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Summarize the interaction the people of the Caribbean, Aztec, and Inca had with the exploring Spanish.

- Interactions between Caribbean & Spanish: The indigenous Taino peoples occupied the land of the caribbean and lived in small villages under authority of chiefs and had little resistance towards the European explorers. Christopher Columbus established a fort at Santo Domingo and it served as the capital of the Spanish Caribbean. The Spanish learned from the Taino that deposits of silver and gold were plentiful and the indigenous people began mining but eventually the population declined due to abuse by encomiendas and smallpox.

- Interactions between Aztec & Spanish: The Aztec society was wealthier than the Caribbean societies at Tenochtitlan and when Hernan Cortes arrived he conquered the Aztec empire with the help of Mexicas because of their tribal resentment and smallpox also helped the Spanish conquer them. The Spanish then colonized with administration centers in Mexico & Peru governed by viceroys which overall led to multicultural societies with mestizos. Many indigenous peoples worked on haciendas mining for silver but was abused by Spanish leading to rebellions.

- Interactions between Incas & Spanish: The Inca society was wealthier than the Caribbean societies at Cuzco and when Francisco Pizarro arrived he led a small group of people and took the Incan empire forming Lima with the help of their internal problems and smallpox. The Spanish controlled all the former Inca empire and made administrative centers with viceroys and often the indigenous peoples would mine for silver. Mestizo societies emerged and haciendas formed in which the abusive encomienda system took place and the indigenous peoples were mistreated and that led to resistance.