Spanish Conquest Research Paper

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With the classical account of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, we were taught that the natives were relatively docile towards the Europeans and even thought they were divine. The idea that the Aztecs just laid down and allowed the Spanish to take over all of their “Empire” without doing anything is a bit naive to think. On the contrary Moctezuma, the ruler of the Aztecs at the time of the conquest, on multiple occasions tried to rid of Cortes and the rest of the Spaniards. If the Aztecs truly believed that Cortes and company were gods, then why would attempts to kill them off or otherwise stop them ever take place. At no point did any of the opposing parties believe that the Spanish were gods, Cortes himself said no such thing. The Aztecs did call the Spanish teotl or teutl, in which the Spanish took as meaning “god”. In regards to the use of that name, the Aztecs had to call the Spanish something and that wasn’t official until years later with Caxtilteca (people of Castile). The idea of Cortes and the rest of the conquistadors being gods…show more content…
This served Cortes in multiple ways as he made his way to the capital of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan. As he encountered many different city states along the way, each interacting with the Spaniards in their own way. It became extremely evident right away that the conquistadors had a huge military advantage in an open battlefield. With the use of their horses they were able to strike villages with lightning fast responses to instill fear into the native peoples. Its not that the Aztecs were oblivious to the difference, it was the quite the opposite, they knew that they would have to try and come up with new ways to defend themselves and be able to counter their aggressors. As time went on they would have adapted their tactics and weapons to try and fend off the ever moving

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