The Colonization Of New Spain

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

Hernan Cortes defied orders to have the Spanish base at Veracruz and moved near Tenochtitlán where there was rumored to be gold and other riches in Mexico. Soon after his arrival he became allies with the Tlaxcalteca a major enemy of the Aztecs. King Montezuma II heard of this alliance and sent gifts to Cortes to appease him and he even invited him into the Incan capital Tenochtitlán. Cortes upon arrival saw that he had been outnumber so instead he held Montezuma hostage and in the altercation Montezuma ended up getting killed. Over the next couple year he and his men fired siege weapons on the Aztecs until they surrendered. The siege cut off the water and food supplies which lead to a huge panic for the Aztecs. Another key role was smallpox, many of the Aztecs died off which weakened their military causing them to surrendering.Once they surrendered the Spanish went in and took control over the city and like many other places the conquistadors married the Native women having mestizos and combined their two cultures

The Spanish Conquer The conquer of the Aztec Empire is viewed as a bloody battle. The Aztec Empire had placed trust in the Spaniards, but were overthrown by their allies. The thought of greed and disbelief created the distrust. The three ways of success that contributed to the Spanish conquest of Aztec Empire in the early 1500s began with the trustworthy relationship between the two leaders Moctezuma and Cortez, the trust began to falter with the Spanish due to the thought of losing everything if the alliance diminishes, and then the defeat of the Aztec Empire was very brutal and savage.

In 1519 the governor of Cuba sent Hernan Cortes and about 600 men to investigate rumors of bountiful riches in the Mexico. On November 8, 1519 Hernan Cortes and his men landed in Mexico for the first time. April 21, 1519 the Aztecs surrendered to Cortes. Cortes was able to conquer the Aztecs for several different reasons. Marina was a tribal girl given as a gift to Cortes, she proved very valuable in translating local languages in with Geronimo de Aguilar.

When the New World was discovered in 1492, European history would soon become shaped by what is

Mexico had only been discovered a year earlier by the Spanish. He viewed the indigenous people as inferior culturally, technologically, and religiously. After learning of the culture present, he replaced their gods with crosses and figures of the Virgin Mary. He then traveled to the Aztec Empire, where he was received kindly by the current ruler, Montezuma. Cortés had less than honorable intentions, as he sacked the city of Tenochtitlan upon entering and took Montezuma as a hostage.

The Conquest of Mexico began with rumors in Spain about an island in the new world that where streets were built on water and filled castles with filled with gold. The city at the root of the rumors was Tenochtitlan, ruled by Moctezuma II. Cortés begins his journey to conquer Mexica in February 1519. The first major Battle was the Cholula Massacre, where Cortés along with translator Dona Marina and the Tlaxcalans he had persuaded to join him defeated the Cholulans; As Cortés sets his sights on the city surrounded by water, Tenochtitlan, word of his arrival had reached Moctezuma, who prepared for the arrival of what he believed was the sovereign God of Tenochtitlan; Moctezuma realized far too late the grave mistake he made in welcoming Cortés

Meanwhile, while Cortes was gone, there was chaos in the city. The Aztecs had killed half of Cortes’s men army and Montezuma was killed. After that in the summer of 1520, Cortes had a siege on Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs took it had and a lot of them had died. It had worked and Cortes had finally conquered Mexico at not even an age of 40.

Cortes then returns to Tenochtitlan and try’s to obligate the Montezuma send Aztec warriors to attack the troops that were coming to capture him. But Montezuma had a stone drop on his head in which he died from. At this stage Cortes was in huge disperse and is trying to avoid any Spanish troops. And on 1521 Cortes returns to Tenochtitlan after three month voyage to get there. Cortes then secured power in Mexico and caused cruelties to the majority of the population which led to many deaths. Cortes then realize that Spain is no longer angry with him and in 1523 he becomes governor and captain general of Spain. Although in 1528 Spain feared that Cortes had too much power so the king reinstated him to only captain general. Cortes then decides to go back to Mexico of course, this time fully monitored found nothing. And then constantly still looking for riches, he looked that all central and Latin America, Atlantic to Pacific to find nothing. Only to name and discover California.

The Spanish empire is considered one of the greatest empires that ruled the world .It controlled many places around the world .The Americas were of the important places .The Spanish empire started with the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas in 1492 and continued for over three centuries .This

On November 8, 1519, Spanish leader, Hernan Cortes landed in modern day Mexico, bringing along six hundred Spaniards and a lot of native allies. The Aztecs, who were natives in Mexico, welcomed Cortez with opened arms because they believed he was one of their gods, Quetzalcoatl. From the beginning, they were willing to share their land and wealth with the Spaniards but they Spaniards did not want to share this land and began to continue with their plan to conquer the land. Throughout this two-year campaign where the Spanish and Aztecs were fighting for ownership of the land, and after thousands of people killed, the Spanish conquered the land, seizing the existence of the Aztec Empire. This cultural encounter changed the lives of both the Aztec and Spaniards greatly by the change in language, religion, and the benefits this take-over had on the Spanish Empire.

In 1522 Cortes conquered Michoacan, a territory near the volcano. By 1526, he had conquered all of present-day Mexico

The Spanish Conquest of Mexico took place from 1519 to 1521 and was led by Hernan Cortes. When Cortes started his conquest, he was acting as an outlaw as he had no legal backing for what he was doing. He and his men traveled across Mexico to the city of Tenochtitlan to see the king, Moctezuma. Along the way, he brought many Native towns under the command of King Charles, although it took a lot of fighting and communication to do so. As there are so few accounts of this event, there are many different perspectives and ideas of what really happened.

The Spanish bashed the Aztec empire with their superior technology, and military planning. They overwhelmed the Aztecs and slashed them to the edge of extinction. However, the details that led to this conclusion tell a more detailed and engaging tale. When the Spanish arrived on the beaches of Mexico, they immediately set to stealing the resources of this new found land. Their leader Hernan Cortes was a smart, calculating man, that had risen through the ranks to the point of leading his own force under the protection of their god to gather resources, and gold from this new land for the glory of their empire. The Aztecs however, was not their first encounter of the indigenous people. They first met with one of the surrounding tribes, they were told stories of a tribe with an abundance of gold, and wealth. Even with the warning of this tribe being a brutal enemy was overruled by the thought of gold. They then set out to fuel their gold craving hearts. The first meeting between Montezuma, and Hernan Cortes was on July 3rd, 1519. Relations was quickly put together, and a peaceful tour of Tenochtitlan was enacted. While the Spanish gaped in awe of the sheer size of the temples, and the city itself, their awe was still over ruled by their lust for gold. They demanded the Aztecs to take them to their gold rooms and show them their abundance, the Aztecs gladly showed them their stores. After a few more days of peaceful relations the Spanish could not contain themselves any longer. They launched an attack on the Aztecs, with a fraction of the Spanish forces, and went straight for their gold stores. The Aztecs, being the brutal, and skillful warriors they are, drove the Spanish out of their city and closed themselves off. By shutting down their city they were held in their city, captive by the deadly diseases the Spanish brought with them. Soon the Spanish diseases

     In 1519 Hernán Cortés led a couple hundred other Spaniards inland to the impressive Empire of the Mexica ruled by the Great Montezuma. Many historians today tell how quickly and almost effortlessly these Spaniards conquered the Empire. They paint an image of ignorant, helpless Indians practically giving up their land out of fear of this group because certainly the Spaniards must be gods since they have powerful weapons and strange animals. We know neither Cortés nor any of his men were gods, of course, but what was it that allowed Cortés to prevail over the inhabitants of the land?