The Age Of Exploration, The Old World And The New World 's Ideologies Clashed

The Spanish and Aztec both had weapons that allowed them to be successful in their battles. The Aztec had sharp weapons made out of wood. An Aztec weapon was the wooden spear, a sharp weapon the Aztecs would thrust at their enemies unprotected parts such as the eyes and throat. If an enemy was hit with a spear thrower at the correct amount of force, the weapon would pierce their armor, according to anthropologist Harald Prins. But, the Spanish had long steel weapons. One of these weapons was the sword. The sword could be used to stab an enemy with ease as it was double edged and razor-sharp, according to the textbook Worldviews 8. Since the Aztec and Spanish both had threatening, yet different, weapons, they both

The book, Broken Spears was an interesting reading that talked about the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan. Throughout the book, it becomes clear that the Spanish were successful in their conquest as a result of a number of factors.The Spanish 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.

In the midst of the Renaissance, world trade was prosperous and vast. Nations established personal control through the commercial contacts that they established. In an effort to shorten certain trading routes and obtain a more surmountable amount of natural resources, many nations entered the Age of Exploration circa 1500. Christopher Columbus, in an effort to discover a more efficient route from Western Europe to India, accidently unearthed the Americas in 1492. His discovery led many other European nations to pursue imperialistic endeavors in what had become known as the New World. Two Spanish conquistadors, Cortez and Pizarro, made a profound impact on the areas they conquered in the New World. In Mexico, the native Aztecs were overpowered by Cortez’ forces. A majority fell ill from susceptibility to European diseases, while the rest were placed into coercive labor systems. Similar fates were bestowed upon the Incas subjected to

Technological advancement greatly favored the Spanish. As mentioned before, the Spaniards where fighting to kill, so on all fronts they where better equipped. They came in on well-built ships, equipped with cannons. They carried iron swords and shields rather than spears and wooden shields of the Aztecs.

The author argues that the Spanish were completely at fault for the total destruction of the Aztec Empire. In Broken spears, the author explains how many factors other than Spanish power contributed to the downfall of the Aztecs. Not only did the Spanish have many advantages over the Aztecs, but also they also exploited them and took advantage of the cultural difference. The main key aspects to the Spanish victory, is that the Spanish were viewed as gods at first because of their appearance, the Aztecs welcomed the Spanish with gifts and festivities, which showed the Spanish had total control of people. The Aztecs also held a ritual ceremony for the arrival of the “god” that included a human

In a time when European countries were prompted to explore the New World, two countries in particular had a desire to control not only Europe, but the world. The Age of Exploration occurred between the fifteenth and seventh century and led to the discovery of the Americas, which was called the New World at the time. During this time, countries such as Spain and England had citizens travel to the New World for multiple reasons yet had both similarities and differences in both of the country's new colonies. It was in this context that the Spanish and British colonies in the New World were both dramatically alike and different by the differences in the colonies’ religious practices, the similarity of the harsh treatment of Indigenous people through

They made a loud clamor as they marched. this quote shows they had better weapons than the Aztec Empire, because the Aztec Empire only has weapons to kill animals and the occasional person. “For their coats of mail and their weapons clashed and rattled. Some of them were dressed in glistening iron from head to foot; they terrified everyone who saw them.” The spaniards were very intimidating to the Aztec empires eye, as is states in the text they were terrified, which they actually really felt. While this reason shows why the spanish won there is also another reason, and this reason states that the Aztec Empire got Sick from all the diseases that the spaniards brought over to the new world. The spaniards had brought over all kinds of diseases that the Aztec empire was not immune to. “But

In The broken spears, author Miguel Leon-Portilla gives accounts from the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1519. These accounts include several texts written by surviving indigenous people of the Aztec civilization; these perspectives truly shows the emotion, fear, and uncertainty the Aztec’s felt in depth during this time. With the accounts in our textbook and the broken spears, we are able to draw conclusions viewing both facts and experiences through this prevailing point in world history.

The Tlaxcaltecs were a very important tool for the Spaniards, giving them the proper navigation and short paths to get to Tenochtitlan along with food and shelter. The Spanish did carried many advantages over the Aztecs throughout their conquest; the use of cannons and artillery, an ally who new the Aztec ways very well, and the simple fact that the Aztecs at first thought the Spaniards were `gods'. Would you really want to fight your God and not be intimidated? The use of cannons and gunfire was foreign to the Aztecs; they fought with stones, bows and arrows and had never before seen or heard of such a weapon. "Then the captain gave orders, and the messengers were chained by the feet and by the neck. When this had been done the great cannon was fired off. The messengers lost their senses and fainted away (26)."

During the 15th through 17th centuries, advancements in technology and the desire for new resources spurred the exploration of the New World for both Spain and England. Spain's interest in exploration soon surpassed the rest of the countries in the Old World and the nation began to claim the majority of territory in Central and South America. Spain sent conquistadores to assert their dominance in the New World through violent conquest which resulted in difficult relations with native populations. Although the English did not settle in North America until the early 17th century, well past the period of the Spanish conquest, their methods of colonization were more successful in the long term. The English were able to find economic success

The Spanish artillery out matched the Aztec and Incas. Their forces were no match for the number of Aztec and Inca men but because of the Spanish artillery. There is an example of the Inca civilisation where there were 200 spanish soldiers against 50,000 Inca warriors. The Spanish soldiers terrorised the native Americans by firing their rifles. Which caused the natives to believed that the soldiers could create thunder. Crossbows were also used but uncommon because they were slow to load and could malfunction easily. The most common weapon in the Spanish artillery was the sword. A good foot soldier could kill many natives in seconds. Spanish soldiers had the finest armor in the world (at the time). The soldier were encased from head to toe

The Aztecs were not able to survive Spanish colonization for multiple reasons. They had beautiful architecture, a political system and many members of their colony, but it was no match for the Spanish. The advanced technology the Spanish possessed proved to be greater than that of the Native Americans. The Aztecs were fighting with wooden swords and dogs, whereas, the Spanish with steel swords, guns and horses. The fighting techniques were different also. The Aztec fought to wound their enemies, sacrifice and/or enslave them. The Spanish people fought to kill and instill fear in as many people as they could. Many colonies were captured and enslaved by the Aztecs. Although, the captured colonies were afraid of the Aztecs, they feared the Spanish more. Cortes went to Mexico with his conquistadores and

The Aztec empire was a tremendous civilization. Beginning with origins of a people poor and deprived, the Aztecs created an extraordinary legacy of development in history. Through the advanced systems of agriculture and warfare, this group of people were able to construct a metropolis of impeccable wealth and recognition. Unfortunately, their power came to destruction at the hands of the Spanish. Historians have after concluded that this was direct result of a second-rate Aztec military, and a domination of Spanish arms. However, the Aztecs had Cortez’s army outnumbered 100,000 to 1,000. Their whole society was built from the efficiently of their military— it was the specialty of all males. And when comparing the weapons of the Aztecs and Spanish,

Exploration of the New World (Americas) became very popular around the 1500’s and beyond. The Spanish were the first of the Old World to find the New World and colonize, and they did so on an Island known as Hispaniola. Of course, this inspired other countries in Europe to do the same, leading up to the English explorers who colonized in Jamestown. Surprisingly, even though these two colonies were settled a little over 100 years apart from each other, they have many similarities and differences.

Until the late 1400's, Europeans did not know the existence of the two American continents ( North and South America ). To the European explorers, exploring the other side of the Atlantic was like exploring an entire different world, hence the name- the New World. In 1492, Christopher Columbus unknowingly discovered the new continent. His original motives for exploring was to find an easier route to Asia but instead, he discovered the New World. Thus; Spain, France and England began sending out conquistadors and explorers to the uncharted terrains of the new continent. Motives for the Spanish, French, and English explorers varied greatly, however, they were similar in some ways. The motives of the Spanish explorers were acquisition of