The conquest of Mexico and decline of Aztecs

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Ali

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Ali

Shazmaan Ali

J Christian

History 20

17 September 2014

The conquest of Mexico and decline of Aztecs

Is Aztec making many enemies among Mesoamericans the reason for Spain getting the upper hand and did it affect the American history? It sure did provide a chance for Spain to conquer Aztec Empire and gain power in Europe for the coming century marking their presence in American history. The first document is in the form of an Aztec chronicler's account and the second document is an illustration depicting the outbreak of smallpox among the natives. The progress of events with time and the end part clearly describing the defeat of Aztecs is strongly stated in the first document in accordance with the textbook. Although both the sources provide a great variety of events in the light of the Spanish conquering the Aztecs, the detail view of the conquest in the first document makes it a better source to be analyzed.

During the siege of Tenochtitlan, Hernan cortés n...

English: The history of the conquest of Mexico by ...

Aztec empire on the eve of the Spanish Invasion

According to textbook Aztecs, a warrior class people migrated from north to the valley of Mexico in 1400 and settled on the shore of lake Texcoco, they built a great city named Tenochtitlan on the lake itself and met their agriculture needs through productive floating gardens called Chinampas. Aztecs in desire to follow the ancient culture of Mexico made human sacrifices on large scale and even waged wars for the need of victims in this way they developed many enemies everywhere, due to their practices many Mesoamericans took Spaniards help to overthrow the Aztecs. This time relates to the conquest mentioned in the first primary source. In 1519 Cortés attacked Tenochtitlan and prisoned Montezuma. Later in absence of Cortés, the Aztecs rose against the Spain and the Spaniards were driven out, but they left behind smallpox which killed...