Spanish Conquest
On November 8, 1519 Hernan Cortez landed in the great city of Mexico accompanied by six hundred Spaniards and a great amount of native allies. Cortez's arrival in Mexico City was welcomed by the friendly Aztec people, who mistakenly believed that Cortez was one of their gods, Quetzalcoatl, who was characterized by light skin, red hair, and light eyes. They were willing to share all their wealth and happiness with the Spaniards, but the Spaniards wanted more than what the Aztecs were willing to share, they wanted to rule their beautiful land. As Cortez and his men became more familiar with the land the realized that the Aztecs were less amendable than they thought. Hernan Cortez became determined to conquer the whole kingdom. The Spaniards were coarse, ignorant of local customs, and rude. Hernan and his men tried to convert the Aztecs to Christianity, but the Aztecs did not understand the language so many were brutally killed or enslaved by the Spanish. It didn't stop there though, the Spanish were killing Aztecs by the thousands, sometimes just for the fun of it. They brought down the Aztec Empire and brutally murdered t
Topmost in their pantheon was the fascinating hummingbird deity, Huitzilopochtli, whose favor could be won only through the sacrifice of human hearts. Aztecs did not know of any artillery but they did use sharpened wooden sticks and traps to get the Spaniards where they wanted them. The Spanish had no right to destroy their whole population as well as their history, the Aztecs did not know of weapons or armor, they weren't immune to small pox, and they devoted polytheist as well. The religion of the Aztecs, therefore, was polytheistic. One of Cortez's slaves was carrying smallpox it slowly but surely spread amongst almost all Aztecs killing every single one that caught it. The religion they practiced did instruct them to have human sacrifice, but they did it to a certain extent. Soon Cortez decided to capture the Aztec ruler named Montezuma and held him hostage for a vast treasure in gold. A large portion of the Aztec culture was destroyed in the battles they fought with the Spaniards. But one of the most profound and far-reaching developments in the war was not a weapon of guns, powerful steel blades, or fierce dogs. Upon his arrival in Tenochtitlan, Cortez was initially welcomed and treated well, in part because the Aztec may have thought him to be a God. They nearly wiped out all of the Aztecs civilization with their wars and their diseases such as small pox. The Aztecs were not immune to any diseases because of the fact that they kept their environment perfectly clean. Small pox also took partial credit for the mass destruction of the Aztecs. Smallpox was the weapon that destroyed the Aztec empire. In the case of , if he became displeased with his chosen people, the Aztecs, he would sap the strength of their soldiers, causing the empire's collapse.
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