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Aztec Empire Research Paper

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One of the most advanced civilizations of the ancient world was thriving for centuries in Central America. This empire had built magnificent temples, was plentiful with gold and silver, and was brought to its knees by the Spaniards. The Aztecs. This mysterious, unworldly nation was destroyed in less than a month’s time. The Spaniards, who erased hundreds of years of history and culture, were honored and held in high regard, but at a price. The destruction and carnage that the Spaniards left across the once majestic empire, was the heinous crime of genocide.
The Aztecs reigned from the twelfth century to the fifteenth century. Their fist city, the Aztec capital, was called Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was the military power and was in charge of …show more content…

They had heard of gold and other riches there and wanted to see it for themselves. There was an expedition planned, but it was cancelled due to rising costs (Palfrey). The leader of the expedition wanted to go anyway, despite the cancelation, so he gathered up a crew and set sail (Palfrey). The Spaniards made their way through Central America and entered the Aztec empire. They had made many allies, including some cities belonging to the Aztec empire who wanted to bring down the government for sacrificing people (Aztec History). Hernan Cortes led this expedition (Palfrey).
When the Aztec Emperor, Moctezuma II, received word of these pale skinned visitors, his advisors reminded him of an ancient prophecy that foretold the coming of Quetzalcoátl, an evil, fair skinned god that would return to take back his kingdom (Palfrey). Moctezuma II decided to send gifts to these newcomers, but told them to stay away from Tenochtitlan because of the noxious journey (Palfrey). Cortes accepted these gifts, but saw them as a sign of wealth and took his men to the capital city to find more riches …show more content…

He came back to find the native people rebelling and rioting. Cortes tried to calm the population by making Moctezuma II stand on top of a temple and talk to the mass. The Aztecs were far too splenetic to be reasoned with, they started throwing stones and arrows at their former emperor. Moctezuma II was killed (Palfrey). Moctezuma’s heir was a young man by the name of Cuitláhuac. He ordered the Aztec people to make a full scale attack on the Spaniards. The Spanish decided to sneak out at night before their opponents had a chance to attack, this night would later be known as the Sad Night. An alarm was sounded and the Aztecs leaped into action to capture the pale skinned Invaders. It was a devastating loss for the Spaniards. Hundreds of soldiers were taken prisoner, fell into canals and drowned, and were slaughtered by the natives. Cortes fell to his knees, and wept (Palfrey). Very few soldiers had escaped, but the ones able to get away, including Cortes, were not done with Tenochtitlan just yet. The Spaniards retreated into Tlaxcalan territory and regrouped. They got reinforcements and trained for months, preparing to launch another attack soon. They came up with a new strategy. They would take over the surrounding Aztec cities rather than going straight for the capital. They were successful in this approach

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