European Invasion of the Aztec Empire
After Columbus discovered the New World, Europeans began to flood into the new region where they encountered many native people mistakenly referring to them as people of India hence the term Indians. These native civilizations, though seeming cut off from the rest of the world flourished with large cities and advanced technology that is still revival in today’s modern science, especially in the field of Astrology. One of the societies the Europeans encountered were the Aztecs, the last of three great Meso-American Empires, an empire that that made up much of modern-day central Mexico and as far south as Guatemala. Sadly, Spanish adventurers known as conquistadores saw these people as being barbarous and …show more content…
A legend found in the Aztec culture was that a god named Quetzalcoatl, was supposed to return to the native people from the East shore. Ironically, his appearance as described by the Aztec people is oddly similar to the European appearance, who like the legend arrived from the East, which may be contributing factors as to why the Aztecs initially welcomed the Spaniards with open arms (Szalay). The Spanish, however, saw the Aztec people in an entire different light, the explorers saw these new found people as a cheap source of work and treasures. The Spaniards, as an act of power, would get all the natives together in a group and teach them the fundamentals of Christianity, although the Aztecs did not understand the Spaniard’s language. The Spanish would use intimation and authority to transform the natives to Christianity no matter the consequences. This meant that for the few natives that simply didn’t understand or did not want to change their beliefs were either enslaved or kill because the Spanish took this as betraying God’s will …show more content…
The Aztecs began to push the Spaniards out of Tenochtitlan in July of the following year. On one account people from both sides, as well as several Aztec treasures, were lost when a bridge collapsed during the retreat of the Spaniards. In the end Cortes led his soldiers to attack and defeat the great city of Tenochtitlan. During the entire time of the invasion the Spaniards were assisted by the horrible advantage of disease, mostly because the Spanish brought with them certain illnesses that the Aztecs had never experienced before and therefore had no immunity to the illness. It is estimated that seventy-five percent of the native population died because of violence and fighting or because of diseases like smallpox and measles during the first hundred years of the European conquest (Szalay). Further advantages like muskets, gunpowder, and horses contributed to the victory of the conquistadors. When the capital of Tenochtitlan fell apart, the Spaniards took the city apart brick by brick, and built modern day Mexico City on the ruins of the once great capital city. After the capital Tenochtitlan fell, most of the Aztec society was further destroyed by the future waves of European
After Columbus discovered the New World, Europeans began to flood into the new region where they encountered many native people mistakenly referring to them as people of India hence the term Indians. These native civilizations, though seeming cut off from the rest of the world flourished with large cities and advanced technology that is still revival in today’s modern science, especially in the field of Astrology. One of the societies the Europeans encountered were the Aztecs, the last of three great Meso-American Empires, an empire that that made up much of modern-day central Mexico and as far south as Guatemala. Sadly, Spanish adventurers known as conquistadores saw these people as being barbarous and …show more content…
A legend found in the Aztec culture was that a god named Quetzalcoatl, was supposed to return to the native people from the East shore. Ironically, his appearance as described by the Aztec people is oddly similar to the European appearance, who like the legend arrived from the East, which may be contributing factors as to why the Aztecs initially welcomed the Spaniards with open arms (Szalay). The Spanish, however, saw the Aztec people in an entire different light, the explorers saw these new found people as a cheap source of work and treasures. The Spaniards, as an act of power, would get all the natives together in a group and teach them the fundamentals of Christianity, although the Aztecs did not understand the Spaniard’s language. The Spanish would use intimation and authority to transform the natives to Christianity no matter the consequences. This meant that for the few natives that simply didn’t understand or did not want to change their beliefs were either enslaved or kill because the Spanish took this as betraying God’s will …show more content…
The Aztecs began to push the Spaniards out of Tenochtitlan in July of the following year. On one account people from both sides, as well as several Aztec treasures, were lost when a bridge collapsed during the retreat of the Spaniards. In the end Cortes led his soldiers to attack and defeat the great city of Tenochtitlan. During the entire time of the invasion the Spaniards were assisted by the horrible advantage of disease, mostly because the Spanish brought with them certain illnesses that the Aztecs had never experienced before and therefore had no immunity to the illness. It is estimated that seventy-five percent of the native population died because of violence and fighting or because of diseases like smallpox and measles during the first hundred years of the European conquest (Szalay). Further advantages like muskets, gunpowder, and horses contributed to the victory of the conquistadors. When the capital of Tenochtitlan fell apart, the Spaniards took the city apart brick by brick, and built modern day Mexico City on the ruins of the once great capital city. After the capital Tenochtitlan fell, most of the Aztec society was further destroyed by the future waves of European