Aztec Dbq Essay

The Aztec was a civilization advanced in science and mathematics. At the pinnacle of the Aztecs’s existence in 1345-1521 led by Montezuma ll, the civilization conquered over a significant amount of land, expanded their territory and occupied all tribes in their conquests. When Europeans arrived in North America, they brought pathogens, that natives were not immune to. The Spanish arrival was significant because they intended to change the Aztec religion into Christianity and acquire all goods in the Aztec society. An epidemic disease ‘cocoliztli’ (smallpox), brought by the intrepid Spaniard conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes brutally decimated the civilization of the Aztecs. The Aztecs bristled, resulting in arguments and disagreement between the Aztec people and the higher-class Aztecs. Within five years, 15 million people – 80% of the population, were wiped out. After a series of smallpox epidemics had decimated the local

Britannica (2023) evaluates the significance of the disease which stood up like a wildfire against the Aztecs. They state that “Aztecs had no immunity to European diseases. Smallpox spread among the Indigenous people and crippled their ability to resist the Spanish,” expressing the outcome of the disease which devastated the Aztecs in numerous ways. This source interprets the cause, effects and the outcome of the disease, and how it contributed over a significant time period. PBS.org (1996), presents an image of the capital Tenochtitlan, where initial meetings were held to make a peaceful agreement, turning out ineffective. The use of accumulated research from the books created by the Aztecs are compiled into this PBS source which interprets how the epidemic rippled through most infants in the beginning, and many other adults were incapacitated at the pinnacle of the