Narrated by Emmy® Award winning actor Jeffrey Wright, the four-part epic adventure saga airs March 28 and 29 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on The History Channel
Some came seeking incredible riches. Others sought an elusive sea passage to the Orient. Still others, personal glory. CONQUEST OF AMERICA, a four-part special presentation, tells the story of the exploration of North America through the words of the men who undertook the journeys. CONQUEST OF AMERICA airs Monday, March 28 and Tuesday, 29 at 9:00 – 11:00 ET/PT on The History Channel.
Emmy-Award winning actor Jeffrey Wright narrates the special.
CONQUEST OF AMERICA is an epic saga full of great adventures, foolish quests, unspeakable cruelty, unimaginable bravery and an unquenchable thirst for glory and riches. It is a story of lost cities of gold, legendary sea passages to China, religious wars, national pride, mutiny on the high seas and uprisings in unfamiliar lands. CONQUEST OF AMERICA is a story of European politics and intrigue. Wars fought over religion and trade in the Old World will have dire repercussions for colonists, conquerors, and conquered an ocean away.
Each episode of CONQUEST OF AMERICA crystallizes the conquest of a different geographical region of North America by focusing on a primary explorer in that territory: Francisco Vasquez de Coronado in the Southwest; Pedro Menendez and Jean Ribault in the Southeast; Henry Hudson in the Northeast; and Vitus Bering and Nicolai Rezanov in the Pacific Northwest. These stories play like amazing action-adventure tales, taken from the explorers' own journals, and the letters and writings of eyewitnesses. Dramatic dialog and scenes throughout are derived from the historical records; diaries of Europeans, and the oral histories of Native American participants.
The special is shot on location in New Mexico, Northern and Southern California, Washington State, Florida, Alaska, Maine, Connecticut, Maryland and along the Hudson River. It features breathtaking scenery, replica boats and dramatic reenactments. The series also draws on period maps and drawings. Historians add insight and perspective to the narrative.
EPISODE ONE: THE SOUTHWEST (airs Monday, March 28 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT) follows Mexican governor Francisco Vasquez de Coronado's amazing three-year journey in search of the golden city of Cibola, a journey that will take him over 7,000 miles of territory from Kansas to Arizona, past the Grand Canyon. Immediately after returning from the expedition, he is put on trial for cruelty to the Pueblo Indians.
EPISODE TWO: THE SOUTHEAST (airs Monday, March 28 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT) tells about the establishment of a French colony of Fort Caroline (in modern Florida), and the Spanish attempt to quash it and how the rivalries of European nations for new lands and the political and religious climate back home often determined life and death in these colonies.
EPISODE THREE: THE NORTHEAST (airs Tuesday, March 29 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT) sets sail with ambitious adventurer Henry Hudson and his quest for a northern sea passage to Asia. Although he fails and eventually is set adrift after a mutiny, he will be immortalized for his discovery of the Hudson River, which sets in motion the conquest of the Northeast and the establishment of a Dutch colony at the tip of the Hudson that will someday become New York City.
EPISODE FOUR: THE NORTHWEST (airs Tuesday, March 29 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT) follows the Russians led by Vitus Bering as they settle along the Alaskan islands and Pacific Northwest in search of something more valuable than gold—sea otter pelts, which can be sold in China for huge profits. When the Spaniards get wind of Russian activity in the region, they raced to establish their own settlements along the West Coast.
In their pursuit of riches and glory, the flawed heroes of CONQUEST OF AMERICA devote their lives to unfulfilled quests, sometimes unaware of what they have found or that they have begun the conquest of a continent far richer than anything in their wildest dreams, a continent of limitless natural resources and economic potential. And as conquest paves the way for colonization, it will ultimately be farmers, artisans, and merchants who lay the slow, painstaking groundwork of building new lives in a new land.
CONQUEST OF AMERICA is produced by Lone Wolf Documentary Group for The History Channel. Executive Producer for The History Channel is Margaret Kim. Lisa Wolfinger and Rocky Collins produced and directed for Lone Wolf Documentary Group.
Now reaching more than 87 million Nielsen subscribers, The History Channel®, "Where the Past Comes Alive®," brings history to life in a powerful manner and provides an inviting place where people experience history personally and connect their own lives to the great lives and events of the past. In 2004, The History Channel earned five News and Documentary Emmy® Awards and previously received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's "Save Our History®" campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel web site is located at www.History.com.
Episode One – The Southwest (Airs March 28 at 9:00 PM ET/PT)
By 1540 the Spanish have conquered the Aztecs and Incas of Mexico and Peru. A conquistador looking for new lands has only one way to go – North. Indians tell the conquerors of wealthy civilizations, which the Spanish believe are the fabled lost cities of gold. The assignment to find them goes to Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, the young governor of a province in northern Mexico.
On February 22, 1540, Vazquez de Coronado mounts the largest expedition of conquest yet assembled in North America. Over 300 Europeans and a thousand Mexican Indian allies set out to find the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola. Vazquez de Coronado pledges that violence will not be used against native tribes. But, that will end up an empty promise. After about three months and just days away from Cibola, he comes under attack. He manages to fight them off and presses towards his mark. Upon arrival in Cibola, he claims it for the Spanish crown. But there is no gold. And the natives have no intention of cooperating. Two civilizations with their own traditions and rules of warfare, with no way to communicate with one another and no common ground, are about to face off.
On July 7, the Battle of Cibola takes place. Vazquez de Coronado is wounded but survives, and the Spanish prevail. Determined to find riches, he sends his men in all directions, "to find if there is anything worthwhile, to suffer every hardship rather than abandon this enterprise." Vazquez de Coronado's men—in search of the Pacific Ocean—discover the Grand Canyon, but look at it as an obstacle, not with awe.
The quest continues into winter. Desperate for food and clothing, the conquistadors begin raiding Indian villages, and a war breaks out that lasts through the winter. The Spanish lay siege to the Indian pueblos. Hundreds of natives perish. Vazquez de Coronado ruthlessly cuts off the hands and noses of warriors from various pueblos, making them examples for anyone who would defy the Spanish.
The next spring, Vazquez de Coronado pushes east toward Quivira, home to much gold and silver, according to a captured Indian known only as "The Turk." The three-month journey leads them into present-day Kansas. But, to his dismay, there are no riches. The Turk is executed, and Coronado heads back to Mexico.
As Vazquez de Coronado's mission limps home, an expedition led by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo leaves for California. Cabrillo becomes a victim of Coronado's cruelty. Many Californian Indians do not trust any Spaniard because of what they have heard about Coronado's atrocities, and they take it out on Cabrillo's men with extreme prejudice.
Two years after returning to Mexico, Francisco Vazquez de Coronado is put on trial for cruelty to the Indians. He is eventually exonerated. While Coronado's mission can be deemed a failure, it does prove that there are no mythical riches in the region. It will be almost 60 years before Spaniards begin building small settlements in New Mexico, and almost 250 years before more Spaniards establish missionary outposts in California, (as a response to the threat of Russian encroachment from the North: see episode 4.) Thus, one of the first areas in North America to be explored is the last to be settled.
Episode Two – The Southeast (Airs March 28 at 10:00 PM ET/PT)
Old World rivalries spill over onto the virgin soil of Florida as France and Spain clash over their ambitions for a New World Empire.
Spain’s ability to amass great wealth in gold and silver from her South American colonies drives other European countries mad with envy. But, Spain has yet to establish a colony in North America, and France sees an opportunity. Although France and Spain are officially at peace, French privateers prey on Spain's fleet of treasures, the economic lifeline of the empire.
In June 1562, Catherine de Medici, the Queen Regent of France, sanctions a secret expedition to explore the southeast coast of North America. The French, led by Jean Ribault, arrive without alerting the Spanish of their presence. A handful of men are left behind to start a colony, while Ribault returns to France to resupply. But, before he can return, war between Catholics and Protestants (or Huguenots) breaks out in France and Ribault flees to England. When relations sour between the two countries, Ribault is arrested.
By 1563, the Catholics defeat the Protestants, and France begins preparations to send a ship back to their North American colony. The Protestant French believe they can prove their worth by joining this expedition to expand France’s empire overseas. With Ribault still a prisoner in England, Rene de Laudonniére, Ribault's second in command, is tapped to lead the expedition. But before he ships out, he is informed by a handful of colonial survivors who managed to return to France that the original colony collapsed from starvation and Indian attacks shortly after Ribault left.
On June 22, 1564, the French land near present-day Jacksonville, Florida and establish Fort Caroline. As months go by, food supplies begin to dwindle, and relations with the Indians deteriorate. In October, Ribault is released from prison and returns to France. Meanwhile, mutineers from the French colony raid Spanish ships, alerting Spain of the French presence. In 1565, Captain of the Treasure Fleet, Pedro Menendez, is summoned to exterminate the French heretics in Florida and build a Spanish settlement.
Two fleets -- one French and one Spanish -- race across the Atlantic to confront each other far from the eyes of the world. Ribault arrives first at Fort Caroline, while Menendez claims Florida for Spain and digs in to defend against a French attack at St. Augustine. Ribault leads an attack against the Spanish, but a hurricane decimates the French fleet. Menendez stages a daring land raid against the weakened French and captures Fort Caroline, killing all but a few French Catholics in the fort. Upon returning to St. Augustine, he finds the decimated French sailors defenseless. Ribault and his men are slaughtered, ending France's dreams of a New World empire.
Menendez rules as Florida governor for nine years, but his ambitious vision for Florida is never fully realized. St. Augustine becomes the first permanent settlement in Florida, and remains the oldest continuously occupied town in the U.S. The French shift their attention far to the north to Canada, and to the interior of the continent down the Mississippi at New Orleans.
Episode Three – The Northeast (Airs March 29 at 9:00 pm ET/PT)
The Dutch, English and French, each want a share of the lucrative East Indies trade. But, the only way to do that is to find a northern sea passage to Asia and circumvent the Spanish and Portuguese controlled southern trade route around Africa. Conquering America is the last thing on their mind. One man’s obsession to find the passage lead to a discovery that will change the course of history.
It is one of the great intellectual debates of the day: is there a northern sea route to the East Indies? Henry Hudson is chosen by a large English merchant company to lead what will be the first of four epic voyages in search of a northern passage.
The first voyage fails in 1607 due to freezing temperatures, snow, and frozen rigging that makes sailing near impossible. In April 1608, Hudson tries a different route--this time to the northeast, and over Russia to the Orient. In Arctic Canada, ice and a mutinous crew thwart him.
When his sponsors back out, he seeks new backing, and finds it in the tiny but wealthy new Dutch Republic. The Dutch East India Company is on its way to becoming the largest, richest, and most powerful company in the world, and it commissions Hudson to try again. On April 6, 1609, Hudson sets sail from Amsterdam on his ship, the Half Moon. Despite harsh conditions, he pushes on, knowing that he will face severe consequences in Holland if he fails. In July, he arrives at Nova Scotia, and begins working down the coast as far as Chesapeake Bay for a strait that will lead to the Pacific. On his return trip north, he thinks he’s found it. He sails up what will be known as the Hudson River, only to realize he has failed again.
In 1610, short-cuts to Asia take a back seat to the news about the profits that can be made from the fur trade in North America. But Hudson never wavers from his goal. A group of English merchants and financiers provide Hudson with a ship, the Discovery, the largest ship he has commanded to date. On August 2, 1610, after a long and arduous voyage, the Discovery enters what is now known as Hudson Bay. Hudson is convinced he has found his Northwest Passage. The ship gets trapped in ice and the men endure a harsh winter. In May 1611, his crew mutinies, and Hudson is set adrift, never to be seen again. The survivors announce that they have conclusively found the Northwest Passage to the Orient and have the charts to prove it, but the deception doesn't last long. In 1612, a new expedition explores the area and exposes the lie: Hudson found a great bay, Hudson Bay, but he did not find a passage.
Hudson's obsessive search for a short cut to Asia and his ultimate failure leads to something far more significant--the conquest and colonization of Northeast America. The Dutch colony of New Netherlands, founded in 1624, is a model of multiculturalism and religious tolerance. By contrast, the English have only established a shaky beachhead in Virginia and the Pilgrims won't land for a few more years. The Dutch and the English soon become enemies, and the American northeast will experience decades of Anglo-Dutch conflict before it is resolved in 1664, when the English take-over the thriving Dutch colony—a colony that will one day become New York City.
Episode Four – The Northwest (Airs March 29 at 10:00 PM ET/PT)
By 1725, Russia is the only major European nation that has not yet taken part in the conquest of the new world. That is about to change. Peter the Great is interested in knowing whether or not Asia and North America are connected at any point, and just how far Spain’s empire stretches northward in North America. Peter selects Danish sea captain Vitus Bering to lead an expedition that will be a direct challenge to Spanish, English and French dominance in North America.
After Bering's first trip ends in failure, he mounts the largest and longest expedition of discovery ever undertaken, starting in St. Petersburg, and going across Siberia to the Pacific. On July 16, 1741, eight years after starting out, he finds Alaska. However, the glory is short-lived. His men lack drinking water and many die from scurvy. On November 6, 1741, Bering also perishes.
However, survivors of Bering's expedition return with something that gets Russia's attention--a fortune in furs. For the next two decades, Russia manages to keep its lucrative source of furs secret. But in 1765, foreign diplomats begin to hear rumors of a place called "Russian America." Some say it is Catherine the Great herself who, through a slip of the tongue, tips off ambassadors from France, England and Spain.
On June 27, 1776 – six days before the signing of the Declaration of Independence – two hundred soldiers, missionaries and poor settlers from Mexico arrive on Indian land near what is now San Francisco. At the same time, England sends her greatest explorer to check out Russian settlements in the North Pacific: Captain James Cook. Cook's men have no idea until they reach the Orient that the sea otter pelts they have been using as doormats and blankets command such a high value. Fur fever spreads around the world. British, American and French traders head for Alaska to cash in.
With other colonial powers now coming to the Pacific Northwest, Russia must move to protect her assets. The Russian American Company is given a monopoly in 1799, and in 1806 a company official -Nicolai Rezanov – comes to Alaska for an inspection. Dwindling supplies and attacks by the Tlingit Indians force Rezanov to make a bold maneuver and try to purchase supplies from Spain. Events back in Europe complicate matters however; Spain and Russia find themselves on opposite sides of a Napoleonic war in Europe. Rezanov’s solution? Propose to the young Spanish daughter of the California governor. Surely, the Spanish would not refuse the husband of one of their own?
Rezanov reaches a trade accord with the Spanish colonies in America, but it never comes to fruition as he dies while on a return trip to St. Petersburg. Russia starts its own colonial plantation 100 miles north of San Francisco, and the two countries seek a tentative peace while their motherlands are at war. Facing hostile Indians and lack of support back home, Russia eventually sells the land to John Sutter in 1841 for the equivalent of $30,000 dollars. Seven years later, California becomes part of the United States, and gold is discovered on Sutter’s land near Sacramento. The California gold rush will finish what the sea otter rush has started, the conquest of the last corner of America, the Pacific Northwest.
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