Aztecs had much control over many nations and basically sacrificed their own people. They accomplished big things, though. When the Spanish showed up, trade held everything together. Due to disease, they conquered the Aztecs and Incas. They created their own empire created of the vice royalty of Spain and Peru. They were stepping into the void that there was. The Spanish adopted several customs and systems. They also used labor on natives. Spanish mines produced lots of silver for this. Most of the silver mined in America went to Europe. China went through a similar situation then. Spain and China went through inflation destroying their economies, environment suffered, destroyed great empires, thousands were killed mining silver.
