The Discovery Of North America

The Aztecs, part of modern day Mexico, were once the epitome of fine culture. They began their rule of southern and central Mexico during the 14th century and practiced an incredibly wealthy lifestyle. Nonetheless, this rule began to deteriorate when Spanish explorers disembarked at Tabasco and Vera Cruz on April 21st 1519. When the Spanish voyagers first arrived, they were welcomed warmly, respectfully and received Godlike treatment. Montezuma, the ruler at that time, believed that the Spanish military leader, Hernán Cortés, was the great god Quetzalcoatl. The Spanish took advantage of this Aztec belief and conquered Mexico within two years. By 1521, the Aztec culture was officially eradicated and a new culture, consisting of a

During the European age of expansion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, various European nations were colonizing the newly discovered Americas. Spain and France would become prominent players in the Western Hemisphere, both conquering and colonizing new territories. However, each country had different methods of developing their colonies in the New World. Spanish and French settlements contrasted greatly with one another in terms of economic development and Native American relations.

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.

After Columbus mistakenly discovered the Americas in 1492, European countries were soon setting out to establish themselves in this new world. Spain was first to establish itself in the new world, using their powerful military and their navy. The new colonies were completely dictated by the king of Spain, such one of his policies allowing colonists to use the native tribes for forced labor. France was the second major power to establish itself. Their main focus was fur trapping and fur trading. The French quickly learned to work with the Native Americans. The few French settlers, who did come to America, were focused on fur trapping and trading. Because of this, most French settlements were either military forts or trading posts. England

The British Empire dramatically changed when Christopher Columbus located America. Countries were rushing to get a piece of the shiny new land they could conquer. No country wanted to be left behind on the road to colonization, the more they owned the more powerful they were. The French came and colonized central and northern America. The Dutch collected patchy parts of northern America and Spain got southern America (Keene et al, section 2).

In the late 16th century, European nations were notorious for colonizing other nations. Their main motivation was seeking wealth in terms of valuable minerals, land to perform agriculture, and an additional market for their products. America, which was newly discovered at the time, did not escape their eyes. Of all the European nations, the British sent numerous groups on an expedition to the east coast of the Americas to establish colonies. The colonies expanded along the shoreline of the east coast of the Americas and grew to consist of four regions. Chesapeake and New England were among the two colonies, and they exhibited some similarities and differences.

The British, French and Spanish were the main empires that colonised throughout the continent of North America during the 17th century. The European nations wanted to gain further power by acquiring more land overseas. They were also in search for new trade routes that led directly to Asia or Africa because this would give them unlimited access to gold and other goods. Another reason for exploration was to spread Christianity and Catholicism wherever they went which would weaken the Middle Eastern Muslims. This would also be the time of the Columbian Exchange which was the transfer of goods, animals, crops and diseases through the Americas, Europe and Africa.

The Spanish Conquer The conquer of the Aztec Empire is viewed as a bloody battle. The Aztec Empire had placed trust in the Spaniards, but were overthrown by their allies. The thought of greed and disbelief created the distrust. The three ways of success that contributed to the Spanish conquest of Aztec Empire in the early 1500s began with the trustworthy relationship between the two leaders Moctezuma and Cortez, the trust began to falter with the Spanish due to the thought of losing everything if the alliance diminishes, and then the defeat of the Aztec Empire was very brutal and savage.

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 spanish conquest of the Aztec in 1521 les by Hernando cortes was a landmark victory for the european settlers following the spanish arrival in mexico a huge battle erupted between the army of cortes and the Aztec people under the river of Montezuma.

Hernan Cortes defied orders to have the Spanish base at Veracruz and moved near Tenochtitlán where there was rumored to be gold and other riches in Mexico. Soon after his arrival he became allies with the Tlaxcalteca a major enemy of the Aztecs. King Montezuma II heard of this alliance and sent gifts to Cortes to appease him and he even invited him into the Incan capital Tenochtitlán. Cortes upon arrival saw that he had been outnumber so instead he held Montezuma hostage and in the altercation Montezuma ended up getting killed. Over the next couple year he and his men fired siege weapons on the Aztecs until they surrendered. The siege cut off the water and food supplies which lead to a huge panic for the Aztecs. Another key role was smallpox, many of the Aztecs died off which weakened their military causing them to surrendering.Once they surrendered the Spanish went in and took control over the city and like many other places the conquistadors married the Native women having mestizos and combined their two cultures

After being surrounded and about lose everything he has worked for, they somehow come to agreement to become allies fighting against the Aztecs. Cortes and his people spent a month there getting to know and becoming friends with the Tlaxcalans. The poor city had no items to contribute to the Spanish but their people and army. Hernando decided he should try to scare and intimidate the Aztecs before approaching them. Cholula, a bordering city and an Aztec influence, was one of the most important cities of Mexico. It being a poor, deprived city based on religion, it was one of the most prestigious places for the Aztecs. The Spanish start by killing some of the low class nobles, then threatening important people in the society. After no reaction, Cortes and his army slaughter every person in their sight and burn the city. He bluntly told Moctezuma that the people disrespected him and not to be scared if he welcomes him with reverence and gold. The Spanish, after trying to teach a lesson and three long months since being here, were ready to enter the largest city in the world. Hernando Cortes was about to approach his biggest adventure yet, the Aztecs.

The Aztec empire was conquered by the explorer Cortes. Cortes came from the main Spanish base in Cuba, despite the orders not to, and travelled to Mexico to conquer Mexico for Spain. Cortes visited the Aztec capital at least two times. The first time Cortes went to the capital he captured and killed the leader of the Aztec empire, Montezuma II. The second time

The conquest was very successful as they won the land. This event was important the making of America. When Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico with all of his 600 soldiers, the Aztecs had control over all of that land at that time. The Aztecs could not expand their empire anymore due to the Spanish conquest. In Cuba, Hernan Cortes worked in the civil government and served as the mayor of Santiago.

The European conquest for establishing North American colonies began with various motivations, each dependent on different, and/or merging necessities: economics, the desire to flee negative societal aspects, and the search for religious freedoms. Originally discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 in search for a trade route to Cathay (China), North America remained uninhabited, excluding the Native American establishments. Following this discovery, Spain –along with other European nations such as France, England, Sweden and the Netherlands– soon began the expedition to the new land with vast expectations. Driven by economic, societal, and religious purposes, the New World developed into a diversely structured colonial establishment