How Did Spain Conquer The Aztecs

The Aztecs, part of modern day Mexico, were once the epitome of fine culture. They began their rule of southern and central Mexico during the 14th century and practiced an incredibly wealthy lifestyle. Nonetheless, this rule began to deteriorate when Spanish explorers disembarked at Tabasco and Vera Cruz on April 21st 1519. When the Spanish voyagers first arrived, they were welcomed warmly, respectfully and received Godlike treatment. Montezuma, the ruler at that time, believed that the Spanish military leader, Hernán Cortés, was the great god Quetzalcoatl. The Spanish took advantage of this Aztec belief and conquered Mexico within two years. By 1521, the Aztec culture was officially eradicated and a new culture, consisting of a

Miguel Leon-Portilla author of Broken Spears- The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico, tells the story of the Spanish conquest over the Aztecs from the Aztec point of view. It is more familiar in history that the Spanish led by Hernan Cortez defeated the Aztecs with a powerful army and established an easy victory all while having intentions to gain power and greed. However, Leon-Portilla focuses on the Aztec Empire and their story. Leon-Portilla does a great job giving readers the real occurrences and events from Aztec members. This paper argues that history must be told from all sides. It is more common to hear about the Spanish conquest

The actions of the Europeans nations like the Spanish and the many others were to most importantly colonize the New World and gather valuable resources there. It wasn’t until the Europeans and more specifically Cortes and Francisco did their actions become taking down the two major civilizations in the New World. These two and their actions had a great impact on the culture and the economy of the two civilizations that completely changed the course of history. Not only were the men able to defeat the Incas and the Aztecs they completely took over the areas and were able to eliminate the two greatest kings in the nation. Even though they did have a little advantage when it came to firepower these two were smart enough to trick the leaders and allow themselves to conquer theses civilizations in a short span of time.

Back in chapter one it states that Spain was one of the first European countries to ever encounter Native Americans. Spain was also well equipped to take on whatever the new world had to throw at them. So in 1519 Herna Cortes and 600 soldiers landed on the coast of Mexico and encountered the Aztec Indians. The Aztecs large in number, but not in technology, could not stop the Spanish Flint lock and Horses with the technology Cortes had killed over 200,000 Aztecs compared to a 2,400 mortality rate on his end After the battle of Tenochtitlan the current leader Cuauhtémoc of the Aztecs decided to surrender so from this they lost everything to Spain by 1521. Spain was really cruel to the Indians when they wanted to be nice by given them gifts of gold, fur, and feathers, but instead of being nice in return they took them for everything they had. But not all Europeans come off like this the French were quite the

So the Spanish could easily penetrate any armour the Aztecs had, but the Aztecs would have lots of difficulty trying to break any of the Spanish armour. They also had horses, which the Aztecs had never seen in their life, which gave them a height advantage, and makes it harder for Aztecs to hit them. http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-enabled-spanish-defeat-aztecs-353188 Fri 7 August

The final Spanish conquistadors’ motive that greatly affected the people living in the new world was glory. This motive is plain to see in documents 3 and 5. In document three Cortez talks about how the war that he and his men are fighting in will bring them fame. In document five it’s the same thing it is Cortez who is plowing through the Indians land conquering everybody for respect in Spain. Now when you look at how did this affect the Native Americans you see that the Spanish conquistadors’ obsession with glory ended up harming Indians because the Spanish wanted conquer Indian lands so that they could win respect back in Spain.

Hernán Cortés first landed on the coast of modern day Mexico in 1519. He had traveled by sea from Spain and brought men, horses, cannons, and many other supplies with him. He had heard of a few Spanish explores that tried to take the land were repelled by native indians know as the Aztecs but was determined to claim the land. At first the Aztecs thought that Cortés was a god and respected him, but that only lasted for a little while and then they saw him as an enemy. Cortés and his men marched toward the Aztec capital called Tinochitlán and when they finally reached it they were blown away by its beauty and design.

Before the 15th century, the Indians in the Americas were not connected with the world and would remain that way until Columbus's exploration. In the beginning of 15th century, the Aztecs were the dominant group in Mesoamerica leaded by Montezuma, the last leader, before the Spanish conquest. In 1519, Hernan Cortez led the Spanish mission to explore and conquer the New World. This paper will compare three primary sources about this event. First, an informing letter sent from Cortez to King Charles V, the king of Spain. Second, the Broken Spears which is an Indian recollection about the conquest of Mexico. Lastly, Bernal Diaz’s (one of Cortez’s men) account was written by him to share his experience with Aztec

In 1519, Hernan Cortes set sail toward Yucatan, Mexico. The Spaniards were excited for being able to settle in this place for the first time. In Tabasco, Mexico Cortes ran into some resistant natives. He cleared them out with ease, until they were forced to surrender. They gave him supplies and then he left. His mind was set to conquering the Aztecs. He had heard of them and he knew that they were very important in Mexico and he wanted to overthrow them. While they were parading through Mexico they encountered the rivals of the Aztecs, called Tlaxcalans, which were another tribe in Mexico. They became very important allies for the Spanish, during their upcoming siege on the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlan. When Cortes arrived, the Aztecs actually though he was their God, Quetzalcoatl, and their leader treated him with a big party. This was because their God was supposed to be returning to Earth that day. The Spaniards wanted to make themselves look powerful, so they fired shots into the air, to scare the Aztecs. They further entered the city and started to sack the whole thing, with the help of the Tlaxcalans and Doña Marina. They took Montezuma (the Aztec leader) hostage. Cortes manipulated him and ruled the city that way. While Montezuma was captured and the Spaniards were ruling the city, another Spanish force arrived from Cuba. Cortes stormed the

For thousands of years mankind has felt an insatiable desire to explore. Many people groups from around the world have discovered and conquered new lands. The Spanish Conquistadors are among these. In the 1500s, there were many compelling incentives luring them to gain control of the Aztec Empire in New Spain (Mexico). What impelled the Conquistadors to conquer the Aztecs was a desire to spread the teachings of the Christian church, to gain wealth allowing them to establish roots in New Spain, and to develop relationships between the Aztecs and the continental Spaniards.

The Spanish were successful in their conquest of the Aztec Empire for numerous reasons. They were intimidating in appearance and in their weaponry. They had animals that the Aztecs had never seen before. They also formed alliances with rival tribes, like the Tlaxcaltecas tribe. Finally, one of the key reasons that the Spaniards were able to successfully conquer the Aztecs was due to the fact that Motecuhzoma himself, believed that Cortes and his men were gods.

The letter written in 1524 by the Aztec Priests in response to the Spanish was mainly for the Aztecs people to “defend the legitimacy of their own customs and how most Aztecs did not want to renounce their own religion in favor of Catholicism.” Also, if they did listen to the Spanish king’s rule, they would be going against their own God. The Aztec Priests made sure to list numerous of examples to why they went against the Spanish who were trying to change their religious believes. For instance, in the letter the Priests stated, “you say our gods are not true gods. The new words that you put utter are what confuse us; due to them we feel foreboding. Our makers [our ancestors] who came to live on earth never uttered such words. They gave us

Mexico was one of the main points of the conquistadors’ conquest. Mexico was home to two of the biggest Pre-Colombian civilizations, the Aztecs and the Mayans. The Mayans and Aztecs both faced the wrath of the conquistadors, as they were both conquered very easily due to the Spanish’s advanced weaponry. After conquering the natives, the Spanish would rule over that land for anout 300 years. This new ruling came with new foods, races, animals, and changes that effected the natives.

Inside any atrocious act committed by a group of people onto another for the sake of greed there’s a message they must spread to justify their actions, for the Spanish onto the Aztec it was ridding the world of heretics worshiping Gods of blood. The Aztec and Inca Empires fell with relative ease to the Spaniards due to a variety of contributing factors. Hesitate action from leadership may have played a role at least for the Aztecs as according to Hernan Cortez; Moctezuma believed that he possibly was a God. Superior weaponry such as steel based weapons/armor played a significant role, as both the Inca and Aztec empires still relied on weapons made from stone and wood. European diseases like small pox also played a heavy hand in the decimation of the native population, as the natives had no immunities to such ailments. The Spanish who arrived with very few men to fight also utilized subject people to fight on their side due primarily to the irritation of the Native Empires long dominance of them. This was mainly utilized in the Aztec Empire’s conquest as they had long sacrificed large portions of their subjects to their Gods in order to appease them. Along with sacrifices, the Aztec required large payments of goods & labor from their subjects further creating tensions.

The events that occurred between the Aztecs and Spanish Conquistadors have many sides and opportunities for debate. One of the most debated topics being; Who was more savage and who was more Civil? Both the Aztecs and Spanish had powerful and thriving empires. These empires displayed their dominance through their advanced technology and flourishing military. Though it may seem that the Spanish were more advanced than the Aztecs, the Aztecs and Spanish were actually quite close to being equal in technological advancements.