The Age Of Exploration, The Old World And The New World 's Ideologies Clashed

The Aztecs were not able to survive Spanish colonization for multiple reasons. They had beautiful architecture, a political system and many members of their colony, but it was no match for the Spanish. The advanced technology the Spanish possessed proved to be greater than that of the Native Americans. The Aztecs were fighting with wooden swords and dogs, whereas, the Spanish with steel swords, guns and horses. The fighting techniques were different also. The Aztec fought to wound their enemies, sacrifice and/or enslave them. The Spanish people fought to kill and instill fear in as many people as they could. Many colonies were captured and enslaved by the Aztecs. Although, the captured colonies were afraid of the Aztecs, they feared the Spanish more. Cortes went to Mexico with his conquistadores and

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 Aztec and Spanish were both some of the strongest nations in the place they inhabited. The Spanish went to war to collect territory for their homeland in Spain. The Aztec went to war to please their gods and collect prisoners to sacrifice. The Spanish war strategies were for taking over the land they desired without war, but if it came to it they would fight. The weapons that both nations used were very dangerous, but were well suited for what they nation needed them for. The Aztec weapons were mostly for capturing prisoners. The Spanish weapons were used mostly for killing and were very durable. The Aztec and Spanish both had different reasons for going to war and the types of tactics they use

The Tlaxcaltecs were a very important tool for the Spaniards, giving them the proper navigation and short paths to get to Tenochtitlan along with food and shelter. The Spanish did carried many advantages over the Aztecs throughout their conquest; the use of cannons and artillery, an ally who new the Aztec ways very well, and the simple fact that the Aztecs at first thought the Spaniards were `gods'. Would you really want to fight your God and not be intimidated? The use of cannons and gunfire was foreign to the Aztecs; they fought with stones, bows and arrows and had never before seen or heard of such a weapon. "Then the captain gave orders, and the messengers were chained by the feet and by the neck. When this had been done the great cannon was fired off. The messengers lost their senses and fainted away (26)."

Portilla starts out by giving a thorough background of the culture and religious beliefs. The reader can draw many theories on how this carried over to the Aztecs way of thinking and fighting. In addition to the religion and culture, Portilla shows the technology advantages the Spanish had over the

During the 15th through 17th centuries, advancements in technology and the desire for new resources spurred the exploration of the New World for both Spain and England. Spain's interest in exploration soon surpassed the rest of the countries in the Old World and the nation began to claim the majority of territory in Central and South America. Spain sent conquistadores to assert their dominance in the New World through violent conquest which resulted in difficult relations with native populations. Although the English did not settle in North America until the early 17th century, well past the period of the Spanish conquest, their methods of colonization were more successful in the long term. The English were able to find economic success

Until the late 1400's, Europeans did not know the existence of the two American continents ( North and South America ). To the European explorers, exploring the other side of the Atlantic was like exploring an entire different world, hence the name- the New World. In 1492, Christopher Columbus unknowingly discovered the new continent. His original motives for exploring was to find an easier route to Asia but instead, he discovered the New World. Thus; Spain, France and England began sending out conquistadors and explorers to the uncharted terrains of the new continent. Motives for the Spanish, French, and English explorers varied greatly, however, they were similar in some ways. The motives of the Spanish explorers were acquisition of

As historians overview the history of the Aztecs they need to make sure to emphasize the importance of the human sacrifices that we completed by the Aztecs daily. This feature of the Aztecs is more notable because they deliberately didn’t occupy land for later sacrifices, it was the reason for many’s death, and they were willing to sacrifice warriors. It therefore must then be clear that the human sacrifices of the Aztecs must be emphasized more than the agriculture of the

In the midst of the Renaissance, world trade was prosperous and vast. Nations established personal control through the commercial contacts that they established. In an effort to shorten certain trading routes and obtain a more surmountable amount of natural resources, many nations entered the Age of Exploration circa 1500. Christopher Columbus, in an effort to discover a more efficient route from Western Europe to India, accidently unearthed the Americas in 1492. His discovery led many other European nations to pursue imperialistic endeavors in what had become known as the New World. Two Spanish conquistadors, Cortez and Pizarro, made a profound impact on the areas they conquered in the New World. In Mexico, the native Aztecs were overpowered by Cortez’ forces. A majority fell ill from susceptibility to European diseases, while the rest were placed into coercive labor systems. Similar fates were bestowed upon the Incas subjected to

Imagine living in the Aztec or Spanish Civilization in the 1300’s-1400’s. These two groups would fight in many dangerous wars. The Spanish had enemies within in Europe, while the Aztecs had rivals with the other Indigenous groups in Central and South America. With their wars, the Aztecs and Spanish had many similarities and differences. These variations and resemblances include their weapons used, the groups they fought and their strategies used in battle.

In regards appearance, the Spanish were essentially covered from head to toe in iron armor. Even the weapons they carried were covered in iron. The Aztecs were unaccustomed to the iron-clad individuals. In regards to weaponry, the Spanish were, even more, intimidating in the fact that they had cannons. The Aztecs describe the cannon to Motecuhzoma, "a thing like a ball of stone comes out of its entrails: it comes shooting sparks and raining fire...smoke that comes out of it has a pestilent odor. The odor penetrates even the brain and causes great discomfort" ( 30). For me personally, the only reason I can think of for Cortes to fire off a cannon was to show dominance over the Indians. For people who had never even heard of a cannon before, it is understandable that the Native Americans were fearful of Cortes and his men. Along with the iron-clad armor and weapons the

In a time when European countries were prompted to explore the New World, two countries in particular had a desire to control not only Europe, but the world. The Age of Exploration occurred between the fifteenth and seventh century and led to the discovery of the Americas, which was called the New World at the time. During this time, countries such as Spain and England had citizens travel to the New World for multiple reasons yet had both similarities and differences in both of the country's new colonies. It was in this context that the Spanish and British colonies in the New World were both dramatically alike and different by the differences in the colonies’ religious practices, the similarity of the harsh treatment of Indigenous people through

In The broken spears, author Miguel Leon-Portilla gives accounts from the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1519. These accounts include several texts written by surviving indigenous people of the Aztec civilization; these perspectives truly shows the emotion, fear, and uncertainty the Aztec’s felt in depth during this time. With the accounts in our textbook and the broken spears, we are able to draw conclusions viewing both facts and experiences through this prevailing point in world history.

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

The Spanish artillery out matched the Aztec and Incas. Their forces were no match for the number of Aztec and Inca men but because of the Spanish artillery. There is an example of the Inca civilisation where there were 200 spanish soldiers against 50,000 Inca warriors. The Spanish soldiers terrorised the native Americans by firing their rifles. Which caused the natives to believed that the soldiers could create thunder. Crossbows were also used but uncommon because they were slow to load and could malfunction easily. The most common weapon in the Spanish artillery was the sword. A good foot soldier could kill many natives in seconds. Spanish soldiers had the finest armor in the world (at the time). The soldier were encased from head to toe