Download Data Set 1: Silent Killer

Data Set 1: Silent Killer
In 1541, a Spanish priest described the smallpox outbreak among the Aztecs:
“When smallpox began to attack the Indians it became so great a disease
among them that in most provinces more than half the population died… Many
others died of starvation, because, as they were all taken sick at one, they could not
care for each other, nor was there anyone to give them bread or anything else.
“They could no longer walk, they could do no more than lie down, stretched out on
their beds. They couldn’t bestir their bodies, neither to lie face down, nor on their
backs, nor to turn from one side to the other.”
-It is estimated that in the span of 50 years, anywhere from 25 to 90 million Native
Americans died from European diseases (85-90% of their total population).
Data Set 2: Cortés and the Spanish Army March to Mexico
“When the massacre at Cholula was complete, the strangers set out again toward the
City of Mexico. They came in battle array, as conquerors on horseback, and the dust
rose in whirlwinds in the roads. Their spears and muskets glinted in the sun, and
their flags & banners fluttered like bats. They made a loud clamor as they marched,
for their coats of armor and their weapons clashed and rattled. Some of them were
dressed in glistening iron from head to foot; they terrified everyone who saw them.”
Data Set 3: Spanish Allies
The Tlaxcalans were in a state of perpetual warfare with Tenochtitlan (the Aztec
capital city), which pleased Cortés. In Cortés’ letters back to Spain, he reported
about the Native Americans that he “maneuvered one against the other and thanked
each side for their warnings and told each that I held his friendship to be of more
worth than the other’s.”
Cortés carried out a series of campaigns against cities and then, in late December,
1521, marched back into the Valley of Mexico, accompanied by Tlaxcaltec troops,
and another major new ally in the Acolhua of Tetzcoco and carried out a number of
military conquests against the Aztec.
Data Set 4: Translators
While waiting in Cozumel for the repair of one of his vessels, Cortés met Geronimo
de Aguilar, a Spaniard who had been shipwrecked off the coast of the Yucatan and
had been captured by the Maya. During his eight-year captivity, he became fluent in
the Mayan language and therefore was recognized as an asset by Cortés, who
allowed him to accompany him on his expedition as his interpreter.
After sailing eastward, the Native Americans presented gifts to Cortés, one of which
was a slave girl who spoke both Maya and the native language of the Aztecs. Her
native name was Malinal (La Malinche).
Through La Malinche, Cortés was able to communicate... essential messages to the
natives they encountered during their inland trek. She acted not only as an
interpreter, but also as a guide.
Data Set 5: The Myth of Quetzalcoatl (Aztec God)
"He has appeared! He has come back! He will come here to the place of his throne
and canopy, for that is what he said he would do when he departed." – Montezuma
(Aztec king), on hearing Hernan Cortés' description.
A frightening series of coincidences led Montezuma to believe that perhaps Cortés
was the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, who had promised to return one day to reclaim his
kingdom.
Quetzalcoatl, "the feathered serpent," was the God of Wisdom and the Sun. He
symbolized knowledge, arts, and religion. In his time, he had been a rich, powerful
man, but was betrayed by his brother and was forced to flee eastwards, near
Veracruz, where Cortés would eventually land. Legend had it that Quetzalcoatl was
white-skinned, bearded and he was opposed to human sacrifice (characteristics of
Cortes). Alarming as were these similarities to Cortés, there was one factor that was
positively spine-chilling: for the year in which Quetzalcoatl was born and died, and
the year in which Montezuma's fortune-tellers expected him to "strike back at the
Kings," was 1519, the exact same year that Cortés arrived.
Name____________________________________________
How were a small number of Spanish conquistadores able to conquer the entire
Aztec empire within just a few years?
Explain how each of the following 5 factors contributed to the fall of the Aztec Empire.
1. Spread of
disease
2. Horses,
Steel weapons
3. Rivalries
among Natives
4. Translators
5. The Return
of an Aztec God
Which of the reasons for the Spanish conquest of the Aztec do you feel had the
greatest impact? Use evidence from the texts that you read.
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