Aztec Empire Research Paper

During the 15th century one of the events that marked history was the fall of the Aztec Empire. When Hernan Cortes, the Spanish explorer, and his small army encountered the Aztec, a conflict arose between the two empires. One question is why such a small Spanish fleet defeated the Aztec Empire in such ease. The answer lies within the problems the empire was facing. At the time, the Aztec experienced several rebellions against the empire from economic and political crisis. Eventually when the Spanish arrived, they used brutal force and contaminated many. These contributions led to the collapse of the Aztec Empire due to revolts of tribes, ineffective leadership, the military disadvantages, and spread of diseases.

During the Aztec’s reign,

One example is in a book by Gruzinski, “...Cuetlaxtlan...inhabitants, annoyed at having to pay tribute, locked the Aztec tax collectors in a house and set fire to it” (Gruzinski 71). They forced conquered tribes to send requested tributes to them such as food, raw materials, produced materials, and money. Sometimes tribes would revolt because the Triple Alliance would misuse the tributes or demand a large amount.As quoted, Cuetlaxtlan, one of the conquered tribes of the Aztecs rebelled because the Triple Alliance took advantagel of their tribe. This made Cuetlaxtlan get angry and punish the tax

According to a book written by the historian, Carrasco, “...sent Moctezuma into a panic… sent magicians… to try and cast spells and deceits… … tactics could not stop the Spanish advance…” (Carrasco 218). This quote shows that Moctezuma hesitated and panicked in making crucial decisions to defend his empire.

The Triple Alliance lost most of the battles even though they had outnumbered the Spaniards. According to an article written by historian, Charles L Mee an Aztec described the Spanish armada, “there were… towers or small mountains floating on the waves of the sea”(Mee 1). This quote shows that the Aztecs were impressed by the power of the Spaniards.

Also, the Aztecs encountered the use of animals in battles by the Spanish, such as horses and dogs. One example of this was described from an Aztec inhabitant in an article by historian, Charles L Mee, “deer- like beasts”(Mee 1). Some other examples of Spanish superior weaponry were steel swords, guns, crossbows, muskets, infantries, etc (Flowers 8). These advanced weaponry and warfare tactics gave an advantage to the