Why Did The Americans Successfully Conquer The Aztec Empire

Decent Essays
Another reason that the Spaniards were able to successfully conquer the Aztec Empire, is that they were able to ally themselves with the Tlaxcaltecas. The Tlaxcaltecas greeted the Spaniards in a friendly manner because they heard about how the Spaniards utterly defeated the Otomi and saw the chance to make a powerful friend and ally. The Tlaxcaltecas used this new alliance to get rid of their enemy the Cholultecas. The Tlaxcaltecas were able to get rid of Cholula by convincing the Spaniards that they had a common enemy in the Cholultecas. For example, the Tlaxcaltecas told Cortes that the Cholultecas were allies of the Aztecs (León-Portilla, pg. 40). As result of this the Spaniards went to Cholula with the Tlaxcaltecas leading the way and completely

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The first reason that the outnumbered Spanish won the battle was that Spanish gathered together to other tribes to fight against other tribes. According to the author “when the tlaxcaltecas and the men of cholula arrived, they called to each other and shouting greeting. An assembly was held in the courtyard of the god, when they had all gathered…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the early fifteen hundred’s a Spanish expedition was sent on a mission to conquer Mexico, and consisted of approximately a dozen ships. Hernán Cortés was one of the most accomplished of the conquistadors in the sixteenth century, and also known throughout the world as the man who defeated the Aztec Empire. By overthrowing the Aztec Empire and their emperor, Moctezuma, Cortes conquered Mexico. Hernán Cortés was eternally known as a man who was rather bold and valiant in his leadership of his soldiers.…

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the rule over the Aztecs their rule expanded across the continent. During this expansion they also began building over the Aztec empire creating the brand new city Mexico City by building directly over the ruins of the Aztecs old empire. Even during the expansion of new spain their production was slowed by resistance from the indigenous people and resistance from the land. But even with these obstacles the spaniards “New Spain” was still the richest and most popular of all the spanish colonies. Spaniards began flooding into Mexico because of the stories of gold riches and lands but as more spaniards came the more people began to start families with the indigenous peoples ending up creating a new culture, with new music,dances, food,…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Spain conquered the Aztecs because of the high advantages Cortes had. Cortes had native allies, superior weaponry, urbanization, and the detrimental effect of…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Conquest of Mexico was one of the…

    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What Was Spain Domination

    • 237 Words
    • 1 Pages

    They were carrying guns and riding along with horses while the natives were carrying spears and arrows. This made is easier for them to conquer the Aztec people. Also, the people were attacked by smallpox which killed the natives Indians and the Americans. Spain were able to extend the empire from Mexico to…

    • 237 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Spanish conquerors did what they set out to do. They conquered the entire Aztec empire and left them broken, and shattered into small pieces. They thought they made progress, when in turn they left an entire group of people in the dust. They robbed the Aztec people of their culture. The way in which they did…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, Cortes did what many conquistadores that followed practiced “obedezco pero no cumplo” (I obey, but I do not comply) he did disobey his orders and made contact with the Indians. At the same time met others tribe groups that were not pleased with the Mexica (Aztecs) which made it easy for Cortes to form alliances and find interpreters. Also, unknown to the Iberians, they were carriers of smallpox, which speared to the Aztecs. In 1520 “Noche de Triste” Cortes blocked the city of Tenochtitlan, Starving the city as the diseases that they brought decimated the population and at the end killed Montezuma. Another conquistador was Francisco Pizarro and the luck he had when he came in contact with the Incas.…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Spanish Empire’s excursions in the Atlantic World may be traced from 1492. They began by planning their voyages to Asia in 1492, led by Christopher Columbus, because Asia was a place on earth that was thriving in commercial trades. However, instead of being on course to land in Asia, misguided by faulty global mapping, certain European explorers came across a region that was unchartered by them: The Americas. As invasions go, specifically related to…

    • 1554 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Massive amounts of native people swelled Cortes’s ranks in defiance of the Mexica tributary system. Up to 100,000 Tlaxcalans joined with Cortes when he marched on Tenochtitlan. Schwartz states that “such figures emphasizes the fact that in many ways the conquest of Tenochtitlan and the fall of the Mexica Empire was as much a struggle among indigenous peoples as it was a clash of the Old and New Worlds” (Schwartz 15). When the Spanish arrived, “the peoples of the Mexica did not form a single political entity, and these political and ethnic divisions contributed to the success” (Schwartz 23) of the military expedition. In order for the Spanish to take advantage of these divisions, they had to rely on past experience when dealing with native peoples.…

    • 1599 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the things exploited by the Spanish was resentful vassals inside the Aztec Empire, whether in a few centuries or decades a collapse would’ve happened eventually. Assuming the…

    • 1764 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Spanish invasion of Mesoamerica in the sixteenth century has been one of their most renowned victories. However, with a review of Restall’s work, as well as a closer look into the help that the Spanish had, reveals that the success of the Spanish was not merely their own. The Spaniards’ and natives’ common political goals, the natives’ army strength, knowledge of the land and the sharing of battle strategies and resources made the native allies a key asset to the conquest. The success of the Spanish conquest was largely dependent on the military support they received from their native allies; the Tlaxcalans especially, along with other native contributors, such as the Teocalhueycan and the Tepaneca.…

    • 1438 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Since he was a conquistador he conquered the Aztecs. That…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fall of Aztec Empire For many years now, historians have pondered upon the many reasons for the fall of the Aztec Empire. There have been many factors that played into the fall of the Empire, such as the diseases plaguing the population, the Spaniard’s technological advantages, religious rivalries, alliances, and the list goes on. But to focus on two of the major contributors, this essay will focus on the effects of European diseases on Mexico, and the impact alliances between the Spaniards and the Tlaxcala people had on Tenochtitlan. To begin our observations, we will delve into the life of a man named “Hernan Cortés”. Hernan Cortés was a Spanish Conquistador, and one of the driving forces in the fall of the Aztec Empire through the capture of Tenochtitlan and of the then leader Motecuhzoma II.…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Spanish Conquest Essay

    • 1431 Words
    • 6 Pages

    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.…

    • 1431 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays