Advantages Of The Conquest Of Mexico

The Conquest of Mexico started in 1519 and was between the Spaniards and the Indians. The leading commander for the Spaniards was Hernán Cortés. His objective was to capture the center of Mexico, Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards had a technological advantage which was the quality of their weapons. The steel armor and weapons were an advantage over the Indians because the Indians had wooden weapons. They had other advantages as well such as diseases, dogs, and horses. Although horses were one of the main advantages muskets, crossbows, swords, lances, and shields were also the key to the Spaniard's victory. The Aztecs were defeated by the Spaniards due to Aztec's tactics by having an open formation thus making them vulnerable. According to Headrick, …show more content…
There was an order for the arrest of Cortés and when he heard the news of a Spanish expedition he left Pedro de Alvarado in command in Tenochtitlán. The leader of the Spanish expedition was Pánfilo de Narváez. While Narváez was on the coast Cortés convinced most of Narváez to switch sides. While Cortés was gone Alvarado attacked the Aztec warriors in Tenochtitlan. Later after Cortés' returned he and his troops were forced to flee the city and thus they did because they were outnumbered. Due to this, the Spaniards lost a majority of their forces, horses, and Indian allies as well as Moctezuma's death during the evacuation. After leaving they left a disease, …show more content…
The Nemesis was a British steam-powered gun boat assigned to Captain Hall in October of 1839. This gave the British an upper hand during the war due to the Nemesis being a new kind of transportation because it could sail across oceans and steam up rivers and in shallow waters. Although the Chinese found steamers interesting they did not find it impressive. In January 1841, the British attacked the forts on the Bogue which was protecting Guangzhou. On their way, there they were surprised by the Chinese when they deployed their weapon. This weapon was "paddle-wheelers powered by men walking on treadmills" (203). The British knew to defeat the Celestial Empire they had to seize the Yangzi River. When they entered into the Yangzi River they attacked the Chinese forts at Wusong, near Shanghai. They would have men bombarding the Chinese forts. After the British destroyed the Cheese forces they moved on toward the Great Canal, the main port of trade. Thus, shutting down the main products of China's would prevent the "rich central and southern provinces to the capital, Beijing (204)" from receiving rice. A month later the Treaty of Nanjing was signed by China which granted the island of hong kong to Britain, opening five ports to foreign trade, and setting import duties higher. The treaty made China subservient to a western power. This only lasted for a century and thus the second opium war of 1857-1860. This war was also