Spanish Conquest
The Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire is one of the most significant moments of American colonization. Pre 1519 (before the Spanish encountered the Aztec people), the Spanish were interested only in finding gold, and spreading their religion of Christianity, but their influence led to much greater changes. Among other things, the Spanish conquest led to the slave trade, the spread of European culture and the spread of diseases, such as smallpox. By the end of 1521, it had only been about 3 years since the Spanish landed a boat on the shores of present day Latin America. In this short amount of time, all of the once great, Aztec Empire, had fall under Hernando Cortes and his conquistadors. The Spanish, although outnumbered, were able to conquer and control the Aztec Empire almost entirely with their military strategy and the aid of disease.
Since about the mid-fourteenth century, the Aztecs held the greatest amount of influence in present day Mexico. The Aztec empire was made up of many smaller city states, all focused around the main state (or capital as some called it), Tenochtitlan. The Aztec economy was driven by a market within the capital called the Tlatelolco. It was a visited daily by more than 50,000 people on a busy day. The city, that stretched for about 3 miles across was erected on a small piece of land in the center of lake Texcoco. It used to function similarly to present day venice in the way that each block was surrounded by water and connected by small bridges and causeways. All along the banks of Lake Texcoco, the Aztecs planted crops, using an intricate connection of canals to irrigate their foods. Fresh water was brought into the city from clay aqueducts that connected Tenochtitlan with the nearby mountain springs. When most people today think of the Aztecs, they think of them as savages: Ruthless people who enjoyed sacrificing their own kin, in order to please the gods. In fact, “The Aztec civilization was...