Camping Lead By Hernando Cortes: The Ruthless Conquest Of Mexico

Since of the history is only written by the winners and contains bias, the views of “other side” are barely recaptured. As this suggest, the credibility of some historical events taken from one perspective can be questioned. Therefore, the majority of the histories can be considered as incomplete in the view of the fact that only unilateral views from the winning side were being shown. As a matter of fact, the conquest of Mexico has always been one of the historical events that lots of historians like to talk about. Along with the book Victors and Vanquished, Stuart B. Schwartz has carefully provided readers with the perspectives from both Spanish and the Nahua on the fall of Aztec and allowed us to interrogate the real history behind.

Spanish weaponry consisted of swords, pikes, horses and early guns. The Spanish Conquistadors introduced a type of warfare never seen in the Americas, cavalry warfare. The soldiers on horseback were almost as intimating as the soldiers who used guns. The Aztecs thought horses were gods, which concerned the Aztec because they were sitting on top of these “gods”. [2] The Spanish also had the advantage of having steel armor, which protected them from the natives’ projectiles, and weakened hits against the Aztec obsidian swords.[3] Their wounds were limited to the limbs, of unarmed regions like their face and neck. Which lessened their risk of death, while the opposing natives were left vulnerable. The Spanish fired shots from their harquebus, an early musket, which stunned the natives and further intimidated them.

The reading “An Aztec account of the Spanish Conquest” is mainly about a story when Hernan Cortes came for the first time at Tenochtitlan (nowadays Mexico City). The Aztecs believes that when Hernan Cortes arrive they believe the he was Quetzalcoatl, the main god in the Aztec culture. Cortes were friendly invite to the Aztec city as the most important guest, the Aztec people made a big party to celebrate the return of their god, but the Aztec people did not know Cortes intentions of conquer the empire. Later the Aztecs were betrayed by Hernan Cortes. Cortes’s army began to attack the city and at the end they take over the city.

The Spanish Conquest of Mexico and the Aztec people started when Hernán Cortés led the Spanish conquistadors to Tenochtitlán and conquered the Aztec Empire in 1519. The Spaniards had gunpowder, dogs, horses, and armor that would help fight against the Azteca. The Native Americans wanted to only wound their enemies with their woodened clubs tipped and sharp obsidian that was powerful enough to smash the Spaniard’s helmets. The use of the double-bladed swords helped the Spaniards fight close combat with the Indians. As soon as their chief died the Azteca would back down. Not only did the weapons cause a huge impact on the Aztec but also the spread of diseases such as smallpox that were carried by the Europeans affected the population. After conquering the Indians, the intensions of the Spanish in Mexico was to spread their beliefs about Christianity, find gold and use them as slaves. In drastic ways the Spaniards changed the native communities, for instance plagues spread throughout the whole country side after the defeat of Tenochtitlán. Smallpox, measles, and influenza were the outbreaks that hit urban cities the hardest. In 1520-1521 an outbreak of smallpox caused thousands to die because Azteca medicine was not affective against these diseases. The second outbreak occurred in 1531 and it was smallpox again but combined with measles and the third wave of the disease lasted from 1576 to 1581 killing 300,000 to 400,000 of the Aztec population. The Native Americans did not

Maybe too much credit is given to Cortés as one of the greatest Spanish conquerors who developed effective strategy to defeat the Aztecs. Restall see this as somewhat of a myth accounting for the failure of historians to look at history before the 1519 (Restall, 19). Restall says “However, too often, without any direct evidence, the actions of Conquistadors after the 1519– 21 invasion of Mexico are taken as deliberately imitating Cortés, while pre-1519 patterns are ignored.” Whatever the case for whom should be given the credit for the strategy used to defeat the Aztecs; one must admit Cortés was able the win the trust of the people and use the Aztecs’ fear of him to control their empire. Cortés harbored fear of his own. Elliott says, “Cortés felt some uneasiness, when he reflected that it was in the power of the Indians, at any time, to cut off his communications with the surrounding country, and hold him a prisoner in the capital.” The Omens of the Aztecs betrayed them and caused them to see the arriving settlers as gods. They were not prepared to defend themselves against the advanced weapons of the Spanish. Much like the Aztecs, the Mayans faced hard times at the hands of the Spanish conquerors, but their defeat came much easier to the Spanish.

The book, Broken Spears was an interesting reading that talked about the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan. Throughout the book, it becomes clear that the Spanish were successful in their conquest as a result of a number of factors.The Spanish were intimidating in appearance and in their weaponry. They had animals that the Aztecs had never seen before. They also formed alliances with rival tribes, like the Tlaxcaltecas tribe. Finally, one of the key reasons that the Spaniards were able to successfully conquer the Aztecs was due to the fact that Motecuhzoma himself, believed that Cortes and his men were gods.

Spainish took over the Aztec community, which was easy because the Aztecs were unaware this was the reason for their coming. Aztecs people gifted the Spanish because they felt they were worthy or gods. The other communities around Aztec helped the Spanish further their take over due to constant confrintation. The Spanish came to take over everything and get rich basically. The Aztecs were not equipped enough to fight off the Spanish whom had far more advanced weapons then a the Aztecs who had bow and arrows. With the Spanish and the surrounding community coming together Aztec Empire were out numbered which soon lead to their complete take over. Diseases were also a factor in why the Aztec Empire was not able to survive members of their army and leaders were killed by the diseases. Although this played a major part in the decrease of their population it was not the only reason. As part of their belifs Aztec Empire sacarficed their own kind.

The Spaniards were making a loud clamor and had way better weapons to defeat the aztec empire. Their spears glinted in the sun, and their

So the Spanish could easily penetrate any armour the Aztecs had, but the Aztecs would have lots of difficulty trying to break any of the Spanish armour. They also had horses, which the Aztecs had never seen in their life, which gave them a height advantage, and makes it harder for Aztecs to hit them. http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-enabled-spanish-defeat-aztecs-353188 Fri 7 August

The Spanish were successful in their conquest of the Aztec Empire for numerous reasons. They were intimidating in appearance and in their weaponry. They had animals that the Aztecs had never seen before. They also formed alliances with rival tribes, like the Tlaxcaltecas tribe. Finally, one of the key reasons that the Spaniards were able to successfully conquer the Aztecs was due to the fact that Motecuhzoma himself, believed that Cortes and his men were gods.

The Aztecs may have been strong militarily when it was just them against the other Native American tribes, but they were no match against the might of the Spanish army. Europe as a whole was more technologically advanced than the Native Americans. As stated by Aztec History, “The tactics of the Spanish army certainly played a role...Cortes used clever tactics which brought about the fall of the Aztec Empire.” The quote is mainly saying that the Spanish army used warfare in a different way than the Aztecs. The Aztecs just weren’t used to the foreign way of

Even though Aztecs were strong and ferocious warriors, they didn't have the strong, powerful weapons the Spanish had such as guns. These two powerful empires also had very different ways of attacking. The Aztecs told their opponents when and where they were going to fight, whereas the the Spanish planned surprise attacks on their enemies. A main difference was that the Aztecs captured their enemies instead of killing because they needed people for sacrifice, however the Spanish killed their

The Aztec-Spanish War was more than a war leading to the demise of the Aztec empire; rather it was one of the most remarkable and significant wars of European history, beginning the colonization of Mesoamerica. The Spaniards who came to the New World were known as conquistadors, Spanish for “conquerors”. Hernando Cortez, one of the most ambitious Spanish conquistadors, left Cuba in 1519 with 500 men, 11 ships, horses, and countless other provisions. The exploratory mission, supported by the governor of Cuba: Diego de Velásquez, soon turned into one of conquest. Driven by the pursuit of gold, glory and god, Cortez was determined to use any means necessary in his desire to conquer one of ancient history’s most prominent civilizations: The Aztecs.

I believe the preceding statements support my argument that the most important factors in the demise of Montezuma and the Aztecs were from the equal combination of having to deal with a Spanish conquest and an Indian civil war.

     In 1519 Hernán Cortés led a couple hundred other Spaniards inland to the impressive Empire of the Mexica ruled by the Great Montezuma. Many historians today tell how quickly and almost effortlessly these Spaniards conquered the Empire. They paint an image of ignorant, helpless Indians practically giving up their land out of fear of this group because certainly the Spaniards must be gods since they have powerful weapons and strange animals. We know neither Cortés nor any of his men were gods, of course, but what was it that allowed Cortés to prevail over the inhabitants of the land?