Spanish Conquest Essay

In 1519, Spanish explorers, under the leadership of Hernán Cortés, set foot on what is now modern-day Mexico in search of gold and land in the Aztec Empire. Although the Spanish initially had no intentions (or orders from Cuban governor Diego Velásquez for whom they made the voyage) to colonize the Aztec Empire, they sought to communicate with the inhabitants and spread their Christian faith. However, the end of 1521 saw the mighty Aztec Empire practically cease to exist, its emperor Montezuma II join the many victims of the conquest, and the survivors put under the rule of the Spanish. A variety of factors came into play regarding the Spanish’s ability to conquer this mighty empire, including the ability to communicate verbally, the religious beliefs of both peoples, and the devastating effect of disease on the Aztec empire. Consequently, the Spanish conquest of Mexico relied on a combination of Spanish tactics – tactics not always employed only on the battlefield – with their influence on the Aztec people, indicating a victory based more on the actions of the Spanish than the Aztecs. The Spaniards’ ability to verbally communicate with the Aztecs (and the …show more content…
Cortés used his ability to communicate with native tribes to persuade them into agreement, and therefore alliance with the Spanish; the Spanish spread their Christian beliefs among the Aztecs (who were under the burden of a barbaric religion), which in turn led to more people joining the Spanish; the Spanish brought disease and spread it among the empire (unwittingly, but they spread it nonetheless). All three of these points indicate such a conclusion. The Spanish being the primary contributors to the