Cortes was a Spanish conquistador who led the expedition to the Aztecs. He landed on the coast of Mexico in 1519 with an army of around 600 men, 16 horses and a few cannons. Cortes and his men made their way inland to the capital of the Aztecs, capturing cities and gaining extra soldiers from the people who were left after his men took over. He spoke to the natives through his translator Malinche, a young Indian woman. They made their way to Tenochtitlan, where Aztecs were conquering and sacrificing living humans.…
Cortes was on a mission to search for gold, to claim land and to convert people to christianity. Cortes was welcomed into the city. The aztecs did not know what he was a normal person or a god to claim the throne. Cortes' men killed some preastes in the middle of a sacrifice to their gods. Cortes held there emperor captive hoping that it was stop attacks on them…
The Spaniards allied with the Tlaxcalan indians and marched into Tenochtitlan. Montezuma welcomed in Quetzalcoatl’s men with open arms, but Hernan Cortes seized power of the empire by using Montezuma as a figurehead against his will, while Cortes made all the real decisions. Cortes acted as a secret leader until 1520, when events caused tension to escalate, and Cortes demanded Montezuma command his people obey the Spaniards. The Indians didn’t like this at all, and showered their leader in stones, he then went on to die days later in June of 1520. The spanish originally went to Mexico to search for land and gold, or other plunders because they had no prosperity back home in Spain. When they reached Mexico, they discovered the Aztec people and the native indians of the land, and decided to try to eliminate them and their ways (cannibalism, human sacrifices, etc. didn’t appeal to the Spanish, and they didn’t want people like that inhabiting the same land as…
The Spanish, led by Hernan Cortez, landed on the Mexican peninsula in search of gold in 1519. Within three years, the Spanish had conquered the Aztec Empire. Accounts of what happened during the first Spanish account differ greatly based on whose account of the attack is read. They differ which means only one is correct.…
The Aztec empire was of immense population and size which benefited from a central control. Cortes had discovered that his conquest of Mexico would not be as easy as Pizarro’s conquest of the Incas. The process the leadership being killed after gradual trade would not be possible in Mexico. It was the religious beliefs of the Aztecs that gave Cortes and his men the opportunities necessary for conquest. Thesis.…
Hernán Cortés is probably one of the most infamous (more well-known in common knowledge) of the Spanish conquistadores who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the Spanish Crown. He is mentioned by Zinn in chapter 1 as an example of the brutality of the conquistadores as well as the motivation and mindset towards their work. In August 1521, the Aztec Empire subjugated to Spanish control, and Cortés was able to claim it for Spain, renaming it as Mexico City. At the start of the expedition, Cortés explored and secured the interior of Mexico for colonization, using a woman Malinche (Doña Marina) as a translator. Cortés is significant in history for his part in the downfall of great civilization and start of Spanish colonization of…
First, killing thousands of people, the loss of people in a loss that can't be calculated (war). Although the Aztecs certainly weren't the first people ever to sacrifice humans, the fact that they did and the incredible number they sacrificed led to the hatred of some of the surrounding peoples. The powerful city-state of Tlaxcala was one of these. Many of their own had been sacrificed, and in the end they joined the Spaniards to fight the Aztecs. It may be that the Spanish simply was an excuse to start what was already an inevitable civil…
The Spanish, led by Hernán Cortés landed on the Mexican peninsula in search of gold in 1519. Within three years, the Spanish had conquered the Aztec Empire. Accounts of what happened during the first Spanish attack differ greatly based on whose account the event is read. According to the primary source by the Aztecs, the Aztecs were brutally slaughtered by the Spanish. When the Spanish first arrived the Aztecs called them lords because they believed that their leader was Quetzalcoatl, the bird god.…
The relationship between Cortes and the Aztecs was fake. The Aztecs thought Cortes was a god who came to fulfill a promise. Tenochtitlan (the Ancient capital city of the Aztec empire) was a very wealthy city. They had tons of gold and silver. Cortes and his soldiers wanted to have all the gold.…
4. After winning a few battles, Cortés marched into Mexico city [Tenochtitlan] on 8 Nov. 1519. He ruled, using Montezuma (c. 1466 – 1520) as a puppet, for about half a year, then the Aztecs rebelled, stoned Montezuma to death, and attacked the Spanish. Cortés fought his way out of Mexico (losing about 35% of his men). But Cortés regrouped (his Indian allies remained loyal), and in April 1521 he recaptured Mexico City, which this time he held. Spanish accounts of this…
The aztecs thought it was a warning that their empire was going to fall. In 1519, a spanish explorer (Hernando Cortes) arrived at the east coast of mexico. He defeated the local tribes and set off for the Aztecs. When he arrived at the city, the spaniards captured the emperor, took him as a prisoner, and killed him.…
In 1519, Herman Cortes and the other Conquistadors went to the Americas to find gold and take over the land. When they got to America they found that the Aztecs would not give up their land and gold so easily. The Conquistadors were also at a huge disadvantage because the Aztecs had many more people. The Conquistadors were able to defeat the Aztecs by converting some Aztecs to help fight for them. “With the aid of a native woman translator named Malinche, Cortes learned that some natives resented the Aztecs.…
Before the conquistadors arrived in the Aztec empire, the city Tenochtitlan had some unusual, natural disaster in which between the years of 1517 and 1519, the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan had an earthquake, then Lake Texcoco had flooded the capital city. The Aztecs believed these disasters warned of the fall of their empire and the return of their god. In 1519, the Spanish explorer, Hernan Cortes arrived on the east coast of Mexico and to make sure his men cooperated with him marching across the jungle, he proceeded burned all of his ships. He continued his journey and took out the local tribe of indians. For 83 days straight, Cortes and his men marched across jungles and mountains into the Valley of Mexico. Cortes arrived in Tenochtitlan with…
On August 13, 1521, the Aztecs surrendered. Cuauhtemoc was held hostage and later killed. Spanish forces continued violence, killing thousands, even after they surrender. “As this practice was generally not done in European warfare, it suggests that Cortés' Indian allies had more power over him than he suggested.” (New World Encyclopedia, 2013). During the 80-day battle, an estimated 240,000 Aztecs died. The majority of survivors were young children. The Spanish government praised Cortés’ victory as he secured over 7,000 tons of riches for the country. The Battle of Tenochtitlán provided Spain a position in Central America, an area that continues to speak Spanish to this day, and they became a dominant world power until the loss of the Spanish Armada in 1558 (New World Encyclopedia, 2013).…
The Aztec empire started after the Toltec empire fell. They were known for agriculture, artificial islands and temples. They had a very complex calendar system. The Spanish Overthrew them in 1521. Around 240,000 Aztecs were killed during this conquest.…