Why did Spanish go to Tenochtitlán?

Spanish conquistadores commanded by Hernán Cortés allied with local tribes to conquer the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlán. Cortés’s army besieged Tenochtitlán for 93 days, and a combination of superior weaponry and a devastating smallpox outbreak enabled the Spanish to conquer the city.

Why did Montezuma send gifts to the Spanish?

When he heard of Cortés’s arrival Montezuma refused to meet with the Spaniards, instead sending gifts, offering the tribute that frequently resolved disputes in Mesoamerican society.

When did the Spanish enter Tenochtitlán?

November 8, 1519
On November 8, 1519, the Spaniards and their 1,000 Tlaxcaltec warriors were allowed to enter Tenochtitlán unopposed.

How did Disease help the Spanish defeat the Aztecs?

The Aztec had no immunity to European diseases. Smallpox spread among the indigenous people and crippled their ability to resist the Spanish. The disease devastated the Aztec people, greatly reducing their population and killing an estimated half of Tenochtitlán’s inhabitants.

Why did the Aztecs lose to the Spanish?

The overthrow of the Aztec Empire by Cortez and his expedition rests on three factors: The fragility of that empire, the tactical advantages of Spanish technology, and smallpox.

What was Moctezuma’s strategy to deal with the Spaniards?

Moctezuma’s plan was to make peace with the Spaniards by giving them gold and inviting them to their annual festival for the sun god.

Why did Spain want to conquer the Aztecs?

Why might Cortes have wanted to conquer the Aztec? Cortes might have wanted to conquer the Aztec because he wanted gold, silver, to convert them to Christianity, glory, and greed. The advantages that the Spanish had over the Aztec were 16 horses, guns, armor, formed alliances, and diseases, steel.

Are Aztecs still around?

Today the descendants of the Aztecs are referred to as the Nahua. More than one-and-a-half million Nahua live in small communities dotted across large areas of rural Mexico, earning a living as farmers and sometimes selling craft work. The Nahua are just one of nearly 60 indigenous peoples still living in Mexico.

What disease killed the Incas?

In addition to North America’s Native American populations, the Mayan and Incan civilizations were also nearly wiped out by smallpox. And other European diseases, such as measles and mumps, also took substantial tolls – altogether reducing some indigenous populations in the new world by 90 percent or more.

What diseases did Spanish bring to Aztecs?

Earlier, the successful conquest of Mexican Aztec and Peruvian Inca empires by a handful of Spanish conquistadors led by Hernando Cortes and Francisco Pizarro, respectively, resulted in large part from epidemics of smallpox and measles virus infection that decimated the native defenders.

What factors allowed the Spanish to conquer the Aztecs?

What advantages did the Spanish have over the Aztecs?

The advantages that the Spanish had over the Aztec were 16 horses, guns, armor, formed alliances, and diseases, steel.

What did emperor Montezuma do before the Spanish arrived?

Before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, Montezuma was a renowned war leader, skilled diplomat and an able leader of his people who oversaw the consolidation of the Mexica Empire.

Who was the leader of the Aztecs at Tenochtitlan?

Bringing gifts of gold which roused the Spaniards’ greed, the messengers brought word from the Aztec tlatoani (speaker) Moctecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, the powerful ruler who became known to history as Montezuma.

How did Cortes and Montezuma defeat the Aztecs?

This remarkable reversal of fortune is perhaps partly responsible for the “myth” of the conquest, in which the gallant adventurer Cortés and a few hundred plucky conquistadors overcame overwhelming odds to defeat the tremendous might of the Aztec empire. The reality is far more complex, but at the same time far more impressive.

Where did the Battle of Tenochtitlan take place?

Montezuma enjoyed mostly successes in his wars of conquest. Much of the fiercest fighting took place to the south and east of Tenochtitlan, where the various city-states of the Huaxyacac resisted Aztec rule. Montezuma was eventually victorious in bringing the region to heel.