Conquistador", expanded Spanish sovereignty over what is now New Mexico. Like previous conquistadors, Oñate engaged in widespread abuses of the Indian population. Shortly after founding Santa Fe, Oñate was recalled to Mexico City by the Spanish authorities. He was subsequently tried and convicted of cruelty to both natives and colonists and banished from New Mexico for life. Enslaved Africans were imported to Spanish territories, primarily to Cuba. As was the case in peninsular Spain, Africans (negros) were able buy their freedom (horro), so that in most of the empire free Blacks and Mulatto (Black + Spanish) populations outnumbered slave populations. Spaniards and Indigenous parents produced Mestizo offspring, who were also part of the República de Españoles.

In his expedition (1531–1532) he entered its principal outlet, the Boca de Navios, and, at the cost of many lives, ascended to the junction of the Meta with the parent stream. From Ordaz up to recent times the Orinoco has been the scene of many voyages of discovery, including those in quest of El Dorado, and some scientific surveys have been made, especially among its upper waters, by Jose Solano and Diaz de la Fuente of the Spanish boundary line commission of Yturriaga and Solano (1757–1763), Humboldt (1800) and Michelena y Rojas (1855–1857). The last ascended to the Mawaca, a point about 170 m. above the northern entrance to the Casiquiare canal, and then a few miles up the Mawaca. A little knowledge about its sources above these points was given by the savages to de la Fuente in 1759 and to Mendoza in 1764, and we are also indebted to Humboldt for some vague data. At the date of the discovery, the Orinoco, like the Amazon, bore different names, according to those of the tribes occupying its margins. The conquistador Ordaz found that, at its mouth, it was called the Uriaparia, this being the name of the cacique of the tribe there. The first to explore any portion of the mighty river was the reckless and daring adventurer Ordaz. In his expedition (1531–1532) he entered its principal outlet, the Boca de Navios, and, at the cost of many lives, ascended to the junction of the Meta with the parent stream. From Ordaz up to recent times the Orinoco has been the scene of many voyages of discovery, including those in quest of El Dorado, and some scientific surveys have been made, especially among its upper waters, by Jose Solano and Diaz de la Fuente of the Spanish boundary line commission of Yturriaga and Solano (1757–1763), Humboldt (1800) and Michelena y Rojas (1855–1857). The last ascended to the Mawaca, a point about 170 m. above the northern entrance to the Casiquiare canal, and then a few miles up the Mawaca. A little knowledge about its sources above these points was given by the savages to de la Fuente in 1759 and to Mendoza in 1764, and we are also indebted to Humboldt for some vague data. At the date of the discovery, the Orinoco, like the Amazon, bore different names, according to those of the tribes occupying its margins. The conquistador Ordaz found that, at its mouth, it was called the Uriaparia, this being the name of the cacique of the tribe there. In the dry season, however, it is obstructed by reefs, sandbanks, shallows, snags, trees and floating timber from the “Apostadero” up, so that even canoes find its ascent difficult, while savage hordes along its banks add to the dangers to be encountered. The Guaviare is the next great western tributary of the Orinoco. Eugenio Alvarado, a Spanish commissioner for the boundary delimitation of Colombia with Brazil in 1759, informed the viceroy at Bogota that the rivers Arivari and Guayabero rise between Neiva and Popayan, and unite to take the composite name of Guaviare. In those times they called it Guaibari, or Guayuare. The Guaviare is about 500 m. The delta is also cut into many irregular divisions by other canals which derive their flow from its great boundary rivers, the Corosimi and Vagre, and its numerous islands and vast swamps are covered with a dense vegetation. The Boca Grande outlet is the deepest, and is the main navigable entrance to the Orinoco at all seasons, the muddy bar usually maintaining a depth of 16 ft. The Spanish conquistador and his descendants have not been a blessing to the basin of the Orinoco. All they can boast of is the destruction of its population and products, so that the number of inhabitants of one of the richest valleys in the world is less to-day than it was four centuries ago.