Spanish Conquer The Aztec Empire

Estefania Huerta 3/12/09 Dawn Miller History

Conquering the Aztec Empire There were many reasons why the Spanish were able to conquer the Aztec Empire. One of the reasons was because the Spanish were better armed than the Aztecs to begin with. The Spanish had many superior weapons such as guns, bows, arrows, cannons, and iron. They also had animals such as horses and dogs which they would trainthem to be mean. They also had armor and they had a really strong army of soldiers, and the Aztecs didn’t have any of that so that was an advantage for the Spanish. The Aztecs would look up to the Spanish as if they were gods and treated them as if they were gods because the Aztecs mistakenly confused Cortes with a Cuauhtémoc a god, and that was also an advantage because the Aztecs welcomed the Spanish and trusted them. Furthermore the Spanish also brought diseases like smallpox and European diseases that infected the Aztecs. These European infections spread and killed vast numbers of Aztecs. Another reason how the Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire was because Cortes made allies with other natives that disliked the Aztecs. History also mentions that Cortez attacked at the perfect time during the harvest time when the Aztecs weren’t prepared for war. All the Spanish were hungry for was the

Aztec’s gold and their beautiful land, the Spanish could not believe how

beautiful and advanced was their city. In summary, the Spanish armor, weapons and the Aztecs confusion were reasons for the Aztecs conquering the Spanish.