Cortez's Campaign Against Aztec Empire

Conquistador is basically a record of the last days of the Aztec civilization, as the two groups, the Aztecs and the Spaniards, clash, and the Spaniards ultimately come out on top. When Cortes and his men first arrived on the island of Cozumel in 1519, they were unaware that a complex and advanced civilization was just beyond the shores of Mexico. Although, as stated, the Aztecs were a rather advanced civilization, when compared to the Spaniards that invaded their city, they were lacking in technology. Cortes used this to his advantage, stunning the natives with displays of cavalry and horses, as he

Instead of converting the Aztecs to Christianity, Hernan Cortes committed genocide. Originally he traveled with an army of six hundred men to Tenochtitlan, to introduce the Aztecs to Christianity. In the end, he was a murderer in the eyes of the Aztecs and conquered the Aztec Empire. Hernan Cortes was a villain because, he was ignorant, manipulative, and ambitious. He slaughtered a nation and destroyed a magnificent city.

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.

The Broken Spears, by Miguel Leon-Portilla, is an all-inclusive and compelling account of the Spanish conquest, told by the Aztecs also known as the conquered. Leon Portilla’s choice of events depicted in this book collides together giving the reader a broad view of the Spanish conquest. This book gives a history of emotional and spiritual human experiences, allowing the readers to comprehend, and relate to the Aztecs as they went through terror and faced their fears. This book provides an extensive amount of details concerning lack of leadership, bias and technological hardship that led to the Aztec defeat.

While many worldviews exist, The fall of the Aztec empire was unavoidable.The Aztec’s were a group of people who were very religious and lived in Mexico for hundreds of years but one day a group of Spanish people arrived and executed all of the Aztec people. Many of them died from diseases the spanish brought with them like small pox. The others were killed by the spanish and some were taken to spain as slaves. This was led by an explorer named Hernan Cortes.

Most books have either portrayed Hernán Cortés as either a brave conquistador hero who helped transform Mexico for Spanish use, or as a cruel racist who helped instill a genocide upon millions of Mexican natives. The truth, however, can be a lot less black or white. In the book Victors and Vanquished: Spanish and Nahua Views of the Conquest of Mexico, we see that the moral nature of Cortés is more grey than most think. Cortés, in his conquest of Mexico, has performed good and bad deeds towards his own men and towards the Nahua people.

Mexican anthropologist and historian Miguel Leόn-Portilla gives his readers an alternative view of the destruction of the Aztec empire in his 1962 novel. His book is one of many written on the fall of the Aztecs. As an author, his book stands out from others because it tells the story from a different perspective, that of the ones being defeated.

One of the greatest and most advanced early civilizations is argued to be the Aztecs. From the 12th century to the 15th, the Aztecs had many achievements that are still very significant in today’s society. The Aztec empire was truly a spectacular civilization that to this day is still not completely understood. The people who became part of the great empire were originally nomads whose main focus was to hunt and gather. As their civilization began to expand they had to adapt to an agricultural lifestyle. They built extraordinary pyramids and even built artificial islands to add more land for the citizens and crop growers. There are two turning points in Aztec civilization. One turning point is when they truly became a great society through

Our class read books about exploration and discovery. The books were “Pedro’s Journal” by Pam Conrad and “Explorers: Triumphs and Troubles” by Paul Mason. In my opinion, the explorers had a negative impact on the society. They brought over diseases, stole from countries and tribes, and kidnapped people. They also tricked people into doing things or believing things. This in my mind is not what you should do when you're exploring and traveling.

Montazuma the second was possibly one of the most important people in the entire history of The Aztec history. This is because he was the king/emperor when the Spanish concurs concurred the Aztec empire. He was born in 1466 and died in 29 of June 1520. According to one of the sources I used Montazuma was killed by the citizens of Tenochtitlan using rocks and spears because Cortez and his men forced Montazuma to admit defeat to his people. Letting the Spanish in to Tenochtitlan and showing weeknes was a horrible decision because the Spanish concurs saw this and used it against him. To prevent this Montazuma the second should had fought back the Aztec empire could have prevented the dramatic loss.

Compare and contrast the conquests of Mexico (Aztecs) with that of the Inca. What led up to the conquest? The goals of the Conquistadores. The results.

The people of Mexico wanted to get their land back, however there was so much to do in order to obtain the land back and the poor people could not do. There was peasant leader named “Emiliano Zapata, who hoped a revolution would lead to land reform”(EDSITEment). Along with Emiliano Zapata who was a leader from the southern state of Morelos, two other leaders from the north named Pascual Orozco, and Pancho Villa were ready to fight for their land. All three had armies ready for war, and all of this revolting was for a new and better Mexico that will peaceful. There is a corrido named, “Corrido de Zapata Nino”, which praise Emiliano Zapata. This corrido is just an example of how corridos praise important people like revolutionist.

Individuals tend to think of a “hero” as a kind person, someone who saves the entire population from a dreadful misery. Hernan Cortes, a Spanish soldier and conquistador, is a hero (in the minds of some) for acting courageously and enhancing Spain’s economy with the gold taken from the Aztecs. But as glorious as he may seem, he also killed many Mexican Natives and Aztecs and caused many unnecessary battles and disruptions for them. Aside from disease, Cortes also majorly disrupted the Aztec culture and religion  by converting many to Catholicism. Depending on what facts were taken into consideration throughout his life, he could be seen as a hero, or a villain. Most historians today agree that he was a villain. Although Cortes was respected

The fall of the Aztec Empire was due to the determination of the Spaniards. The Spaniards were destructive. They did not respect the Natives’ religions at all. They almost destroyed all of the Natives’ culture, and now we know very little about Natives. The Spaniards’ greed and obsession with power, this was their main motivation to conquer the Aztec Empire. The Aztecs’ religion is what got them into the most trouble. They sacrificed humans for their Gods, which was wrong in the Spaniards’ eyes (and mine too). They also were very superstitious .The Aztecs may have won the battle against the Spaniards if they too had advanced weaponry and battle tactics. The Aztecs and the Spaniards were vastly different people, however they had similarities. They both killed in the name of religion, and both growing empires willing to do anything to gain more power.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the historical Battle of Tenochtitlan and apply critical reasoning and battle analysis techniques to assess the utilization of intelligence assets and provide alternate outcomes. Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in 1519, the mighty Aztec Empire was at the height of its power. From their capital city, Tenochtitlan, the Aztec controlled much of what is now known as Mexico and Central America, ruling an estimated 15 million people. The Aztec palaces were as vast and sophisticated as any of those in Europe and their temples rivaled the Egyptian pyramids. The Aztecs acquired many enemies from their brutal rule over neighboring tribes and city-states.