The Conquest of the Aztecs and the Incas When the Spaniards first reached the Yucatan Peninsula in 1517, Mesoamerica had already enjoyed almost three thousand years of high civilization. Two of the greatest civilizations of the era included the Aztec and Inca peoples, both of whom the Spanish troops fought and defeated. In both of these conquests, the Spanish conquistadors managed to overtake significantly larger standing armies. This conquest was possible due to the superior fighting resources and methods of the Spanish, as well as situational disadvantages on the part of the indigenous peoples. The fall of the Aztec empire occurred in 1521, when the Aztec leader Cuauhtemoc surrendered to Hernan Cortes and his army. Although Aztec soldiers greatly outnumbered the Spanish conquistadors, the Spanish employed both superior weapons and saavy political maneuvering to overthrow the Mesoamerican superpower. While the Aztecs had varied weapons including bows and arrows, spears, and wooden swords and clubs edged with pieces of sharp obsidian, these weapons were usually meant to injure and restrain enemies, but not deliver fatal blows.
The weapons of the Spanish, including gunpowder, canons, and lances were considerably more fearsome and deadly. The Spanish also had the safety advantage of horses and armor to aid them in battle. For the defeat itself, the Spaniards incorporated much more than superior weaponry against the Aztecs; their greatest asset was more political. While there were only around 500 Spaniards in the battle, they had as many as 200,000 allies from Tlaxcala and Texcoco, who had been resisting Aztec rule. The Spanish led these rivals to believe that the structure of the empire would remain, and oppression from the Aztecs would end, although in reality it would be replaced by that of the Spanish. (White, ch.4) This discrepancy in troops was further exacerbated as much of the Aztec population died from smallpox that was purposefully spread by the opposing army. (Hassig, ch.9) Only fifteen years later, in 1536, the Spanish again overtook a major Mesoamerican civilization with comparatively few soldiers.
The Essay on Spanish Castilian Empire
Why was it considered necessary for the Spanish Crown to justify and legitimise the conquest of the Americas and what arguments and means did it employ for this purpose? Every colonial country needs an idea to base its conquest and Spain was no different. The ideology behind the Spanish conquest of the Americas was the spread of Catholicism. This belief in the conversion of the Indians is what ...
The Incan empire managed to rise to power in only 100 years, and like the Aztecs they had a standing army to combat the oncoming Spanish. Similar to the conquest of the Aztecs, the Incan weapons were futile in comparison to the deadly weapons of the conquistadors. Like the conquest of the Aztecs, a large portion of the victory can be attributed to political reasons, although they were significantly different. In this battle, the conquistadors did not lead opposing forces agaisnt each other for Spanish gain, but exploited weak leadership of the Incans. Atahualpa, who held the throne at the time of conquest, gained this position through a brutal war against the former leader, which greatly weakened the Incan empire directly before the Spanish came into the situation. (Stirling, ch.6) During the conflict with the Spanish, he was taken hostage and ordered his troops to stop even though they outnumbered the Spaniards.
In all, the weakened Incan nation could not withstand the conflict, were overtaken by the Spanish, and although many revolts occurred in the following years they did not regain power. In the Spanish conquests of the Aztec and Incan peoples, the conquistadors were able to overtake the indigenous armies with comparatively small troops and become the new rulers of the Mesoamerican region. They effectively used the military advantages of superior weaponry and horses, as well as exploited existing political situations to overtake the existing empires. These factors led to the Spanish rule and influence upon the continent, completely transforming the population and area to what we think of today. References Hassig, Ross. Mexico and the Spanish Conquest. London: Longman Group, 1994. Stirling, Stuart.
The Essay on Aztecs And Incas Spanish Civilization Aztec
Two of the biggest and greatest civilization in the Americas were the Aztecs and Incas. These two civilization were both said to be conquered by the Spanish, but it wasn't just the Spanish who conquered them. These two civilizations both fell from a combination of a weak government, lack of technology, new disease introduced by the invaders, and not being prepared for the invaders. For many ...
The Last Conquistador. Phoenix: Sutton Ltd., 1999. White, Jon Manchip. Cortes and the Downfall of the Aztec Empire. London: Hamilton, Ltd., 1971..
