The Spanish Conquest

The Spanish Conquest of Mexico Christine Schoonover Grand Canyon University His103 September 11, 2009 Joyce Kievit The conquest of Mexico was started around March of 1519. The Spanish became greedy for gold and other precious metals. Cortes was friends with governor which gave him friends of great nobleness. Cortes was called upon to complete a mission to take over Mexico by the governor of Cuba. The governor came to the conclusion he could not trust Cortes and wanted him arrested. The Aztec Indians began an attack on the Spanish. Some of the invaders were not ready for Cortes’ attacks. The Indians were here before the Spaniards, but yet the Indians had to fight off the Spanish to protect their families and lands. The Aztec Indians were afraid of Cotes and his army because the thought them to be some kind of gods. They army of Cortes had weapons that the Aztec Indians had never seen before and were taken by this army. Who ever took over Mexico would get great recognition and fame. Cortes got eleven ships and five hundred thirty men and one hundred soldiers. (Information Delight) This battle wasn’t hard to win since there were not as many Natives to fight. Some of the Natives became friends with Cortes and helped him in these battles. Cortes did have an advisor Dona Marina who was friends with some of the high people of Mexico. Cortes relies on Dona and her friendship with Mayan and Nahuatl. She later became his mistress during their time together. She also birthed a son to Cortez which was named Martin, also the first blooded Mexican. (Palfrey, 2007) There were many diseases which were the cause of death of many Indians because they were not immune to these diseases. The diseases were brought over by the Spanish and took out most of the population of Indians. While the diseases spreading over the Native population making it somewhat easier to conquer Mexico. The diseases that the Indians could not fight off were the mumps, measles, and

References: The Spanish