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Why Did The Aztecs Think The Spanish Were Gods?

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Introduction The Fall of the Aztec empire occurred from 1519-1521 when a Spanish conquistador named Hernan cortes came to the Aztecs where he would later conquer the Aztecs for his own good. Cortes wanted their land for gold, riches and for glory and fame. Why did the Aztecs think the Spanish were gods? The year the Spanish arrived (1519) was the year of Ce Acatl, when the god Quetzalcoatl had promised to return, Quetzalcoatl had departed to the east, promising that someday he would return from across the seas. Montezuma (the current ruler of Tenochtitlan) believed these men were heralds of Quetzalcoatl. He was also confused whether Cotes was a god or an ambassador of another great king from another land. Why did the Spanish want the Aztecs land? Studies show that cortes wanted the land for gold and glory, as he wanted to steal the riches from the Aztecs and become a famous conquistador. A lasting motto of the conquistadors is: “For Gold! For God! For Glory!”. The words “For Gold” are a reference to the riches that were present and taken from the native empires, the mention of “God” represents the religious work their missionaries would attempt in converting indigenous people to Christianity and …show more content…

After they would conquer the neighbouring states, they would add men from these sates to their army, however the captives from these states would be used as blood sacrifices for the gods. This angered the other tribes; constant rebellions were waged. Another key factor contributing to the fall of the Aztecs was the technology disadvantages against the Spanish. While they outnumbered the Spanish, their weapons were no match, the Spanish had guns and cannons and wore metal armour while the Aztecs carried wooden shields covered in animal hide and fought with macuahuitl (bladed clubs). The technological gap greatly crippled the Aztecs chance of

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Because the Aztecs made enemies with the neighbouring groups Cortes was able to gain many more soldiers. Cortes was able to go from 500 soldiers to around 200000. Because the Aztecs have been taking tributes from those neighbouring groups, the indigenous people want to fight the Aztecs and help Cortes. The Aztecs making enemies with the neighbouring groups was a vital reason why Cortes was able to defeat the Aztecs. This helped Cortes able to grow his army from 500 to 200000.

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The author of Broken Spears tries to emphasize the fact that the it was not only the Spanish who played a role in the collapse of the Aztecs. One of the most prime reasons the Spanish were victorious was because they were worshiped and viewed as gods due to their presentation. With this to their advantage, the Spanish took leverage over the Aztecs. The Aztecs welcomed the Spanish with offerings and celebration, this gave the Spanish the idea that they had control over them and began to gather this power into ideas to take over their people. The Aztecs had a tremendous cultural difference from the Spanish when it came to their ritual ceremonies, they included a human sacrifice in their ritual and this repulsed the Spanish.

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First of all The Spanish were discovered the Aztec empire one year before their conquest and reached it . On the other hand, some native Americans in Tabasco tried to stop Hernan Cortes but in the end they gave up . After that Hernan Cortes started to control them and The native Americans supplied the Spanish with foods and what they needed. More over there were groups of people called Totonacs and Tlaxcala’s were against us and the Aztec rule , so Hernan courts exploited them and then they became allies for the Hernan courts army. Hernan courts controlled all of the cities in Aztec empires such as the capital Tenochtitlan , also he burned his ships to stop his army from going back to spain .

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In 1517, Fransico Hernadez de Cordoba sparked a Spanish conquest of a promising new land called Mexico as he journeyed from Cuba to Yucatan. When he reported back to the Spanish governor Diego Velasquez, who was in Cuba at the time, about this land, Velasquez sent Hernan Cortes and a few ships to scope it out. When Cortes and his men arrived, they caught wind of the seemingly magical Aztec Empire.

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Cortes is believed by Montezuma, the emperor, to be an emissary for the return of Quetzalcoatl. " He also knows that this is a One-Reed year in the Mexican calendar cycle, when the fair-skinned bearded Quetzalcoatl will at some time return" (History, n.d, para, 18). The religion that has guided the Aztecs for centuries now is paving the way for their destruction. If not for the belief that Cortes was a messenger for one of their most important gods, the Aztecs could have provided a much better defense to the Spanish

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Cortés would talk to Montezuma about many things. Montezuma would usually refuse to talk about his religion to him (Gale). Cortés and the Spanish had a strong feeling toward the Aztec’s religion, he did not enjoy the sacrifices that were happening regularly. Since the Spanish were Catholic, they wanted to put an end to the sacrifices (Gale). One day, Cortés was out walking around the city, when he passed a statue of one of the Aztec’s gods.

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What were the key reasons for the Spanish Conquistadors to invade the Aztec Empire? The Spanish empire was constantly expanding, but the Monarchy of Spain, with their administrators and missionaries, wanted to seize control over majority of the western hemisphere, by taking control of “The New World” – in modern times this is now known as America – this would enable the Spanish Empire to expand their trade market, as wells as, to convert the natives beliefs to Christianity. This plan to seize control of the new world was initiated by the Spanish Conquistadors, who travelled to “The New World” on large ships, whom which the Aztecs thought them to be “moving mountains”. The leader of this conquest for control of “The New World” was Hernan Cortes.

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The Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan led by Hernan Cortes took place in 1521, lasting a total of 93 days, the conquest had great effects on the Aztecs culture and religion. When the Spanish first arrived they brought with them smallpox which the Aztecs had never been exposed to before, this caused a smallpox outbreak resulting in the Aztecs population reducing significantly and this also caused their defenses against invaders like the Spanish to weaken. The Spanish and Aztecs had very different views and beliefs, before the Spanish conquest the Aztecs would perform blood sacrifices sacrificing both humans and animals. they believed that by doing this they were repaying the blood that the gods sacrificed to create this world. However the Spanish

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Hernan Cortes entered Aztec territory in the 1500s. The Aztec didn’t understand why they were there. The Spanish were looking to convert people to the Catholic religion and gold to capture. They sure captured gold. The city was filled with shops and restaurants and even hairdressers.

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When the spanish arrived, usually because of what the aztecs believe in they would have been sacrificed immediately but, in the 1500’s when Hernan Cortes a spanish conquistador, entered Aztec territory with a small group of men the aztec men thought that they were sent by their god, Quetzalcoatl which is a very important god to the Aztecs who had vowed that he would appear when the world was near its end. The spanish came looking to convert people to the catholic religion and also to get gold. The spanish stayed for awhile as a guest of emperor and the longer they stayed the more suspicious things started to become because they did not act like gods nor did they attend sacrifice ceremonies. When the Aztecs decided it was time for the Spanish

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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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Consequently, they had a warrior society and fought continuously in order to expand their empire and to fulfill their destiny as the superiors of the land, the descendants of the Toltecs, and the followers of Huitzilopochtli. For the most part, they fought societies that resided outside of Tenochtitlan, but that were culturally similar to them. The majority of the sacrificial victims were captured during these wars or were brought in as part of tributes brought from their governing territories. Despite, most people coming from outside of Tenochtitlan, in the majority of cases, people would willingly participate in their deaths. This is the case because they were psychologically conditioned to believing that it was a honor to die this way and that the fact that they were chosen for this, was a godly choice and they needed to fulfill their role.

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Upon the arrival of the Spanish empire who had the intent of conquering the Aztecs many of the groups who disliked the Aztecs joined the Spanish’s army. Once the army reached Tenochtitlan the entire force amassed only 1% Spanish people with the rest being Allie’s which were acquired. This proves that the Aztec conflict with neighboring groups was one of the biggest contributing factors to the downfall of the Aztec empire.

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But overtime they switched over to worshipping Tezcatlipoca, which was like their devil. By doing so they believed they angered Quetzalcoatl. When the spanish came a day after the set date, the Aztecs

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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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