Download The Spanish and the Aztecs

Chapter 10+11 Notes
 8.3.4.D:
In what ways did factors such as
technology and disease contribute to the
dominance of the Spanish over the Aztec
civilization?
 8.3.5.E: To what extent were the divergent
worldviews of the Spanish and Aztecs factors
in the dominance of one nation over the
other?
 BONUS: Why do you think we are learning
this? What’s the point?
Aztecs: Despite incredible feats of engineering
and architecture, the Aztecs still did not have
technologies such as wheeled transport, steel
weapons and metal armor. Instead, stone and
wood were used in weapons and armor was made
of quilted cotton. This would not stand up to
Spanish steel.
 Spanish: The Spanish had steel weapons and
armor for many centuries.
 A secret weapon that the Spanish had was
gunpowder. The Aztecs thought the cannons and
guns the Spanish had called down thunder.

The Spanish unknowingly brought smallpox and
other contagious diseases with them that the
Aztecs had no immunity to. This would devastate
the population of Tenochtitlan
 At least 50% of Tenochtitlan's population
(212’000) would die from Smallpox. That would
mean over 100’000 people dead. Also, many of
those dead were able bodied men and women
who farmed the chinampa. The smallpox
epidemic would be followed by a famine and
mass starvation.
 It was disease, and not the Spaniards’ advanced
technology, that led to a few hundred Spanish
and their aboriginal allies conquering an empire
of millions.

Historians continue to debate why Montezuma II
cooperated so readily with the Spaniards. Some
believe that he thought Cortes was Quetzecoatl
coming to bring about the end of the world. Or
that he was another god.
 One of the Conquistadors, Pedro de Alvarado had
reddish blond hair, something the Aztecs had
never seen before. The Aztecs and other
aboriginals assumed he was related to the sun
god in some way. Unfortunately, Alvarado was
one of the cruelest of the conquistadors.
 This hesitation would prove disastrous for
Montezuma as the Aztec people would turn
against him and stone him to death.

 Aztecs
had never seen animals as large as
horses capable of carrying men. They found
the horses terrifying and perhaps also
mythological creatures that the Spanish
men/gods rode.
 In reality, the horses gave the Spanish the
ability to move quickly and transport goods,
weapons, etc. to assist them against the
Aztecs. In warfare, the Spanish could move
quickly and flank their enemies.
Because of the Aztec policy of capturing and sacrificing
opponents, forcing tribute and forcing the cult of
Huitzilipochtli on those they conquered, the Spanish
had an easy time finding and recruiting allies against
the Aztecs.
 The Spanish had a deliberate ‘divide and conquer’
policy when it came to the Americas. They borrowed
this strategy from the Reconquista when they would
play Moorish kingdoms against each other.
 The Aboriginal allies welcomed a chance for revenge
against the Aztecs, not realizing that in the end, the
Spanish would be much worse.
 We often talk about how there were only a few hundred
Spaniards who conquered Tenochtitlan; however, they
brought with them 80’000-200’000 Tlaxcala allies.

Aztecs: More rigidly top-down. The Aztecs put the
group in front of the individual. That meant that you
were always expected to follow the commands of your
superior.
 Many historians believe that the killing of Montezuma
was done because the people felt he had betrayed his
role of protecting the Aztec nation against the Spanish.
 Spanish: Individuality was more highly prized. Hernan
Cortes disobeyed his commander and got away with it
by appealing directly to the king by showing him how
much gold he had taken. King Carlos unsurprisingly
acquitted Cortes of any wrongdoing and instead made
him a noble.
 So in the end, Spain rewarded individual action, not
obedience to superiors.

 Aztecs:
Viewed warfare as a natural part of
life.
 Also viewed as a religious duty where the
goal was to capture captives, not kill
enemies.
 Spanish: Viewed warfare as a means to an
end: Conquest, booty, glory of the Spain, and
converts to the Catholic Faith.
 The goal of war and battles was to win as
quickly and efficiently as possible: this
meant killing as many enemies as quickly as
possible: overwhelming force.
 The
Aztecs believed that the group was more
important the individual, while the Spanish
came from a western worldview which
emphasized individuality over the group.

This led to the Spanish being more flexible. Cortes
didn’t need or want to follow orders from Governor
Velasquez or even King Carlos. He acted
independent of them and was therefore better able
to deal with events as they happened. The Aztecs
depended on direction coming from their leader,
Montezuma. His hesitation led to Cortes gaining the
upper hand.
 The
Aztecs made religion not just an
important part of their worldview, but the
MOST important part of their worldview. The
Spanish had multiple influences on their
worldview.

Cortes and the other Conquistadors were very
happy to ignore the teachings of the Catholic
Church when it was convenient for them. Greed,
lust for power and glory were as important to the
Spanish as the teachings of Christ. The Aztecs were
bound by their religion in ways the Spanish were
not. The Aztecs’ confusion over whether the
Spanish were gods or men led to allowing their
conquerors free access to Tenochtitlan.

The Aztecs had a more fatalistic worldview. The
Spanish had more of a deterministic worldview.


The Aztecs believed that their gods had a direct
influence on their own fate. So if things were going
great, they attributed it to the gods helping them and
being happy with them. But if things were going poorly,
they believed that the gods were unhappy with them and
abandoned them. They did not believe they had control
over their own destiny.
The Spanish came from a similar worldview, but as we
saw with the Renaissance, there was a change in
worldview. Cortes, the Conquistadors and other
Europeans believed that you shaped your own destiny.
You could determine through your own actions what
happened to you. “God helps those who help
themselves” is a saying that sums this up nicely.