The Mexica Empire against Hernan Cortes Essay

Conquest is defined as the control of a place or people by use of force. Colonization occurs when more species populate an area. After the Mexican American war the Mexican border went up in San Ysidro California creating disagreement between territories. Conquest produced local, regional, and national patterns of change and development. The conquest of New Mexico and the Unites Sates Southwest now had distinguishable contradictions and tensions.

The Mexica, better known as Aztecs, were Indians who lived in what we call today Mexico. They were very powerful people and dominated most of Middle America. Because warfare was consider sacred, Aztecs would wound their enemies and present them as sacrifices to their gods. The Aztecs also built a beautiful and elaborate empire, improved farming techniques, and even built a political structure. However, they were demolished by the Spanish empire. Later on during the 16th Century, the Iroquois League was formed in North America. They consisted of 5 Iroquois nations that decided to form an

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 Incan empires both had strong armies. In the Aztec empire by the early fifteenth century the Aztecs were powerful enough to overcome their immediate neighbors and demand tribute. During the middle decades of the fifteenth century, the military elite that ruled much of Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs launched ambitious campaigns of imperial expansion. Know as “the Obsidian Serpent” Itzcoatl and Motecuzoma advanced first to Oaxaca in southwestern Mexico. After capturing Oaxaca and slaying

Hernan (also Hernando or Fernando) Cortes was born in Medellin, Estramadura, in Spain in 1485 to a family of minor nobility.

Warfare was a part of Aztec life, the Aztecs went to war so that could capture people to sacrifice to their beloved gods. They believed if they did not sacrifice people the gods would get angry and the world would end. Other reasons to go to war were that they could expand their territory, and collect resources. The Aztec threw scattered wooden spears to disperse the enemy troops, come in and knock out the dispersed enemy warriors. The Spanish had a very different approach to war the Spanish tried to peacefully negotiate and discover the most powerful. When the Spanish found the strongest colony they would kidnap their leader and make him do their bidding, if the leader would not listen they would threaten to kill him. If things did not work out peacefully the conquistadors would fight on open ground where they have an advantage. The tactics and strategy so that the Spanish and Aztec used were very different, but the Spanish had many superior weapons, tactics, and focused more on killing rather than capturing. All of these reasons are why the Aztec were

a city where an eagle with a snake in its beak rested on a cactus. This

Technological advancement greatly favored the Spanish. As mentioned before, the Spaniards where fighting to kill, so on all fronts they where better equipped. They came in on well-built ships, equipped with cannons. They carried iron swords and shields rather than spears and wooden shields of the Aztecs.

As mentioned in “Territorial Acquisitions by Aztec Ruler” (Document A), warriors of the Aztecs were known for being fierce, and it shows when you look at the territories they have conquered with this force. Sometimes though territories were deliberately left unoccupied, so that the land would later be available for another “flower war”.

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.

The Spanish conquest of Mexico drastically influenced modern day Latin America, it generated a mixture of race, countless dialects, and religious syncretism with the Catholic faith. The conquest involved three main aspects that were crucial to its success. The rise of subdued indigenous people by the Mexica. The great devastation caused by European disease to the natives. Lastly, the Spaniards ruthlessness and military superiority. Without these aspects the conquest of Mexico might have gone a different direction

Soldier and conqueror Bernal Díaz del Castillo in his book The True History of the Conquest of New Spain labeled Hernán Cortés “a valiant, energetic, and daring captain” and compared him to the likes of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Hannibal. Hernán Cortés was an ambitious conquistador and eventually defeated the mighty Mexican empire. A problem, however; emerges when distinguishing between the rational and romanticized versions of Cortés’ exploits. Bernal Díaz was present during the conquest, but his account was written much later and cannot be expected to be unbiased. Modern interpretations of Cortés can piece together all document and find that he stretched the truth to further his own gains. Cortés’ personality, goals, and actions have been interpreted differently since the days of the conquest, and have changed the way the conquest has been understood.

Hernando Cortes was one of the bravest military leaders of all time. Born in Medellin, Spain, he was a Spanish Conquistador who conquered most of Central America. He also gave Spain three-hundred years of control over Mexico. Cortes started exploring in the early 1500’s. He explored to find riches and conquered by being observant of the natives. With a small army, he conquered the Aztec Empire. Cortes went to the university in Salamanca, Spain. He attended the university to study Latin and Law. Unfortunately, Cortes completed only two years of school. He returned to his family in Medellin, Spain. However, life became boring for him. Nevertheless, Christopher Columbus inspired Cortes to explore the New World. Finally, Cortes was able to

There is a well known, and even cliche, proverb that says, "don't bring a knife to a gunfight." In the case of the Spanish and the Natives, this can be taken quite literally. I agree that the element of surprise had massive impact on how successful the spaniards were, but in the end, the brute force that they used was one of the largest factors in the natives defeat. In the image that we annotated, it clearly shows natives launching arrows toward the ships. This means that they were not frozen in fear and attempted to defend themselves. I agree with Griffin in particular when it comes to Jared Diamond's diagram. Jared correctly highlights the factors that made the Europeans successful in the long run, but doesn't give enough credit to the powerful

     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?