Estefania Huerta

3/12/09

Dawn Miller

History

Conquering the Aztec Empire

There were many reasons why the Spanish were able to conquer the Aztec Empire. One

of the reasons was because the Spanish were better armed than the Aztecs to begin with. The

Spanish had many superior weapons such as guns, bows, arrows, cannons, and iron. They also

had animals such as horses and dogs which they would train them to be mean. They also had

armor and they had a really strong army of soldiers, and the Aztecs didn’t have any of that so

that was an advantage for the Spanish. The Aztecs would look up to the Spanish as if they were

gods and treated them as if they were gods because the Aztecs mistakenly confused Cortes

with a Cuauhtémoc a god, and that was also an advantage because the Aztecs welcomed the

Spanish and trusted them. Furthermore the Spanish also brought diseases like smallpox and

European diseases that infected the Aztecs. These European infections spread and killed vast

numbers of Aztecs. Another reason how the Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire was because

Cortes made allies with other natives that disliked the Aztecs. History also mentions that Cortez

attacked at the perfect time during the harvest time when the Aztecs weren’t prepared for war. All the

Spanish were hungry for was the Aztec’s gold and their beautiful land, the Spanish could not

believe how beautiful and advanced was their city. In summary, the Spanish armor, weapons

and the Aztecs confusion were reasons for the Aztecs conquering the Spanish.