Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
Part of the Spanish colonization of the Americas and Mexican Indian Wars
Conquest of Mexico by Cortés, oil on canvas Spanish: Conquista de México por Cortés
Date February 1519 – 13 August 1521 against the Aztec Empire, after 1522 – 17 February 1530 against the Tarascan state Location Aztec Empire and other indigenous states, (modern-day Mexico) Result Spaniard and indigenous allied victory Territorial changes Annexation of the Aztec Empire, Tarascans, and others by Spanish Empire
Belligerents
Spanish conquistadors Confederacy of Tlaxcala Cempoala support or casual alliance (assistance during the siege of Tenochtitlan): Texcoco Otomis Xochimilco Mixquic Iztapalapa	Aztec Triple Alliance (1519–1521) Tenochtitlan Cholula Tlatelolco Chalco Xochimilco Texcoco   Tlacopan allied city states: Teotitlan independent kingdoms and city states: Tarascan state (1522–1530) Metztitlan Tututepec Yopitzinco Kingdom of Zaachila Kingdom of Colliman Kingdom of Xalisco Chichimecas
Commanders and leaders
Hernán Cortés Pedro de Alvarado Gonzalo de Sandoval Cristóbal de Olid Nuño de Guzmán Xicotencatl the Younger  † Xicotencatl the Elder Maxixcatl Xicomecoatl	Motecuhzoma II  † Cuitláhuac  † Cuauhtémoc  Cacamatzin  † Coanacochtzin    Tetlepanquetzal  Itzquauhtzin  † Tangaxuan II
Strength
Spaniards (total): ~2,500–3,000 infantry 90–100 cavalry 32 guns 13 brigantines Tlaxcala and other allies: ~80,000–200,000 Cempoala: 400	Aztecs: 300,000 Tarascans: 100,000
Casualties and losses
1,800 soldiers dead 1,000 killed in battle 15+ cannons lost Tens of thousands of Tlaxcallan and Native allies dead	200,000 dead (including civilians) 300 war canoes sunk

Between 1519 and 1521, Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernán Cortés, took over the Aztec Empire. This event is called the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. It was one of the most important events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas.

The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was devastating to the Aztec people. By 1680, 94% of the Aztec population had died.

End of the Empire

In 1515, two of the states in the Aztec Empire rebelled. This was nothing new for the Aztecs. However, this time, the rebelling states beat the Aztec military badly.

Then, in 1517, Spanish conquistadors, led by Cortés, arrived in Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. At first, Motecuhzoma II, the Aztecs' ruler, invited the Spanish into Tenochtitlan, and things were friendly. Even when the Spanish made Motecuhzoma II a prisoner, the Aztecs stayed friendly.

However, soon, while Cortés was away, Spanish soldiers attacked and killed many Aztecs during a festival. When Cortés got back, he got Motecuhzoma II to tell the Aztecs to stop fighting the conquistadors. By this time, though, the Aztecs had made Motecuhzoma II's brother, Cuautemoc, the king. Nobody did what Motecuhzoma II said. They kept fighting the conquistadors, and they killed two out of every three Spanish soldiers. The Spanish survivors fled to Tlaxcala, where enemies of the Aztecs protected them.

Ten months later, Cortés came back to Tenochtitlan with more Spanish soldiers but mostly Tlaxcaltecas. They started a siege of Tenochtitlan, so that no food or supplies could get in. After 91 days, without any food, and with disease throughout the city, Cuauhtemoc finally surrendered to the Spanish on August 13, 1521. The Spanish destroyed Tenochtitlan. They started a Spanish colony that they named New Spain. The Aztec Empire had ended.

Causes

Weapons

There were many different reasons why the Spanish were able to take over the Aztec Empire.

First, their weapons and armor were better than the Aztecs'. Aztec warriors had only cotton armour and shields made of wood or reeds to protect them. The Spanish had metal armor and shields.

For weapons, Aztec warriors had a few choices:

• Macuahuitl: A very sharp sword, with a point made of obsidian, which can be sharpened like glass. This sword could also be used as a club
• Atlatl: A weapon used to throw spears or darts
• Bows and arrows

None of these weapons could compare to the conquistadors' rifles and cannons. The conquistadors also had horses and war dogs, which gave them even more of an advantage against the Aztecs.

Religion

As early as 1528, reports have said that Motecuhzoma II thought Hernán Cortés was the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. Aztec legends said that Quetzalcoatl would return as a man, and Cortés had arrived on Quetzalcoatl's birthday. Aztec writings from the time say that when Motecuhzoma II greeted Cortés, he gave an abdication speech, giving up the Aztec throne to "Quetzalcoatl-Cortés":

O our Lord, thou hast suffered fatigue [and] weariness. Thou hast come to arrive on earth. Thou hast come to govern thy city of Mexico; thou hast come to descend upon thy mat, upon thy seat [throne], which for a moment I have watched for thee, which I have guarded for thee.

As historian David Carrasco explains: Motecuhzoma II is welcoming "Quetzalcoatl-Cortes ... back to his city in order to reoccupy the throne which has been guarded by Montezuma and the other [kings] ... The ancient prophecy has been fulfilled and the returning lord is invited to occupy his throne and visit the palace. There could hardly be a clearer statement of returning the sovereignty to the original king."

Other causes

Some historians say that the Spanish conquistadors were not the only reason the Aztec Empire fell apart. By 1519, the Empire had other problems that made it easier for Spain to take it over. For example:

• More and more, nobles were being allowed to marry commoners. Their children automatically became nobles. This meant there were too many nobles and not enough commoners to do the everyday work in the Empire. Since the commoners were the ones that grew the food for the Empire, this meant there was not enough food for everyone.
• The Aztec government had started to use terror to keep control over the states it had taken over. When the Spanish conquistadors got to Tenochtitlan, they said the Aztecs often held public ceremonies. They would invite the leaders of the states they took over to come. Then they would do many human sacrifices. The conquistadors said that the Empire sacrificed 20,000 people every year – an average of 55 people a day.
• The Aztec government was making the states they took over – and regular people in Tenochtitlan – pay more and more money in tributes (which were like taxes).
• When Cortés and his conquistadors came to Tenochtitlan, they brought smallpox. This very contagious disease killed a huge number of Aztecs.

Because of these things, many people in the Aztec Empire were unhappy. Some of them helped the Spanish conquistadors take over the Empire. Some historians, like Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani, say that the Empire would have fallen apart even if the Spanish had never come. However, because so many people had died of smallpox, there were also not enough people left to fight against the conquistadors when they did come.

After the Empire

Under Spanish control, the Aztec Empire did not exist any more. The Spanish tried to change the Aztecs into Catholics and into people who acted like they came from Spain. They made it easier to change from Aztec rule to Spanish rule by letting the Aztec nobles become Spanish nobles.

The conquistadors rewarded people who had helped them take over the Empire with the Encomienda system. Under this system, Aztecs were forced to work on other people's land. This was not too different from what many serfs had done during the Aztec Empire. However, workers were badly abused, and many died. Because of this, a Spanish bishop named Bartolomé de las Casas suggested using African slaves to work in New Spain instead. Later, when he saw how much worse African slaves were treated, las Casas changed his mind about this.

By 1680, 94% of the Aztec population had died. This happened for a few reasons:

• Disease, especially smallpox, which the conquistadors had brought from Europe
• Being forced to work too hard with too little food, which caused malnutrition
• Famine (not being able to grow enough food for themselves, because they were being forced to grow food for other people)
• Abuse from the people who were forcing them to work

After taking over the Aztec Empire, the Spanish conquistadors moved on to take over other parts of Mesoamerica. During the same 160 years – from 1520 to 1680 – between 85% and 95% of Mesoamerica's native population died.

Related pages

• Aztec
• Aztec Empire
• Spanish Empire
  • Conquistadors

Images for kids

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  Bernal Díaz del Castillo's True History of the Conquest of Mexico

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  Tlaxcalan allies of the Spanish, showing their leaders, porters, as well as a Spanish warrior and a Spanish war dog. Lienzo de Tlaxcala

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  A comet seen by Moctezuma, interpreted as a sign of impending peril. Diego Durán's account from indigenous informants.

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  Aztec empire on the eve of the Spanish Invasion

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  Diego de Velázquez, who commissioned Cortés's limited expedition of exploration in 1519

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  Hernán Cortés in his later years; his coat of arms on the upper right corner (17th century).

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  Map depicting Cortés' conquest route

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  Codex Azcatitlan depicting the Spanish-Tlaxcalan army, with Cortés and La Malinche, along with an African slave in front the meeting with Moctezuma. The facing page is no longer extant.

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  Coat of arms of Villa Rica, Veracruz; the first town council founded by the Spanish. The tile mosaic is located in Mexico City.

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  Cortés scuttling fleet off Veracruz coast

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  Meeting of Cortés and Xicotencatl

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  Map of the Valley of Mexico on the eve of the Spanish conquest

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  "Motecuhzuma receives Cortés. Mexican dances in the lake." by Juan González and Miguel González. 1698

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  Conquistadors and their Tlaxcalan allies enter Tenochtitlan

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  A page from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, depicting the battle of Otumba

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  Evangelization of Mexico

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  Scene from the opera La Conquista, 2005

See also

In Spanish: Conquista de México para niños