Cortez ignored this order and decided to overthrow the Aztec ruler Montezuma II (History, 2009.) Montezuma was one of the last Aztec rulers and the Aztecs had their peak while he was in control (Study.com, n.d.) The Spanish brought great destruction and disease to the Aztecs (Mark Cartwright, n.d.) such as smallpox and measles (National Geographic, n.d.) which wiped out half the population (Mark Cartwright, n.d.) It took three years for the Spanish to conquer the Aztec empire which covered northern Mexico with a population of around 11 The Spanish also had higher guns and cannons; their supply was limited and they conquered the Aztecs with their steel swords (David Minkov, 2023). How did colonisation affect Aztec society? The Aztec empire collapsed, their temples were vandalized or destroyed, and their art was melted into coins. (Mark Cartwright, n.d.) Half the population was wiped out (Mark Cartwright, n.d) during Montezuma’s rule and he allowed the Spanish to conquer them due to his religious superstition (Belief that certain events or things will bring good or bad luck) (study.com, n.d.) Once the last defenders broke the indigenous allies became …show more content…
Once the empire had quickly collapsed the indigenous were even worse than the Aztecs (Miles Hudson, n.d.) This brought great depression to the Aztecs. After their religion had been taken away, all their friends and families were either sick or dead, and the art they created was destroyed, there was no more point fighting. What did colonization do to the Aztec culture? Montezuma believed that certain events or things would bring good or bad luck. This meant that when Cortes came, Montezuma believed it was happening for a reason, and he let it happen (Study, n.d.) There were some positive effects of colonization on the Aztecs, like how the Spanish helped to modernize the Aztec society. Most importantly, the Spanish ended the Aztec spiritual ritual of human sacrifice. Negative effects were that the surviving Aztecs were not allowed to learn their native culture and were forced to read and write in Spanish. Many pieces of the Aztec culture were lost forever (Seattle Pi, 2021.) All things considered, there were many advantages that the Spanish had against the Aztecs such as their modernization, immunity to diseases, and number of soldiers and indigenous