Download Chapter 16, lesson 3

Chapter 16, lesson 3
The Fall of the Aztec and Inca
Empires
Pages 594-600
The Spanish Arrive in America
* European countries compete with each other to trade
with East Asia.
* The first were the Portuguese.
* Next were the Spaniards who were influenced by
Columbus’s discovery of Hispaniola.
* Columbus went on a second voyage to Hispaniola and
brought soldiers with him.
* The Taino people of Hispaniola were startled at the site
of the spanish soldiers known as conquistadors.
* Conquistadors were armor clad men who rode on armor
clad horses who fired guns of flames and lead balls.
* Soldiers claimed the land for Spain.
* Enslaved the Taino people and forced them to do labor.
Spain Conquers Mexico
Many of the conquistadors came from a part of
Spain known as the Extremadura.
 Hernan Cortes was a noble who chose to
become a soldier.
 Cortes was put in charge of some of the Native
Americans in Cuba and the goods they
produced.
 Smallpox would wipe out many of the Natives
and he would be asked to find new workers for
the Spanish.
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Cortes invades Mexico
Cortes invasion began in April 1519 when he stepped
onto a beach with 550 soldiers, 16 horses, 14 cannons,
and a few dogs.
 He startled the Tabascan people and made them
surrender.
 The Tabascan people gave Cortes a Mayan woman
named Malintzin who knew the language of the Aztec
people.
 Malintzin gave Cortes a detailed description of the Aztec
ways and told him how many people would help to fight
against them and the Aztec ruler Montezuma.
 Diseases like small pox and measles would also kill
many of the Aztec in conquering the huge warrior
empire.

Cortes Defeats the Aztec
The Spaniards had to travel 400 miles to the Aztec
capital known as Tenochtitlan.
 Messengers would report to the Aztec leader every
move made by Cortes and the spanish soldiers.
 Legend promised the return of the light-skinned Aztec
god named Quetzalcoatl, and the Aztec thought that
Cortes might be him so they would not kill him right
away.
 As the Spanish came closer Montezuma decided to
ambush them but Cortes leaned about this attack before
so he attacked first.
 In November 1519, the Spaniards marched into
Tenochtitlan, and took control of the cities.

Cortes defeats the Aztec
continued
Cortes then takes Montezuma hostage and orders the
Aztec to stop sacrificing people.
 A rebellion occurred and the Spanish killed thousands of
Aztec.
 Montezuma was also killed.
 Outnumbered the Spanish fled out of the city and lived
in the nearby hills with their allies.
 Cortes was planning a 2nd attack of the city and then
smallpox broke out killing many of the Aztec.
 In June 1521, the Spanish destoyed the Aztec capital.

Pizzaro Conquers the Inca
Franciso Pizzaro took up the search for
the golden empire that Balboa had longed
to find but did not.
 He wanted to become wealthy and did so
in his exploration of Panama (1502) but he
still wanted to find the golden empire.

Pizarro and the Inca
Smallpox and Pizarro threatened the Inca
Empire.
 Pizarro raided Incan storehouses and
fired guns at the villagers.
 The Incan emperor, Atahualpa thought
that Pizarro was a crazy or a fool.
 Pizarro decides on a plan to defeat the
Inca.

Pizarro defeats the Inca
Atahualpa agrees to a meeting with the
Spanish and leaves his huge Incan army
behind, and has his 5,000 body guards to
go with him.
 Pizarro tells Atahualpa to give up his
gods.
 Atahualpa laughs at the request, war
breaks out, and Atahualpa is taken by
Pizarro off the battlefield.

Pizarro defeats the Inca
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Atahualpa offers gold and silver and had it brought in to
Pizarro in order to be free.
Pizarro takes his wealth and then charged the emperor
with many crimes; plotting a rebellion, worshipping false
gods, having too many wives, and others.
Pizzaro was appointed as the new governor of Peru and
chose a new Incan emperor who answered to him.
Final Result- conquest opened South America to the
Spanish.
Spain would control a large territory of 375,000 square
miles with nearly 7 million people.
Spain was on its way to building the world’s first global
empire.