European Settlements In The 1500's

193 Words1 Pages
In the 1500’s, European explorers were still learning about the New World. With this newly found, extremely large piece of land, the possibilities were endless for them. New territory, new settlements. One of these primary settlements the Europeans, particularly the Spanish had their eye on were the Aztecs. The Aztec Empire was located in what is now present day Mexico. In the 1500’s, a group of Spaniards led by Hernan Cortez decided to attempt to conquer the Aztec Empire and declare it “New Spain”. They were armed with over five hundred men, each wielding a crossbow. As Cortez drew closer and closer into the empire, he realized nothing happened. Something was fishy. Then, he came across one of the great leaders of the Aztecs, Moctezuma II.