Aztec Military Conquest Essay

Aztecs: They settled on a small island in which they grew their military capacity. As they grew and became stronger, they made the “Triple Alliance” with two other nearby city-states. These three settlements went on a military conquest where they made more of Mesoamerica a single political ideology within a 100 years. The Aztecs forced the conquered people to provide them with labor and give them a list of items which included: textiles/clothing, military supplies, jewelry, food, paper, and more. The Aztec military is a main part of how the Aztecs were able to grow and expand.
Incas: Their political over watch provided a nice transition for the conquered people. Most non-Incas didn’t face problems or have problems with Inca control. The Incas had a simple yet effective governmental system. They had
Tenochtitlan specifically could have been the world’s largest city and was twice the size of Rome and London.
Spanish view on indigenous people was quite complicated in a way. The Spanish were impressed by the weaponry, government, size and city itself. They saw them capable of a lot of things but Cortes still conquered over them with massive help of the neighboring city-states. Cortes tried to justify his actions by saying they needed to be conquered because they did human sacrifices and should be converted to Christianity. One little thing made them incapable of governing themselves.
Diaz was in awe of Tenochtitlan and the Aztec empire as in expressed in this quote from the reading, “it is clear that Bernal Diaz had high respect for Aztec political and social organization, for the skills and talents of Aztec workers and craftsmen, for the remarkable city that stood on pilings and built-up land in the middle of Lake Texcoco.” He was impressed with how the whole city was built up and crafted. Diaz compared it to an enchanted vision from the tale of