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A Deadly Meeting
Vocab!
• Nahuatl- Language spoken by the Aztecs
• Mayan- Language spoken by the Maya People
• Smallpox- epidemic that killed 25% of the
Aztec population.
• Epidemic- A disease that spreads rapidly and
affects many individuals at the same time
• Flower War- Ritual battles with neighbours
that aimed at getting victims to sacrifice to the
Aztec gods.
• Totonacs- Invited Cortes to their capital city, and
complained about the tribute the Aztecs
collected. Cortes gave them protection in
exchange for warriors
• Tlaxcalans- Fought the Spanish, but the Spanish
soldiers held them off and offered to make peace.
Tlaxcalans agreed and added 1000 of their own
soldiers to the Spanish forces.
• Cholulans- Loyal allies to the Aztecs. Spanish
conquered the Cholulan people
• Moctezuma- Leader of the Aztec people. He was
the Emperor
• Conquistador- the word that the Spanish used to
describe the leader of an expedition to colonize
other lands
• Malinche- Tabascan slave who was given to the
Spanish. She gave Cortes the key he needed to
overcome the Aztec Empire. She was Cortes’
advisor and spy.
• Dona Marina- Name given to Malinche
• Musket- long, rifle-like guns that were fired
from the shoulder
• Intermediary- someone who acts as a gobetween or mediator between two people or
groups of people
• Indigenous- Someone born in a country, the
first inhabitants of an area
• Hernan Cortes- The man who lead the Spanish
troops toward Moctezuma and the Aztecs. He
embodied the Spanish worldview of his time.
Cortes, the Conquistador
• Cortes was leading the Spanish troops toward
Moctezuma and the Aztecs
• Cortes was an adventurous and ambitious young
man. He had heard people talking about Gold
Columbus brought back from the Caribbean.
• Cortes, intrigued by this, set sail for what was
known as the “New World”
• Cortes embodied the Spanish worldview, he
wanted to confront and eventually conquer the
Aztec peoples.
• When Cortes arrived in the Caribbean, he was
given a large farm by the governor.
• His reply to this was “ But I came to get gold,
not to till land like a peasant”
• What does this comment reveal about his
worldview?
• Later on, Cortes joined an expedition to
conquer Cuba. With 300 men, the Spanish
conquered Cuba using their usual formula
Conquistador’s Formula
• 1. An expedition would set out from a recent colony
• 2. After landing in a new region, the Spanish would try
to meet peacefully with the first groups of Indigenous
people they encoutered. Their aim was to discover
which group in the area was the most powerful
• 3. The Spanish would invite the leader of that powerful
group to a meeting to exchange gifts. Then the Spanish
would seize the leader and threaten to kill him unless
his followers obeyed their orders.
• 4. If they did have to fight, the Spanish would
try to do so on open ground. Their horses,
armour and weapons gave them a huge
advantage
• 5. The leader of the expedition would remain
as governor of the new colony and his secondcommand would organize the next expedition.
The indigenous peoples would be forced into
slavery
Cortes in Cuba
• He remained in Cuba, second in command to
Governor Velazquez. After eight years, he grew
restless again.
• He wanted to learn more about the Yucatan
Peninsula
• Expeditions were sent out by Velazquez to learn
more about the area. This caused great intrigue.
• Cortes got Velazquez to help finance the
exploration. Cortes now had to rally his army.
Last Minute Change of Heart
• Just as Cortes was setting sail, Velazquez
arrived and tried to cancel the expedition. He
was worried that Cortes would get all the
glory for his discoveries and not recognize his
authority over the new lands Cortes might
conquer.
• Cortes paid no attention to this and continued
on his way.
Homework
• Reading Guide A =) :D  (=
Unequal Fight
• Spanish had a GREAT weaponry advantage
over anyone they tried to conquer.
• This would be no different with the Aztecs.
• Many of the weapons the Spanish had were
foreign to the Aztecs.
• These weapons served as an important source
for intimidation
The Role of Disease
• In the conflict between the Aztecs and the
Spanish, disease gave the Spanish the
advantage.
• A smallpox epidemic broke out in
Tenochtitlan, killing vast numbers of Aztecs
and weakening their ability to resist the
Spanish assault.
Spanish Strategy
• After establishing his colony on the coast,
Cortes decided that it was time to march to
the heart of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan.
• On the way, he and his army encountered a
number of other Indigenous peoples. Before
Cortes could proceed, he needed to either
befriend or conquer these people.
Using an Intermediary
• When Cortes’ forces defeated the Tabascan
people, they received gifts of food, clothing, gold,
and slaves. One of the slaves was a young woman
named Malinche
• Cortes needed someone to act as an
intermediary, that is, a link, between him and
Moctezuma. Malinche coud speak both Mayan
and Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. In a
short period, she learned to speak Spanish as
well.
Malinche
• She converted to Christianity and afterward
was known as Dona Marina. She became
Cortes’s advisor and spy.
• Without her, Cortes could not have
succeeded.
The March to Tenochtitlan
• Cortes continued on his march, each group he
met viewed the arrival of the Spanish
differently, so he was forced to constantly
adapt his strategy.
• The Totonacs invited Cortes to Zempoala, their
capital city, and complained about the tribute
the Aztecs collected. Cortes agreed to give
them protection from the Aztecs in exchange
for warriors.
• The Tlaxcalans fought the Spanish, but the
Spanish soldiers held them off and offered to
make peace. The Tlaxcalans agreed, and added
1000 of their own soldiers to the Spanish
Forces.
• The Cholulans were loyal allies of the Aztecs.
Malinche overheard a conspiracy to attack the
Spanish and she alerted Cortes. As a result, the
Spanish conquered the Cholulan people.
Battle for Tenochtitlan
• Cortes and his forces were taken to live in the
palace of Moctezuma’s late father. Then the
Aztecs showed them the glories of their city.
• The wealth in Tenochtitlan, along with the
Spanish desire to lead this mighty society,
finally caused Cortes to attack.
• The Spanish placed Moctezuma under house
arrest in his palace. They looted gold from the
royal palaces and melted it down.
• Velazquez sent troops to arrest Cortes which
forces Cortes to leave Tenochtitlan to deal with
this threat.
• Cortes defeated Velazquez’s forces and convinced
them to join him in the fight against the Aztecs.
When Cortes came back to Tenochtitlan, it was in
an uproar.
• Cortes forced Moctezuma to speak to his people
to calm them. However, they responded by
throwing stones at their Emperor.
• Shortly after Moctezuma died, either from
injuries from the stones or from being strangled
by the Spanish.
• The Aztecs attacked the Spanish and their
allies, killed many of them, and drove the rest
out of Tenochtitlan
• By the time Cortes returned to Tenochtitlan
with a stronger force, the smallpox epidemic
had killed off 25% of the Aztec population.
• After a siege of about 80 days, the Spanish
tore down the city as they captured it. The
Aztec empire had ceased to exist, its it’s place,
Cortes would lay the foundations for another
Spanish colony in the Americas.