what impact did cortes have on the aztecs

In this, they were helped enormously by two factors. Under the leadership of Hernan Cortes in 1521, the Aztec Empire was destroyed. Cortés, a native of Extremadura, had studied law at university, but at 19 years old he had decided to leave Spain and try his luck in the Caribbean colonies. Whatever the reasons, the initial air of cordiality between the two sides soon turned sour for within two weeks the Aztec ruler was audaciously taken hostage and placed under house arrest by the small Spanish force. Ancient History Encyclopedia. He was an explorer for the Spanish. Already a member? On the march to Tenochtitlan, Cortés had already enlisted the enthusiastic help of the Tlaxcalans, both in men and supplies. Montezuma Meets Cortésby Unknown Artist (Public Domain). This meant that it was not a homogenous and mature empire where its members had a mutual interest in its preservation. Montezuma seems to have had some instinct that troubled times were ahead as he gave great importance to omens such as a comet sighted in 1509 CE, and he constantly consulted soothsayers for advice. Battle of Tenochtitlan (May 22–August 13, 1521), military engagement between the Aztecs and a coalition of Spanish and indigenous combatants commanded by Hernan Cortes. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Perhaps not only out for gold, Cortés was a deeply religious man, and the spirit of evangelism, for him if not his followers, was an extra motivation to open up this New World. Then a garrison was established at Veracruz on the coast. In 1519, conquistador Hernan Cortes landed on Mexico's Gulf coast and began an audacious conquest of the mighty Aztec Empire. Another contribution made by the Aztecs is in pharmacology. What factors encouraged Spanish success in Peru? Initially, relations were friendly and valuable gifts were exchanged between the two leaders. Cortes and Montezuma—The Meeting that Killed 20 Million Aztecs Posted by Amanda Penn | Jan 21, 2020 This article is an excerpt from the Shortform summary of "Talking to Strangers" by Malcolm Gladwell. He conquered the Aztecs and made their territory a part of the Spanish empire. Hernán Cortésby Unknown Artist (Public Domain). Growing up, Cortés was not the strongest of children. By August of 1521, the glorious city of Tenochtitlan was in ruins. It has been noted that it does seem strange that such a powerful ruler as Motecuhzoma should cut such a passive figure in the record of events brought down to us. Hernan Cortes was the Spanish conqueror of the Aztec Empire in Mexico. Compare the treatment of indigenous peoples by the Spanish in Mexico, the Portuguese in Brazil, and the French and British in North America. 09 Dec 2020. Hernando Cortes led an exhibition that caused the fall of the aztec empire. Motecuhzoma was forced to declare himself a subject of Charles V, handover more treasure and even allow the placing of a crucifix on top of the Great Pyramid or Templo Mayor in the city’s sacred precinct. http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/legacy/alm... https://www.biography.com/explorer/hernan-cortes. Although Cortes and his men were greatly outnumbered by the tens of thousands of Aztec Indians living in the area of the Yucatan Peninsula, he did have a huge advantage which at first may not even have crossed his mind as a way to “thin out the herd.” Superior weaponry and a devastating smallpox outbreak enabled the Spanish to … The gods of the Aztecs (1345-1521 CE) were many and varied and... Aztec society was hierarchical and divided into clearly defined... Hernan Cortes and the Fall of the Aztec Empire, Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. "Cortés & the Fall of the Aztec Empire." Cortes’s army besieged Tenochtitlan for 93 days. After running a plantation and participating in the conquest of Cuba, he was now in his mid-30s and ready for his stab at fame and glory. Hernan Cortes Impact on Exploration Hernan Cortes was born in Spain around 1485 and died in 1547. The Impact of Disease on the Aztecs. Some think the Spanish strangled him in secret as he was clearly of no use to either side any longer. Elite Aztec warriors and officers also wore spectacular feathered and animal skin costumes and headdresses to signify their rank. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2020) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Europeans Invade the Aztec Empire. From 1518-1521, Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes and his army brought down the mighty Aztec Empire, the greatest the New World had ever seen. How did the European and Native American view of land ownership differ? How did Cortes trick the Aztecs? Cartwright, Mark. But, in the 1500s, when the Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, entered Aztec territory with a small band of his men, the Aztec misunderstood why they were there. He was the only son of noble, though not wealthy, parents. Hernan Cortes was born in Spain around 1485 and died in 1547. Cortés was directed to sail north, and this he did, landing near the town of Cempoala where he came across two Aztec tax collectors extracting the king’s tribute from the locals. Hernan Cortes was the Spanish conquistador that destroyed the empire of the Aztecs and claimed Mexico for the Spanish crown. Five hundred years ago, in February of 1519, the Spaniard Hernán Cortés set sail from Cuba to explore and colonize Aztec civilization in the Mexican interior. A fierce battle ended in Cortés taking control of the temple, which he then set fire to, horrifying the population. by wikipedia user: El Comandante (CC BY-SA). Aztec mythology foretold that the present era of the 5th sun would eventually fall just as the previous four eras had done, and so it came to pass. Aztec slaves were a vehicle for moving around the societal hierarchy. What were three goals of French colonization in the Americas? Why did Spain and France establish colonies in America? eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. This young and warlike nation was highly successful in spreading its reach and gaining fabulous wealth, but then all too quickly came the strange visitors from another world. Cortes would have none of that, and went to fight them. Within just … https://www.ancient.eu/article/916/. In August 1519 CE, Cortés marched directly to Tenochtitlan. Regardless of that he was quite intelligent for his age. They may have been thought to be poisonous when ingested but tomatoes did make their gardens look vibrant and breathtaking. The Aztec warrior commanders, unhappy at Motecuhzoma's passivity, overthrew him and set Cuitlahuac as the new tlatoani. Some states were integrated more than others whilst those on the extremities of the empire were exploited merely as buffer zones against more hostile neighbours. Over time Tenochtitlan came to dominate the Alliance, its leader became the supreme ruler - the huey tlatoque ('high king') - and the city established itself as the capital of the Aztec Empire. Start your 48-hour free trial and unlock all the summaries, Q&A, and analyses you need to get better grades now. Taking the position of tlatoani, meaning ‘speaker’ in 1502 CE, he ruled as an absolute monarch and was considered a god by his people and a manifestation and perpetuator of the sun. The key to Cortes’s conquests lay in the political crisis within the Aztec empire; the Aztecs were bitterly resented by many … It began as a form of homeschooling, and, at 12 years of age, boys and girls left home to attend formal schools. Word soon reached Motecuhzoma that a large force of violent men was confidently approaching the Aztec heartlands. In the early 1700s, tomato seeds were brought into the 13 US colonies and it became a part of the American heritage. Last modified July 04, 2016. Perhaps Motecuhzoma had taken note of this and took the more prudent policy of appeasement rather than engage the enemy in the field, at least as an opening strategy. Get help with your Aztec homework. The Azcapotzalco forces were defeated by an alliance of Texcoco, Tenochtitlan (the capital of the Mexica) and several other smaller cities. When Cortes arrived in Mexico, around 30 million Aztecs lived there. As a gift of reconciliation Cortés was presented with some slave girls, and one of these, a certain Malintzin (aka Marina or Malinche), would prove an invaluable asset as she spoke both the local Mayan language and, crucially, also the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. He became fascinated with tales of Christopher Columbus' New World explorations. Following victory, a Triple Alliance was formed between Texcoco, Tenochtitlan, and a rebel Tepanec city, Tlacopan. With these ships, Cortés was able to block the three main causeways which linked the city to the edge of Lake Texcoco. The impact that he had on the native populations was very negative. What Impact did the Conquest have on Aztec Society? This incident was just what Cortés needed, and after battling the Cuban relief force at Veracruz and persuading its leader Panfilo Narvaez to join his cause, he returned to the city to relieve the besieged remaining Spanish. Thousands of golden artifacts from Aztec culture were melted down and shipped back to Spain. His greatest impact in history is that he established a firm Spanish presence in the New World after conquering the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. In 1519, inspired by rumors of gold and the existence of large, sophisticated cities in the Mexican interior, Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) was appointed to head an expedition of eleven ships and five hundred men to Mexico. After bringing Tenochtitlan to the ground, the Europeans assumed the responsibility of power in the area, which meant they needed to construct a new legal framework. When they returned, the Aztec army quickly overwhelmed the Spanish, killing many and causing the rest to retreat. Why would this be a source of conflict between the two groups? Disease played a huge part in the fall of the Aztec empire. Indeed, the first act of this blood-thirsty war god was to kill without mercy his rebellious sister Coyolxauhqui and his 400 siblings, the Centzonhuitznahuac and Centzonmimizcoa. However, against that it is certainly true that the Spanish had already shown their military prowess and the devastating effectiveness of their superior weaponry - cannons, firearms and crossbows - in quickly defeating a force of Otomi-Tlaxcalan, and they had also taken quick and ruthless reprisals against a treacherous plot by the Cholollan. The second factor in the Spaniard’s favour was the primitive weaponry and ritualised warfare of their opponents. The Aztec empire was one of the first to require mandatory education for its children. Soon after, the Spaniards began exchanging messages with the ruler Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin in Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Cartwright, Mark. The Ancient History Encyclopedia logo is a registered EU trademark. ©2020 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved, http://mason.gmu.edu/~alaemmer/disease/smallpox.pdf. He was an explorer for the Spanish. In mythology, the dismembered bodies of Coyolxauhqui and the 400 became the moon and stars respectively. At age 14, Cortés was sent to study law at the University of Salamanca, but he was restless and unhappy. Disease and warfare had destroyed a very strong Mesoamerican civilization. Ancient History Encyclopedia. In a short fifty years, only 3 million people lived in the region that the Aztecs occupied. This seems a more reasonable explanation than the traditional view, now rejected by modern historians as a post-conquest rationalising fiction, that Motecuhzoma reverently believed that Cortés was the returning god Quetzalcoatl of Aztec mythology. He could also be cruel. By around 1400 CE several small empires had formed in the Valley of Mexico and dominant amongst these were Texcoco, capital of the Acholhua region, and Azcapotzalco, capital of the Tepenec. The Spanish Governor of Cuba, Diego Velasquez, had already sent several expeditions to explore the mainland coast of America starting in 1517 CE, and these had reported strange ancient stone monuments and brightly dressed natives from whom were bartered fine gold objects. Because of the Aztec's religious beliefs, when Cortes arrived in Mexico, the Aztecs believed that he was a god. Some of the remaining Spanish, commanded by Pedro de Alvarado, were then killed at Tenochtitlan after they tried to interrupt a ceremony of human sacrifice. Remarkably, Cortes did this with only a handful of Europeans, but he was able to use tribes who had been subjugated by the Aztecs to fight with him. 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