The Aztecs and the Aztec Empire Throughout history, there have been many different societies and cultures. One of the most technologically advanced and civilized for its times would be the Aztecs. The Aztecs had built an empire with a strong central capital, Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was a large city constructed on a man-made island in the middle of a lake.…
In the 16 century, during the time of the Aztecs Empire, there was a battle that was going to be taken into place between the Aztecs and the greatest enemy. Popocatépetl was one of the men of the Emperor of the Aztec Empire, which also happened to be the father of Popocatépetl’s beloved Iztaccihuatl. Since the father knew about the love the both had for one another he had Popocatépetl a deal. If he brought victory home from the battle he would allow him and his daughter marry. Popocatépetl agreed to the deal and went to the battle and bring…
From the year 1502 until the year of 1520 a man by the name Moctezuma Xocoyotl (II) ruled Mexico as the ninth ruler. Then in June 29, 1520 Moctezuma lost his life while he was held as captive in his own palace. Ironically, there was some events that was not necessarily obvious of how it occurred at that…
King Montezuma was the leader of the Aztec empire from 1502-1520. The Aztecs had a large empire and complex civilization in present day Mexico. At their height, the Aztec empire had about five million citizens, about the same population as present day Paris. Hernando Cortez, a Spanish conquistador, set out to explore Mexico in 1518. In doing so, he disobeyed King Charles, the King of Spain. Cortez left Spain with 500 men in 11 ships. Once he arrived in Mexico, he burned most of his ships so his troops can’t escape back to Spain. He declared war against the Aztecs. Despite his underwhelming numbers compared to the Aztecs, the Spaniards did more than hold their own thanks to the revolutionary advantage of gun powder. On June 29th, 1920 Montezuma…
MesoAmerica had great civilizations that had marvelous accomplishments before the arrival of the Europeans. The greatest of these civilizations are the Maya, the Aztec, and the Inca. The Maya, known for their writing glyphs, and their trade network, made them great. Also the Aztec and Inca accomplishments consist of roads, trade systems, Quipus, and much more. The Maya were located in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, and they were also located in parts of Guatemala and Belize. The Inca were located in in the rugged, high mountainous terrain of Peru, and the west coast of other modern day South American countries, such as Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. In addition, the Aztecs were located in the Valley of Mexico, where their established capitol, Tenochtitlan was located. What made these civilizations so great, was their trade networks, writing systems, and agricultural achievements.…
What the Tlaxcala people gave to the Spanish is power in numbers, information, and safe territory. Upon the alliance between the Tlaxcala and the Spanish, the Spanish gained information regarding to the Triple Alliance and the city of Tenochtitlán. Tlaxcala had conflicted with the city of Tenochtitlán for some time, and would gladly march with their Spanish forces. The Tlaxcala helped provide the route to the city of Tenochtitlán, resulting in the confrontation with the Aztec leader Moctezuma. When the eventual battle began within the city of Tenochtitlán, only because of Tlaxcala did the Spanish survive their initial retreat during the “Noche Triste”. Due to the alliance with the Tlaxcala, the Spanish had the ability to regroup in an allied city resulting in only 860 of the initial 1300 Spaniards being killed. With the ability to regroup in friendly territory, the Spanish and their allies could product a successful counter attack, ultimately leading to the defeat of the Aztec. Another important ally to the Spanish was Doña Marina, who was a translator. With Doña Marina, the Spanish had the ability to both negotiate with the natives and inform the Spanish of possible plots against…
Political: Spanish conquistadors took over Aztec capital (Hernán Cortés) and later on defeated Incas (Francisco Pizarro)…
settle such inhospitable land they had to create anachronistic engineering feats to acquire basic survival…
Geography- The Spanish blocked Tenochtitlan’s causeways, bridges, and waterways. This cut off water supply, which led to the death of thousands of Aztecs because of starvation.…
Some tried to run, but it was no use, guards were posted at every possible exit. Markets closed everywhere in Mexico as people shut themselves in their homes.. The council of chiefs, the Xlatocan removed Montezuma, who accepted the demotion, but by now the people were beginning to revolt. The Aztecs attacked back, and after seven dys of attacks from all sides, Cortes and his men fled. Montezuma preached for peace and was killed.…
When the Spanish conquered the Aztecs in 1521, life changed drastically for all the inhabitants. The Spanish recently freed from Muslim rule were eager to spread Christianity and prove themselves as an advanced culture. They did this by exploring new areas and claiming the territories that they found. They were not respectful of the pre-existing cultures and they treated the indigenous as subhuman.…
Hernan Cortes landed on the east coast of the Aztec empire where the natives mistaken for Quetzalcoatl. Cortes ran with it and told his men to shine their armor so they will reflect the sun making them to appear to have a Heavenly glow. This worked well even convincing the leader of the Aztec empire -Montezuma II- that Cortez and his men were deities. On Cortez's way to the capitol, Tenochtitlan Cortes gained allies among the natives under Aztec control. Montezuma II made the mistake of sending big loads of gold and silver to Cortez as tribute, still under the belief that he was a deity only encouraging Cortez for there to conquer for more treasure. Cortez ended up taking the capital hand going down in history as one of the biggest contributors…
He then captured Montezuma. Cortez's men, destroyed the city and killed thousands of Aztecs. Montezuma was unable to restore order in Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs were starving. Cortes could not restore order, the Spanish were starving, and the market had closed. Cortes ordered Montezuma to reopen the market, but the emperor said that he could not because no one listened to his orders anymore. Then Montezuma suggested that maybe if Cortes let his brother Cuitlahuac (also prisoned) out of prison he may be able to reopen the market. Cortes agreed, but instead of opening the market Cuitlahuac organized an even bigger attack on the Spanish. Angered Cortes ordered to put Montezuma on the roof of the palace, where he where he asked to stop attacking the Spanish. The people of Tenochtitlan, angered, threw stones and spears at him. He was badly wounded before the Spanish could bring him inside. No one is sure how Montezuma died According to the Spanish 2 or 3 years later he was announced dead by his wounds. However according to the native account, he survived his wounds but was executed by the Spanish. Some even say the Spanish poured molten gold down his throat…
Cortez brought along with him men, weapons, horses, dogs as well as a few hundred slaves, and some of which carried diseases. When Montezuma got the news of Cortez, he didn’t believe it was the god they were waiting for, so he sent them gold and other treasures for them to leave. However this did not push Cortez away but rather pull his greed for more gold towards the city. He soon told the indigenous Mexicas “I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart which can be cured only with gold” (Schwartz), this is a small example of what lengths Cortez went to get what he wanted. Slowly Cortez was gaining the trust of neighboring tribes that hated Montezuma in exchange for military alliance, as well as telling Montezuma he would help him subjugate the rebels.…
Throughout the Early Modern Era, European nations capitalized on advanced technology to expand their territories into the Americas, Africa, and India. The French and British established trading posts in India, which led to conflict. Queen Elizabeth the first was in power in England, sponsoring privateers such as Sir Francis Drake. The Portuguese settled in the southern and eastern coasts of Africa, and the Spanish gained control over Latin America. The Spaniards were able to conquer the Aztecs with such efficiency due to the weakened Aztec government. Much like China in the post-Classical Era, the Aztecs maintained a tributary system, requiring extensive tributes of money, goods, and humans for human sacrifices and work from their subjects.…