<P> The Spanish began building up their American empire in the Caribbean , using islands such as Cuba , Puerto Rico , and Hispaniola as bases . The North and South American mainland fell to the conquistadors . Florida fell to Juan Ponce de León after 1513 . From 1519 to 1521 , Hernán Cortés waged a brutal campaign against the Aztec Empire , ruled by Moctezuma II . The Aztec capital , Tenochtitlan , became Mexico City , the chief city of what the Spanish were now calling `` New Spain . '' Later , the areas that are today California , Arizona , New Mexico , Colorado , Texas , Missouri , Louisiana , and Alabama were taken over by other conquistadors , such as Hernando de Soto , Francisco Vázquez de Coronado , and Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca . Farther to the south , Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire during the 1530s . </P>
<P> The Spanish began building up their American empire in the Caribbean , using islands such as Cuba , Puerto Rico , and Hispaniola as bases . The North and South American mainland fell to the conquistadors . Florida fell to Juan Ponce de León after 1513 . From 1519 to 1521 , Hernán Cortés waged a brutal campaign against the Aztec Empire , ruled by Moctezuma II . The Aztec capital , Tenochtitlan , became Mexico City , the chief city of what the Spanish were now calling `` New Spain . '' Later , the areas that are today California , Arizona , New Mexico , Colorado , Texas , Missouri , Louisiana , and Alabama were taken over by other conquistadors , such as Hernando de Soto , Francisco Vázquez de Coronado , and Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca . Farther to the south , Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire during the 1530s . </P>
the american southwest was settled by european colonists from
the american southwest was settled by european colonists from
Spain
Spain