The Aztec Dbq

But the Aztecs responded by attacking the Spanish and Montezuma gets killed in the cross fire, but it’s not established if the Spanish or an Aztec killed him. The Spanish retreat and many end up getting killed by the Aztecs or by drowning while crossing Lake Texcoco. Finally, one year later the Spanish return with their allies the Tlaxcalans and launch a siege on

Portilla mentions that as soon as the conquistadors backed off a new battle began. Smallpox created an epidemic to the size of the Aztec population. Once the population is depleated, the author describes how the Spaniards came in for the fatal

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 Aztecs were one of the most famous and successful early civilizations of the Americas that we know of, who ruled an empire in the modern day country of Mexico from 1350 to 1519. From their capital city of Tenochtitlan, now known as Mexico City, to their daily routines, the Aztecs had many achievements that they deserve recognition for. Two very important components in the history of the Aztecs are agriculture and human sacrifice. Although they both play huge roles in Aztec culture, historians should emphasize on their methods of farming. The reasons why historians should center their focus on the Aztecs' agricultural techniques are they affected the growth of their empire, were used on a huge scale, and were very unique in comparison to other

A possible reason for why the Spanish conquered the Aztecs was the Spanish wanted to spread Christianity. Two sources corroborate that Spain wanted to spread Christianity. According to Document A, it says “There is to be a church and a chaplain entrusted with indoctrinating and teaching them our Holy Catholic faith.” The government was paying for the churches and making sure the culture is spread from town to town. As a result of the churches being established in the Aztec Empire, the Aztecs have to practice the religion and learning the culture of Spain.

That day, 30 June 1520 CE, referred to as Noche Trista, forced the Spanish to flee (Youtube.com). The months following, the Spanish returned with their allies, the Thaxcalan, declaring an extensive and daunting battle ravaged with sickness and death, the city of Tenochtitlan collapsed. The conquerors ransacked and pillaged any remaining resourceful commodities and treasures and declared the land New Spain, under new and direct rule from the New World. The Aztec civilization came to an abrupt end (Calloway

Outnumbered and fearful of being overrun, Hernan Cortes captured and imprisoned Montezuma in 1520. Cuitlahuac to took over as Emperor retaliated. He led an offensive that drove the Spaniards out Tenochtitlan, Montezuma was killed during the revolt. Deadly small pox brought aboard by the Spanish, severely degraded the Aztec population killing thousands including Cuitlahuac.

In the wake of his death a new leader was chosen by the people, Cuitlahuac, whose primary goal was to overthrow the Spanish power. Cortez no longer had control of Tenochtitlan or its inhabitants. The reality became pertinent to Cortez, although having the support of the Tlaxcala’s, the pure numeric superiority of the Aztecs was threatening and that fleeing or death seemed the only plausible end results. With this coming to a head on June 30th, 1520 “La Noche Triste” the night of sadness. Upon Cortez and his army inclusive of Tlaxcala allies trying to leave the city of Tenochtitlan, came upon vicious fighting and opposition from the Aztecs, resulting in the death of 450 Spaniards and thousands of Tlaxcala’s upon trying to flee Tenochtitlan.

The Aztec leader Montecuhzoma was a poor leader, he wasn’t concerned about the wellbeing of his people. In Broken Spears, readers will see that the Spaniards use nearby tribes to take over the Aztecs land, the Spaniards killed men, women and children. When the Aztecs hear about what the Spaniards have done they become furious and plan to retaliate but are quickly stopped by the diseases brought by the Spaniards. The Aztecs are exposed to small pox and measles but the Spaniards were unaffected by the diseases because they are well known in Europe and they are exposed to diseases

The Spanish had to retreat but one of the most lethal weapons was disease that had already been passed on to the Aztecs. Smallpox with no treatment or prevention swept through the Aztec population. This killed their army leaders and left them weak to attack. Cortés took this as an advantage and in his final attack along with Aztec enemies he

The Spanish were able to colonize Mexico without much resistance.” After the smallpox epidemic, the Aztecs were even more vulnerable. The Spanish exploration and conquering of Tenochtitlan was to gain power for the Spanish empire, but the city’s people were somewhat considered rebellious, and consequently, Cortes needed to conquer/kill the people first. By taking down the people of the city, Cortes was exposed to the city’s great treasures for his reward of gold; he retrieved all the gold he could, and travelled back to Spain where he was labelled a hero for his acts of

Cuitlahuac Soon died from Chickenpox. Then Cuauhtémoc took throne, how is Cuitlahuac’s nephew. The Spaniards brought Chickenpox, Measles, Mumps, and a few other dieses from Europe. It is estimated that almost 80 percent of the Aztec population was killed by dieses, this is because the Aztecs having no immunity to these dieses what so ever.

The Broken Spears by Miguel Leon Portilla portrays many themes about the spanish conquest in the account of the Aztecs. However, The Seven Myth of the Spanish Conquest by Matthew Restall conveys themes harmonize with The Broken Spears concepts. In The Broken Spear the spaniards were perceived as barbaric by the Aztecs and vise versa. When the spaniards attacked during the fiesta of Toxcatl they performed a lot of bloodshed and barbaric actions.

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. To begin with the analysis of Cortés’s actions, we can look at the various good deeds he exhibited during his time in Mexico.

The Spanish conquest on the Mayans was a significant event during the 1500’s. The Spanish conquest brought their military equipment’s that was no match for the Mayan Indians. As the conquest continued to expand throughout Central America there was little unity among other tribes beside the Mayan empire. The reason for this is because they believe that the Spanish were much inferior to their own beliefs and ancestry.