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Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa Italy in 1451. His dad and his mom were wool weavers. He was still a teenager when he got a job on a merchant ship. In 1470 French privateers attacked Columbus's ship while it was sailing north along the Portuguese coast. His boat sank but Columbus floated to shore on a piece of wood. Columbus made his way to Lisbon. In Lisbon he studied mathematics, astronomy, navigation, and cartography. While in Lisbon he started to hatch his plan that would change the world forever.

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1492 Christopher Columbus Sailing to the New World

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1492 Christopher Columbus Sailing to the New World

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In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World on the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Columbus thought the world was round so he sailed straight. He thought he would just end up on the other side of the world. Since his theory was wrong he ended up sailing to the New World.

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1492 How Christopher Columbus changed the New World?

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1492 How Christopher Columbus changed the New World?

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Columbus enslaved the natives and killed many of them. He also called the Native people Indians. Columbus forced the natives to let him be king. After Columbus came to the New World Europeans came and settled there. More and more people came to the New World which is now America.

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1492 Why Columbus sailed to the New World?

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1492 Why Columbus sailed to the New World?

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Christopher Columbus tried to find a shortcut to the Indies. He was in search to find gold and riches from the Indies. Columbus also wanted to trade things for spices. Columbus also went to the New World because he wanted silk.

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Cortes was born in 1485 in Medellin Spain. Cortes helped advance Spain in North America in the 1500's. Cortes came from a lesser noble family that lived in Spain. He studied at the University of Salamanca.

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1521 What Motivated Cortes to conquer the Aztecs

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1521 What Motivated Cortes to conquer the Aztecs

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Cortes was convinced that he would get more riches on the mainland than in the Caribbean. Aztec was wealthy and more advanced than any European nation. Cortes fought for money and power. The Aztecs also had a lot of gold.

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Aztec had no guns or horses so, Cortes used horses,guns and swords to defeat them because they have never seen guns or horses. The Aztecs only had bronze weapons and Cortes had steel swords. Horses were fast and powerful in battles. And the Aztecs never seen guns so the people were scared of them. Aztec sacrificed human live to honer their gods, as a result many people were ready to join forces with Cortes to overthrow the Aztec Empire. They used a military strategy to capture the other peoples leader. Then the people began to panic. The Aztecs didn't fight back because they thought the Spanish were gods. This gave Cortes an advantage.

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Hernan Cortes

Credit: www.historyfiles.co.uk

The principle factors and circumstances which brought about the defeat of the Aztecs

There were many factors and circumstances that brought about the defeat of the Aztecs. From the cunning and fortitude of, the Spaniard, Hernan Cortes, both the religious beliefs of the Spanish and of Moctezuma, and the effects of the Spaniards weapons of mass destruction, smallpox. There are of course many other factors but I would say these were the three most important.

Moctezuma believed and ancient prophesies stated that Quetzalquatl, the bearded, fair-skinned, Toltec ruler god, would return to the East in the year Ce Acatl to reclaim his kingdom. Coincidentally 1519 was the year Ce Acatl. There were a heap of other coincidences, such as the waters of Lake Texcoco had suddenly boiled up flooding the island of Tenochtitlan. An inexplicable conflagration had consumed the temple of Huitzilopochtli. The voice of a woman wailing, in the night, had repeatedly been reported throughout the city. Comets were seen shooting through the sky and columns of fire had appeared to the East every night for an entire year. To Moctezuma, these were all signs of Quetzalcoatl's return. With all these coincidences combined Moctezuma decided was cordial with Cortes and not militant.

One of the faults Moctezuma made was to give the Spaniards trinkets and jewelry. Moctezuma thought that by giving these things to the Spanish that they will just return from whence they came, but instead this made the Spaniards appetites insatiable. With Cortes in the lead the Spanish went on a rampage through Mexico toward the Aztec capital. The first to be conquered by the Spanish was the mountain people of Tlaxcala, who were able to defy the Aztec's for a long time had fallen to superior tactics and weaponry. Next was Cholula, which tried to ambush the Spaniards, but with the help of Cortes' native maiden, Dona Marina, Cortes ambushed the Cholulan and left thousands of men dead. Finally Cortes had made it to Moctezuma's door step. Moctezuma threw ceremonies and banquets for Cortes. Cortes was very aware of the place he and his men were in and tried to secure some sort of safety he had Moctezuma taken captive. Cortes had to deal with Spaniards sent by the Cuban Governor to arrest him and he had left the garrison commander, Pedro de Alvarado in charge. Alvarado saw the Aztecs do their religious sacrifices and saw it alarming enough to attack the Aztecs. This attack sent the population into rebellion which then lead to the death of many natives.

With all of battles and pillaging against the native population the biggest killer came in the form of Biological weaponry known as smallpox. This weapon did more damage in Latin America than spanish steel ever could. Smallpox killed an estimated 3.5 million Aztecs. Along with Latin America you can see the effects of small pox all over the world throughout recorded history, whether it be Latin America, North America, and even Africa. I would have to say that even if Cortes came and made friends with all the natives, smallpox, still would have led to the defeat of the Aztecs along with the rest of the Americas.

Conquistador

Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs

Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs
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1521: The Defeat of the Aztecs - InfoBarrel

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Credit: www.historyfiles.co.uk There were many factors and circumstances that brought about the defeat of the Aztecs. From the cunning and fortitude of, the Spaniard, Hernan Cortes, both the religious beliefs of the Spanish and of Moctezuma, and the effects of the Spaniards weapons of mass destruction, smallpox.

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Cortes's army spread smallpox to the Aztecs. They affected 25% of the people, as a result 5-8 million of the people died because no one knew how to treat it. The surviving Aztecs were not allowed to learn about their native culture and were forced to read and write in Spanish. Many elements of Aztec culture were lost forever.

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The effect the Spanish had on the Aztec Empire is a mixed lot. Historians often disagree on the impact, both positive and negative, that the Spanish had on Aztec civilization. Under the leadership of Hernan Cortes in 1521, the Aztec Empire was destroyed. The Aztecs were a primitive people who practiced rituals that were inhumane. Spanish rule put and end to those cruel traditions.

Negative Effect: Destruction of the Empire

After three months of fighting, Cortes defeated the capital city of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan. The emperor Cuauhtémoc was taken prisoner and executed later that same year, and Cortes became the ruler of the expansive empire. The surviving Aztecs were highly susceptible to European diseases previously unknown to their culture, such as smallpox and typhus. In 1521, smallpox decimated the population of Tenochtitlan. Two following epidemics killed 75 percent of the remaining population, according to the New World Encyclopedia. Surviving Aztecs were not allowed to learn of their native culture and were forced to read and write in Spanish. Many elements of Aztec culture were lost forever.

Positive Effect: Lifestyle Improvements

The Spanish had a positive effect on Aztec civilization because they helped modernize the society. They introduced the Aztecs to domestic animals, sugar, grains, and European farming practices. Most significantly, the Spanish ended the Aztec's practice of human sacrifice. The Aztecs sacrificed human victims on each of their 18 annual festivities, according to the New World Encyclopedia. Human sacrifice rituals often included torture, such as shooting victims with arrows, burning them, or drowning them.

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What Was the Effect of the Spanish on the Aztec Empire?

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What Was the Effect of the Spanish on the Aztec Empire?. The effect the Spanish had on the Aztec Empire is a mixed lot. Historians often disagree on the impact, both positive and negative, that the Spanish had on Aztec civilization. Under the leadership of Hernan Cortes in 1521, the Aztec Empire was destroyed.

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Francisco Pizarro was born in 1474 in Trujillo Spain. Gonzalo Pizarro his father was a Spanish army colonel. Francisco's mother was poor and lived in Trujillo. He was raised by his grandparents because his parents never married so his early life was very difficult. Pizarro had very little education. He was illiterate, he was unable to read or write. For many years Pizarro worked as a pig herder.

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1513 What Motivated Pizarro to Conquer the Incas

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1513 What Motivated Pizarro to Conquer the Incas

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Pizarro was motivated to conquer the Incas because they had plows on the back of horses. The guns that the they had were helpful to Pizarro even though they don't have good aim they could still scare people. They also had a lot of land with a lot of natural reasorces. Pizarro wanted gold and a lot of riches and the Incas had a lot of gold and riches.

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Spain had lots of guns and horses and the Incas don't have a lot of them. So they are scared of there weapons. They also made very strong weapons and the Incas had very weak weapons so it made it easier to defeat them. Pizarro read Corteses book on how to defeat a Meso American civilization.

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1513 How did Pizarro Affect Civilizations and Change the Development of the Western World

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1513 How did Pizarro Affect Civilizations and Change the Development of the Western World

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Pizarro affected the civilizations and changed the development of the Western World. Pizarro lied to the Incas. He also brought smallpox which killed millions of people. The Spanish thought them if they have more power than you fight them.