Conquistador, written by Buddy Levy about the famous ventures of Hernan Cortes, places the reader in the 16th century, or the era c.1450-c. 1750 ce. During this time, the idea of exploration was spreading quickly, as kingdoms and empires in Europe sought to expand their territory. Portugal, with Spain following after, led the way for exploration as they headed south. Spain, however, ventured west, driven by a patriotic attitude of expanding past their borders. Levy tells the story of Hernan Cortes, originally setting sail from Spain, as he sailed from Cuba to the shores of Mexico in 1519, eager about the discovery of new lands.
Tragically, with the takeover, the great Aztec people were enslaved and turned into landworkers. In return, they were given basically no legal rights, little food and water, and worked for no pay. These poor slaves were often abused and mistreated. Additionally, what they were promised was never fulfilled by the Spanish people. The New Aztecs hierarchy was now changed to one called the encomienda system.
So, the Spanish had many benefits from conquering Mexico. Believe it or not, the Tlaxcalans helped the Spanish Conquistadors conquer Mexico. Initially, when Spanish arrived in Mexico, they had a small force of about 400 soldiers and 12 horses. As they traveled, they gained allies, enemies of the Aztecs, the Tlaxcalans. The Tlaxcalans battled against
Firstly one of the reasons that the Spanish conquered the Aztecs was by sacrificed many people so they were down in numbers and it also angered the people because many of the Mexican tribes tried to oppose and feared the Aztecs because of the Aztec sacrifices. The Aztecs sacrificed between 10,000 and 50,000 victims per year. A lot of the people who were sacrificed were the people that they imprisoned during war. The Aztecs only tried to disarm their enemies and not kill them so that they could use them for the offerings to their gods.
Aztecs had a wide majority of power over Southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Yucatan. Spanish arrived in Mexico in 1519, and wanted to take advantage of the massive amount of silver, the mines produced in the Aztec’s land. In South America, ingitis labor was cheaper, so it was beneficial to the Spanish to use these people to work in the mines to earn them high valued items that they can take back to the Old
However It is believed that it was predominately due to the contagious diseases the Spanish bought over. Disease played a huge part in the fall of the Aztec empire. The Spanish bought with them many weapons, but their
On the other hand the Aztecs had no horses which was a disadvantage for them. The aztecs had a war club instead of a sword. It was so heavy that the fighter had to use both hands to carry it. The downside it was they could not carry a shield with them like the spanish did to protect themselves . The Aztecs had a spear instead of a halberd.
As a young conquistador coming to a strange land that has a large pyramid with thousands of people surrounding it as they were chanting and yelling while looking toward the very top of the stairs that led to the top of the pyramid. You see people at the top and notice how they are cutting out the hearts of these human sacrifices and tossing them down the stairs. You stare in horror and notice what a terrible and cruel place you have come across. There was human sacrifice going on and gruesome wars over land that ultimately led to more and more death. But then you take another look around and see their agriculture and all the amazing irrigation systems they have set up and you 're completely shocked about how well their farming systems are.
Outnumbered and fearful of being overrun, Hernan Cortes captured and imprisoned Montezuma in 1520. Cuitlahuac to took over as Emperor retaliated. He led an offensive that drove the Spaniards out Tenochtitlan, Montezuma was killed during the revolt. Deadly small pox brought aboard by the Spanish, severely degraded the Aztec population killing thousands including Cuitlahuac.
Throughout the late 1400’s and the 1500’s, the world experienced many changes due to the discoveries of new lands and peoples that had been never been visited before. The new-found lands of the Americas and exploration of Africa by the Europeans led to new colonies and discoveries in both areas. It also brought different societies and cultures together that had never before communicated, causing conflict in many of these places. While the Europeans treated both the Native Americans and West Africans as inferior people, the early effects they had on the Native Americans were much worse. Beginning in the late 1400’s, many different European explorers started to look for new trade routes in the Eastern Hemisphere in order to gain economic and religious power.
The Aztec leader Montecuhzoma was a poor leader, he wasn’t concerned about the wellbeing of his people. In Broken Spears, readers will see that the Spaniards use nearby tribes to take over the Aztecs land, the Spaniards killed men, women and children. When the Aztecs hear about what the Spaniards have done they become furious and plan to retaliate but are quickly stopped by the diseases brought by the Spaniards. The Aztecs are exposed to small pox and measles but the Spaniards were unaffected by the diseases because they are well known in Europe and they are exposed to diseases
If the triumph over the Aztec empire had not been due to the Spanish, there would eventually have been another empire/colony doing the same thing. Even without the arrival of the Spaniards, the Aztec had their own enemies in their native lands. The Tlaxcalans (another powerful empire) were just one of the many indigenous groups that tried to overthrow the Aztec. In fact, some historians claim that it was “other Indians” that conquered the Aztec empire.
In fact, Montezuma came to believe that the Spanish military leader Hernan Cortez was a great God called Quetzalcoatl. The Spanish took great advantage of this belief which lead to the Spanish defeating the Aztecs within 2 years. Once the Aztec culture was officially eradicated a new culture was established consisting of a combination of Aztecs and Spanish elements. The conquest allowed changes and impacts throughout the
The Spanish retreated from Tenochtitlan, by fighting their way out, away from the angry mobs. The Spaniards took shelter with the Tlaxacan where they devised a plan to finally to conquer the Aztecs once and for all. The Spaniards, Tlaxacan, and other allied tribes all returned to Tenochtitlan with reinforcements and a siege. After eighty days of bloody battles Cuauhtémoc surrendered to the Spaniards, and that was the end of the Aztec
Using war equipment that the Aztec had never seen before and different battle techniques, Cortes and his men were able to quickly and effectively conquer Tenochtitlan. During battle against the Aztecs, animals from Spain that served in many battles called horses (about twelve), as well as swords and crossbows (a much more advanced version of the Aztec war club and spear-thrower) were labelled as advanced technology as they were quicker, deadlier, and consequently more efficient. These many advantages against the Aztecs and their traditional weapons; and therefore the Spaniards won many battles alongside their allies, and succeeded greatly by using guns that were far more powerful than the Aztecs' weapons. Unfair as it is, this gave the Spanish explorer a supremacy in conquering one of the most elaborate European cities at the time. “The Aztecs were unable to rebel against the Spaniards because most of them were sick or dead from smallpox.
