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American Dominance In The 1500s

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World domination has been a common trait for Europeans in the 1500’s. Each countries’ ruler had a goal of conquering more land than their enemy. This led to bloody wars and tense times among many countries. The Spanish rulers had made an inference that winning land on their continent would be difficult. As a result, they decided to send conquistador, Francisco Pizarro and his crew across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World. When Pizarro and his crew reached South America, they took over the Incan’s land by having better methods of transportation, mechanical advantages, and having more experience than the Incas. This helped the Spanish rule increase exponentially. Transportation has always played a key role in World History. On November 16, …show more content…

One major device that helped the Spanish in conquering the Incas was the handgun. In 1378, Europeans started to use handguns called ‘hand cannons.’ Over the years, the guns were redesigned and improved significantly. One major advantage of the gun was that it could kill from a distance and it was more deadly than the weapons used by the Incans. Since the weapons the Incas used were stone, bronze, or wooden clubs, maces, hand axes, and slingshots4, it was less likely the Spanish soldier would get injured quickly. In addition to the mechanical advances, the Spanish also had better armor. Steel armor5 was more effective at deflecting axes and stones from injuring a soldier. The Incas had worn standard quilted armor6 to deflect the bullets shot by the Spanish. Consequently, nothing could stop the bullets from hitting the Incan soldiers. Furthermore, all the materials brought to the New World came on a ship, which allowed people to cross bodies of water in fewer days. The ships carried artillery, people, food, animals, water etc. across the Atlantic Ocean. The Incans at the time had no idea of what ships were or what its function was. Another advance that helped in conquering the Incas was having more advanced navigational tools. It had became easier for the Europeans to cross the Atlantic Ocean thanks to the compass, which allowed the captain of the ship to steer the ship in the correct direction. This machine helped in reducing the amount of days spent on the ocean. All these mechanical advances helped the Europeans in conquering and exploring new

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In 1519, Hernándo Cortés, a Spanish Conquistador ventured into Tenochtitlan, the capital of Aztec empire, searching for gold and glory. He set out to conquer the empire and to capture the Aztecs in order to achieve his ambitions. Moctezuma, the highly respected leader of the mighty Aztec Empire, came confronting with Hernán Cortés, the leader of a small band of professional European soldiers from a huge island that lay six day’s sail to the east. In “Malintzin’s Choices: An Indian Women in the Conquest of Mexico” and “Mexico and the Spanish Conquest”, Camilla Townsend and Ross Hassig respectively present one histories in their own interpretations of the conquest of Mexico.

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G01059498 History 201 AC Guns, Germs, and Steel (CONQUEST) Assignment How did the Spanish view the Inca Indians? The Spanish viewed the Inca as a fearful army since they had over 80000 men, when Spanish themselves only had 186 soldiers. Although Spanish soldiers feared the number of men they also believed that the surprise attack will work significantly to conquer the Inca Indians. 2.

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Guns, Germs, and Steel were the main cause of the fall of the Inca Empire. The fall was caused because of Francisco Pizarro whose army was small but way more high tech then the Incas. The Incas thought they could never be defeated but Pizarro lead to their defeat because of guns, germs, and steel. The Inca empire was defeated because of guns. Pizarro had guns that weren’t very accurate but scared the Incas away because of their loud booms, This made the Incas run and try to escape but they couldn’t and lots of Incas died.

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It soon expanded out into Asia and because of the Norse it came to Europe. In 1492 A.D., the discovery made by Christopher Columbus of the Caribbean Islands had started the beginning of the collision between Old and New World societies. The collision at Cajamacra was one of many whose outcome had shared the same fate of their similar end. However, what makes this one different than the others was the capture of Atahuallpa. Atahuallpa was the Inca Emperor and, “absolute monarch of the largest and most advanced state in the New World,” and Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador who was under the command of the most powerful monarch in Europe, King Charles I of Spain (Diamond, 68).

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Imperialism was a big impact on the late 1800’s leading into the early 1900’s with counties like the British, Spanish, Russia, and Germany pushing to gain more land in different counties. This would lead to an arms race and the buildup which would lead into World War 1. Many different alliance were made if another country would attack another other countries would help with the fight. This would keep peace till the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.

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Pizarro went because their army relied on the Indians tools and supplies , which they have been trying to get for over centuries now. So when two rulers with different intents , come together and both haven’t realized they have different intents , well that is half of the whole problem at hand. Which means, both need communication and verbal agreement as to why they are visiting or fighting in the first

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essie Sisavat Professor Duarte History 40 September 21, 2015 Reaction One 1. How effective or not was the Spanish conquest of the Maya Indians and why? Explain.

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The main factor that allowed the Spanish to just arrive and seize control was the technological advancement

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The most obvious is the shier size and composition difference. The Aztec force stood 300,000 warriors versus 700 Spanish infantrymen, 86 cavalrymen, and 118 crossbowmen were comprised of volunteers and adventurers, and over 50,000 Native Americans allied forces (Davis, 1999, p. xx). Aztec obsidian clubs and bows and arrows proved no match for the emerging technology armored infantrymen and cavalry of the Europeans.

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In contrast, the Spanish were able to conquer the Aztecs and Incas much quicker. Some of this was due to help they received from other groups of Natives and the situations that were present in these societies when the Spanish arrived. Most of this was due to the debilitating effects European diseases had on Native Americans. Another difference between the two groups’ interactions is the different ways the Africans and Native Americans reacted to the Europeans’ presence. Since the Americas had been isolated from the rest of the world before 1492, they did not know how to react to the arrival of the Europeans and were frightened by how different they were.

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The author gives insight on how many ways the Spaniards used their power to assist in the downfall of the Aztecs. The reason why the Spaniards became victorious, was because the Spaniards were looked upon as if they were gods because of their outer appearance. The Aztecs broke bread and welcomed the Spaniards with gifts and parties. The Aztecs triggered their relationship with the Spaniards by holding a ritual for the arrival of the god which included a human sacrifice. The Spaniards didn’t agree with the rituals and began to despise the Aztecs.

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If war were to break out between them, the Spanish held the upper hand because of all their gear and weaponry. Another advantage that the spanish held was the amount of enemies the Aztecs had due to their human sacrifice ritual, which gave them more allies to take down the Aztecs with. Even if a battle did not occur between the Spanish and the Aztecs when the Spanish and Aztec peoples collided a disease would spread among the Aztecs, causing them to die because it was a disease they had never been exposed

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The Spaniards made a big impact in the Americas. They killed many Incas,Tainos, and Aztecs. These populations lost many including their emperors. On the Spaniard 's side they had power by killing Atahualpa and Montezuma they could create colonies and take riched back to their country. The Spaniards weren 't the only ones to look for riches in the New World.

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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.

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On the surface, it is easy to get the impression that the Spaniards’ goal for going to new lands focused on only gold. If it is only looked at in that aspect, it makes them look greedy. Often times in high school history classes, they focus on the voyages themselves rather than the culture of the Spanish society. They were very religious, as were many other empires. Despite a major concentration on the riches of the New World, the conquest of the Americas is best understood through the evangelism and theology of both the indigenous people and Spanish voyagers.

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