Download Hernan Cortes Conquers the Aztecs

Hernan Cortes Conquers the Aztecs
In 1519, the Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, sailed from Europe to land in what
is now Mexico. After a difficult journey inland, Cortes and his men entered the Aztec
capital city and met, the Aztec leader, Montezuma.
Normally, the Spanish adventurers would have been captured and sacrificed
immediately, because that is what the Aztecs did to invaders.
But the Spanish were lucky. They were allowed to enter the city, and welcomed as
valued guests, all because of an old legend. This legend told of the god Quetzalcoatl.
The Aztecs believed that the god of night had defeated Quetzalcoatl in a game of
tlachtli. As the winner, the god of night could decide what to do with Quetzalcoatl.
The god of night decided to banish Quetzalcoatl to the East. Quetzalcoatl had no
choice but to leave. He vowed that some day he would return, when the end of the
world was near, to save his people.
Cortes and Montezuma
The Aztecs were always worried that the end of the world was always near. That's why they sacrificed so many people.
They wanted to keep their gods very happy, so they could save their people. When the Spanish arrived from the East, the
Aztecs believed that Quetzalcoatl had kept his promise and had returned. They treated the Spanish as if they were gods.
The Spanish had no idea how lucky they were that the Aztecs misunderstood who they were and why they were there. The
Spanish conquistadors were looking for lands to conquer, gold to capture, and people to convert to the Catholic religion.
The Spanish were amazed at what they found in the capital city of Tenochtitlan.
Everything was clean. There were “eating houses” and hairdressers. You could
buy medicines and herbs and all kinds of food. You could buy meat and game.
There were streets that sold only pottery and mats. Painters could buy the paints
they needed for their art. Cortes mentioned in one of letters home that he
believed there were more than 60,000 people in the marketplace buying and
selling wares. No one used money. Goods were bartered and small differences in
value were evened up using cocoa beans.
Cortes wrote to the Spanish Emperor, back in the Spain, the following: “We lodged in Montezuma’s house, situated in the
most refreshing gardens ever seen. In their midst flows a beautiful stream, beset with wonderful flower beds, an infinite
number of different fruit trees, many herbs and fragrant flowers. Three hundred men had charge of these birds for their
sole employment. Over each pool there were beautifully decorated galleries and corridors, where Moctezuma came to
amuse himself by watching them. I do not mention the other diverting things Moctezuma had in the city, because they
were so many and so various.”
The Spanish made themselves very comfortable in the Aztec capital city. As time went on, the Spanish became concerned
that they might never leave, not alive anyway. And, as time went on, the Aztecs began to grow suspicious. The Spanish did
not act like gods. They did not do the things that gods did. They even avoided the sacrifice ceremonies, which after all,
were conducted in their honor. The Aztecs decided it was time to move the Spanish along. Carefully, so as not to upset the
gods (just in case), the Spanish were expelled (kicked out of) from the city. By the time they left, the Spanish had learned
how lucky they were to be leaving alive.
The Spanish did return, but they were much better prepared to fight the fierce Aztec warriors. It was not the Spanish guns
that won the day. It was the Spanish horses and dogs. The Spanish brought huge fierce mastiffs with them into battle.
Their best weapon was disease. The Aztecs had never been exposed to childhood diseases like measles. As well, the
Spanish had help from the other tribes in the area. These tribes saw a chance to get even, and perhaps even to rid
themselves of the feared and hated Aztecs.
By the mid-1500’s, the Aztec Empire had collapsed.
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Francisco Pizarro: Spanish Arrival in South America
It was not long after the other European nations that the Spanish first arrived in
the New World. The Spanish had heard about the fabled cities of gold from the
conquered people who lived along fertile strips in the Coastal Desert of the country
of Peru.
The Incas had little contact with other tribes at any time, but their own civil war
had kept them busier than usual. They knew nothing about the Spanish conquest of
other tribes in Mexico, to the north. To them, the Spanish were simply invaders.
At any other time, the Inca probably would have ordered the immediate death of Francisco Pizarro and his
band of 167 men. Unfortunately for the Incas, their new leader, Atahualpa, flush with triumph, decided to
allow the Spanish intruders safe passage. His plan was to kill some of the intruders and to keep others as
slaves.
When Pizarro left the coastal desert area and entered the Inca Empire in the Andes Mountains, he knew right
away that he was in trouble. The Incas were organized, militant, and numerous.
Pizarro and his band of 167 men spent a nervous night, waiting the arrival of the Incan leader Atahualpa, who
was coming the next morning to officially greet them. While they waited, they worked up a plan. Their plan was
to kidnap the Sapa Inca, Atahualpa. However, the Spanish probably had little hope of success.
When Atahualpa visited them the next morning, he brought
with him a small group of about 2000 priests and attendants.
None were armed. He wore an emerald necklace. He was
carried on his golden litter (chair) - the whole song and
dance. It never occurred to him that the intruders might be
a problem. When Pizarro's men leaped from their hiding
places, they grabbed Alahualpa. The priests and attendants
did not know what to do. The Spanish killed most of them.
Once Atahualpa understood that the Spanish intruders
wanted gold and silver - that's why they had come - they had
heard about the fabulous Incan cities of gold - Atahualpa
offered them a huge ransom for his safe release. He offered
a room 22 feet long filled with gold and silver. The intruders
could take the gold and silver and leave freely. Atahualpa
kept his word. The Spanish did not. Once the gold was
delivered, they killed Atahualpa and fled with as much gold as
they could carry.
When they returned, they brought an army with them. It
took the Spanish a few years to completely defeat all regions
in the Empire. The Spanish took over as the harsh rulers of
the Incan people.