Many indigenous people experienced inhabited the Americas before the introduction of foreigners, one particular people was known as the Aztecs. The Aztec Empire possessed built itself around their religion and beliefs, standing strong as a community, or so they thought. The Aztecs lived in Central Valley of Mexico and ruled within the other indigenous peoples of the spot (Perez). The empire was ruled by one emperor and consisted of many noble Aztecs who helped keep carefully the empire running. Their beliefs on different gods were very strong, and so many rituals were retained alive up until Hernan Cortes arrived to Tenochtitlan. The events that occurred between 1519 and August 13, 1521 between the Spaniards and the Aztecs, still left a huge make in the forthcoming decades that designed its people.
Hernan Cortes given birth to in Medellin, Spain in 1484 where he grew up hungry for fame and rather than going to deal with for the Borgia in Italy, he arrived in Cuba and befriended the governor Diego Velazquez (Lyons). Velazquez had unsuccessfully dispatched two expeditions to Yucatan, but on Febuary 18, 1519, 500 men along with Cortes, a third expedition was set up (Lyons). The Spaniards journeyed on 11 boats with 16 horses, many dogs, cannons, crossbows, wine glass beads, and mirrors (Lyons). "Hernan Cortes [] landed on the Mexican Seacoast in 1519 with armed troops" (Armitage 31).
Cortes attained Tlaxcala where at first, these were greeted with hostility and fights and small battles took place between the Spaniards and the Tlaxcaltecans, however on September of 1519 Tlaxcala greeted Cortes with lots of happiness because they now found him as a potential ally. The Mexicans, as the folks of Tenochtitlan called themselves, "had made foes with other indigenous communities, including the Tlaxcaltecas, by enough time the Spaniards landed in the Mexican Seacoast (Perez). The Aztecs had commercially blocked of Tlaxcala, and so the Tlaxcala and Cortes exchanged gift items and reinforced their alliance. "Hating the Mexicans [] Tlaxcaltecans became keen Castilian allies and Religious converters (Lyons). Cortes remained in Tlaxca for 20 times, and for the reason that time he started to concoct a wild scheme [] directly from the pages of a love: march on it (Lyons). He curved up 1, 000 men, and on Oct 12, 1519, they started their march to Cholula.
By the time the march to Cholula initiated, Cortes had run into Malintzin Tenepal, also known as La Malinche. "Robbed of her birthright, Malintzin was sold to Maya vendors, who subsequently sold her to Tabascans. At the age of 14, she became both slave and ethnic translator to Cortes" (Perez). Malinche is the individual most often blamed for nov Mexico (Perez). She leaves with Cortes to Cholula, where she performs out her commitment to Cortes.
Cholula was the second biggest & most sacred city of Mesoamerica, which discussed the very small army, and Cortes dared these to task him in battle. Malinche found that the Cholula locals decided a secret strike on the Spaniards while they slept and informed Cortes concerning this arrangement. Cortes made a decision to take immediate action and killed many noble men from Cholula showing them a lessons (Lyons). When he showed up to Cholula he seized their market leaders Tlaquiach and Tlalchiac, and then purchased metropolis to be placed in flames. Cortes experienced left his tag on Mesoamerica, and the Aztecs in Tenochtitlan was next on his list.
The Aztecs praised the god of sunshine, Huitzilopochtil, by restricting a human heart, known to them as an eagle cactus berry, every morning (Lyons). These sacrifices were quite common, and generally accepted by individuals. "Captives, or go for locals, not excluding women and children were led "voluntarily" to the most notable, their hearts extracted, their limbs ingested with chocolates or chili by priests and court officers, their entails tossed to the beasts in the imperial zoo as the general population gawked" (Lyons). Human sacrifices along with cannibalism and the fatting of people only to dress them and provide them in banquets was nothing at all new to folks (Lyons). However, by enough time Moctezuma took guideline, some hundred hears were being demanded by the sun of god each day. And on November 8, 1519, Cortes entered this world to change it permanently.
"Moctezuma ready for Cortes' entrance by doing astrology and eating sacred mushrooms" (Lyons). He presumed Cortes was the next approaching of the god, Quetzalcoatl, therefore "Emperor Moctezuma himself was continued a more elaborate litter through the crowded roadways to greet 'Quetzalcoatl" (Lyons). He greeted Cortes saying "Oh lord of ours, be pleasant, you have found its way to your land, among your people, and in your own home Mexico [] you'll go back to rule these lands" (Moctezuma II). Cortes was taken to start to see the Huitzilopochtly pyramids and was very impressed by all the god and treasury he found, yet very disgusted by the still warm hearts and dried out blood vessels on the wall (Lyons). Cortes became decided to achieve the hidden platinum, and clean the bloodstream stained wall surfaces of not only the pyramid, but of the community as well.
Like Malinche, Moctezuma too thought that Cortes was the second arriving of Quetzalcoatl, a very important god for the Aztecs (Perez). It was Cortes' luck or possibly just coincidence that he arrived there the same calendar year Quetzalcoatl's prophecy was to come ( Because of this, Cortes was treated as a god should. He was presented with independence to roam and explore metropolis as he satisfied, and although there have been many people who did not imagine Cortes was Quetzalcoatl, there was nothing at all they could do to not in favor of Moctezuma's word. Cortes and his 300 men were perfectly taken care of, and he had taken great benefit of this situation. He started out to ask for more items, and demanded the two idols be removed in the temple pyramid, and become changed by the Virgin Mary and St. Christopher (Lyons). With all this electric power that Moctezuma offered, Cortes made his move and imprisoned Moctezuma in his own palace. Moctezumas imprisonment was utilized by Cortes to the fullest, insuring the Aztec would not revolt or death would come after their ruler.
At this time, "Cortes and most of his men have been called from Tenochtitlan to fight an emissary sent by Diego Velazquez" (Armitage). Cortes still left 140 men behind in Tenochtitlan with Pedro del Alvarado as the man in control. Cortes defeated Narvaez very quickly with an in a single day surprise assault. The defeated military heard about metropolis of platinum that Cortes experienced left, and having said that they decided to sign up for Cortes on his pursuit back again to Tenochtitlan.
Cortes will come to Tenochtitlan another time in June of 1520 and things had changed somewhat (Armitage). When he arrived, he bowed to Moctezuma to be able to possess his sibling Cuitlahauc released; he soon after became the new chosen head of Tenochtitlan (Armitage). Moctezuma was bought to speak after the folks of Tenochtitlan, so that the people would be persuaded to permit the Spaniards to leave the seacoast. "While standing on a parapet, unseen to the masses below, Moctezuma was struck by arrows. He perished three times later" (Lyons). Cuitlahauc declared himself emperor after his fatality.
During an attempt to flee the town, the Spaniards made a portable bridge to get across to the primary city at night time. The night time of June 30, 1520 became known as Noche de Triste, Sad Evening. Cortes bought a retreat but the Aztec woke up and attacked by arrows. The Bridge collapsed and many soldiers died (Perez), going out of Cortes in tears when he arrived to Tlacopan.
Cortes and his men come to Tlaxcala, and found refuge within individuals. The Aztecs didn't give up their hunt, asking Tlaxcala to turn in the Spaniards, but they refused. Cortes desired the Tlazcala visitors to join him, nonetheless they were skeptical because they knew he could turn on them. Finally, Cortes guaranteed them the Cholula land, the to a fortress in Tenochtitlan, and control of the city. Naturally, Cortes acquired no intent in actually providing them with these rights, but the Tlaxcala people didn't know this at the time.
Cortes had were able to build-up an military of 200, 000 Local American allies, and returned to Tenochtitlan a third time. At the moment, the Aztecs suffered a destructive epidemic of small pox and measles that wiped out thousands, so that it is more amazing for Cortes. This siege lasted for eight long a few months, and in August 13, 1521, Cauhtemoc, successor of Cuitlahuac, surrendered to Cortes (Perez). The Aztec civilization was demolished (Perez).
"A authorities which will not relax on the sympathies of its things cannot long abide; that human being institutions, you should definitely connected with individual prosperity and improvement, must land- if not prior to the increasing light of civilization by the hand of assault, by the violence within, if not from without" (Lyons). Cortes observed this in the Aztec Empire and made a decision to take action, and become the assault from without that made the change.
Cortes managed to bring down the most effective empire in the Mexican land at that time. "It had been an amazing beat, the conquest of the mighty Aztec Empire by some 530 Spanish ventures under the resourceful control of hidalgo Hernan Cortes" (Lyons).
After the fall of the Aztec Empire, the colonization that took place shaped the entire world we live in now. Although Cortes' desire for the take down of the Aztec Empire was driven "by way of a lust for platinum, territory, and a trust of finding el Dorado ("the gilded one")" (Elanor), "the Spanish Conquest and the next colonization of the Indigenous individuals of Mexico and the rest of the Americas led to the creation of any Spanish-Hybrid race" (Perez). This cross people today call themselves Chicanos/Chicanas.
