Effects Of The Aztecs During The Conquistadors

The Spanish Conquest involves the domination of the Incas and Aztecs by the exploring Europeans. Advanced weapons, domestic animals, and disease all have immense advantages for the Europeans over the Central and South American natives. The natives also had many differing reactions to the Spaniards’ arrival and attacks. The Spaniards arrived in the Inca civilization with no force and lingered around with no sign of attack before trying to communicate.

When the Spanish ruled the Aztec society, the culture of the people changed completely. The Spanish took everything the Aztecs had in life and also everything they had worked for. They made dramatic changes to their political ways and stance, their culture and economy. Most of the Spanish’s changes were for the worse, but some of them helped save the Aztec society. These changes have been kept through those ages and bought into modern society.

In addition to the various new government concepts, new foods and animals were also introduced to Mexico. The agricultural factors were quite different from those of the governmental, as both – the Aztec and the

One negative outcome of the Columbian Exchange was that both the Europeans and the Indians shared diseases with the other world that hadn't been discovered yet in that world. When the Europeans voyaged to the New World, they spread infectious diseases with the Indians such as measles, smallpox, and influenza. The Indians had prior to the Europeans arrival been separated from the rest of the world, so they had never been exposed to these diseases. The Indians also transferred diseases to the Europeans. These diseases included syphilis. Both the Indians and the Europeans dispersed several life threatening diseases to each other that didn't exist prior to the Columbian Exchange.

Animals started to dominate the New World due to most of the Indians dyeing off from disease. The animals were not affected by the diseases that the Europeans/Spanish brought so they were left to roam around in grasslands. These animals however, would

The positive effect of European exploration was the trade of resources. The Colombian exchange was the transfer of animals, plants, and ideas between the New World and the Old World in the 15th and 16th century. The Columbia exchange brought domestic animals to the New World like horses and cows, while the Old World got animals such as turkeys and llamas (Document F). Crops were also transferred between the two

For thousands of years mankind has felt an insatiable desire to explore. Many people groups from around the world have discovered and conquered new lands. The Spanish Conquistadors are among these. In the 1500s, there were many compelling incentives luring them to gain control of the Aztec Empire in New Spain (Mexico). What impelled the Conquistadors to conquer the Aztecs was a desire to spread the teachings of the Christian church, to gain wealth allowing them to establish roots in New Spain, and to develop relationships between the Aztecs and the continental Spaniards.

resided. The Aztecs had significant wealth from trading and heavy payments of tribute from the conquered natives. From the years 1200-1520, the Aztecs prospered and expanded their empire immensely. However, all of this was going to change when the Spanish landed on the Yucatan Peninsula in 1519. Following Christopher Columbus' foundation of permanent settlement in the Caribbean, the Spanish were seeking conquest, expedition and colonization of new territory. Although there were multiple factors that contributed to the remarkable victory by the Spanish in the sixteenth century such as religion; it was the indigenous alliances, technological superiority, and disease that was most impactful.

Representation” by Michael Schreffler argues that “ . . . early modern rhetoric and iconography . . . constructed a distorted view of painting in Aztec Mexico and entangled it in the conventions of colonial historiography” (407). This essay is effective because of its thorough examination of the accounts that explain a painting made by the Aztec’s at San Juan de Ulúa on Easter Sunday of 1519.

Everybody has a dark side, and a bright side. This was definitely true for the Aztec's. Through Aztec culture two main things were emphasized; agriculture and human sacrifice, but which should historians emphasize more? Historians learn many things about Aztec culture through studying their agriculture. The Aztec's were Native American people who, around the times 1350-1519, dominated most of the region of what is today's modern day Mexico City (Background Essay). Agriculture was a very important part of the everyday lives and culture of the Aztec's, as well as human sacrifice. Although human sacrifice was important, their success in agriculture had more of a positive impact on their society and what has evolved into our society today. The Aztec's had conquered vast regions of land entailing many people to feed (Document A). Historians should emphasize the Aztec's agriculture because of its importance to society and everyday life, their intelligence and advanced farming techniques, and the importance of religion to their culture.

The Americas “had a very significant decline in population, losing somewhere around 30 million people,” from European diseases in 1500 to 1700. These diseases killed up to 90% of Native Americans in the New World. The Spanish purposefully gave the Native Americans blankets and clothes that had been used by someone who had previously died of smallpox. The Spanish also put diseases in the rivers that the Native Americans used to drink. After so many Native Americans died of disease, it was very easy for Europeans to conquer and colonize the land. They had already killed millions of natives and wiped out entire civilizations. Because it was easy to set up colonies in the New World, the English colonies eventually came together to form the United States and a very powerful country as it is today. Cleary, disease was also a big impact of the Columbian Exchange. Most diseases spread from the Old World to the New World. Syphilis, however, a disease that created a painful blistering rash, and traveled back to Europe from the New World by sailors. Disease had a big impact by killing millions of innocent

The events that occurred between the Aztecs and Spanish Conquistadors have many sides and opportunities for debate. One of the most debated topics being; Who was more savage and who was more Civil? Both the Aztecs and Spanish had powerful and thriving empires. These empires displayed their dominance through their advanced technology and flourishing military. Though it may seem that the Spanish were more advanced than the Aztecs, the Aztecs and Spanish were actually quite close to being equal in technological advancements.

The Spanish soldiers didn’t just bring sharp, damaging weapons, but also pain and suffering in the form of plague and disease. The most significant of these tragic disease were most definitely smallpox, measles and the mumps. Smallpox is a crowd disease. Once it strikes a low density population it soon becomes extinct in that population as it does not have enough hosts. Thus, in American Indian populations, smallpox would strike, the population would plummet, and the disease would die out. The population would begin to recover and about a generation later, smallpox would strike again (Navajo, December 2009). All three had devastating effects and took millions of lives. Records dating back to the 1500’s confirm that there was a terrible smallpox epidemic immediately after the Spanish had arrived.

The earliest inhabitants of Mexico are believed to have been hunters who migrated from Asia approximately 18,000 years ago. Over time they built organized civilizations with distinct cultures like the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Mayan, Toltec, Zapotec, Mixtec, and Aztecs. These societies excelled in the fields of art, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, and agriculture. In 1517 the Spanish explorer Francisco Fernández de Córdoba landed on the Yucatán, peninsula and four years later the Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortéz conquered the Aztec empire. For the next 300 years, Mexico, or New Spain, would remain under colonial rule.

World history has featured the rise and fall of numerous civilizations. Few have been as unique as the Aztecs. They quickly grew in the heartlands of Mexico from their conquering lifestyle. The Aztecs developed a style of living different from much of the other civilized world, partly due to the lack of cross-cultural contact due to the Americas relative isolation from the rest of the world in the pre-Columbian era. Nevertheless, the Aztecs created a society that was deeply cultural, and hugely successful.