Cortés
Conquers the Aztec Empire
It
wasn’t even 30 years after
Christopher Columbus
landed on the
Western
Hemisphere and claimed it for Spain, that another Spanish explorer, Hernán
Cortés sailed across the Atlantic toward the New World in search for
wealth and status. The treasure hunt would
ultimately end in the Conquest of the Aztec Empire. Had it not been for
certain facilitating factors, however, Mexican history, and the history of
the Americas, might have very well been a different one all together.
Hernan Cortes Arrives on
Hispaniola
Columbus proved there were riches to be gotten, but there was
another player in this age of discovery. Near the end of the 15th century,
Pope Alexander VI decreed that
Spain could
claim any lands in the
New World for itself under the condition that the natives
were converted to Christianity. The Pope went so far as to settle a
dispute between
Portugal
and Spain over who got which of the treasures of the Americas. But that’s
another story for another day…
Along with this religious mission and the tantalizing lure of
undiscovered riches, Hernán Cortés set off to accomplish both. Like all
conquistadors he set out for gold, guts, and god.
After his arrival on
Hispaniola
in 1504 and subsequent participation in the conquest of the island of
Cuba, Cortés made quite a name for himself as a fearless and enterprising
leader. Cortés moved up the social and governmental ranks during his time
on the islands. After several years as a gentleman farmer on the
Caribbean
island of Hispaniola, in 1511, Cortes joined the military expedition of
Diego de Velazquez that captured Cuba. After the victory, Cortes became
the mayor of
Santiago and married the sister-in-law of
Velazquez.
Cortes Appointed Leader of Third Mexican
Expedition
After commissioning two previous expeditions of
Mexico headed
first by Francisco Fernandez de Cordova and then Juan de Grijalva, the
governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, decided on a third Mexican
expedition in 1518. This one was to be headed by 34 year old Cortés.
Though Velazquez de Cuéllar revoked his charter shortly after
giving it to him, Cortés managed to leave
Cuba
hurriedly and set out on his own – along with 500 men, horses and
artillery – to conquer Mexico.
Cortes' Mutiny
With a force of fewer than six hundred men
supported by twenty horses and ten small cannons, Hernando Cortes invaded
and conquered an Aztec empire populated by more than 5 million people.
Never before had such a small force conquered such a large region with
such massive wealth.
Cortés landed at
Cozumel
in the Yucatan peninsula in the early spring of 1519. Sailing further up
along the east coast of Mexico, Hernán Cortés and his men took
Veracruz,
claiming it for the Spanish crown. Cortés had already separated himself
from Cuban governor Velazquez de Cuéllar, but by the taking of Veracruz,
Cortés placed himself directly under the command of King Carlos V of
Spain.
A Prophecy Paved the Way
Whether by shear luck or by providence, the time of Cortés' arrival
coincided with the prophesied return of the Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl.
During the 16th century, Quetzalcoatl - whose name in the Nahuatl language
means "feathered serpent" or "plumed serpent", was one of the principle
Aztec deities. According to one of the legends, Quetzalcoatl, who was
among the gods of creation, was forced into exile by Tezcatlipoca; another
principal Aztec god. Quetzalcoatl sailed away into the
Atlantic on a
raft
 made
of snakes with a promise to return on his year, the First Year of the Reed
(this occurs once every 52 years). It just so happened that 1519 was the
predicted time of his reappearance.
Two Other Incarnations of the Plumed Serpent
Aside from being depicted as the feathered serpent, Quetzalcoatl was often
characterized as the god of wind, Ehécatl, who was shown as a bearded man.
Another name for Quetzalcoatl was the White Tezcatlipoca – making him the
yin equivalent to Tezcatlipoca (also known as the Black Tezcatlipoca).
These two interpretations of the god Quetzalcoatl, along with Cortés'
march into Tenochtitlan on the First Year of the Reed, have led to the
accepted assumption that the invading Spaniards were mistaken by the
Aztecs as either being representatives or incarnations of Quetzalcoatl.
Why Some Refer to the Cortes/Quetzalcoatl Issue
as Myth
The problem that some ethnocentric scholars seem to have with the
previously accepted belief that Montezuma II, ruler of the Aztecs, put up
little resistance to the Spaniards because he thought their arrival was
the fulfillment of the Quetzalcoatl prophecy has to do with
the fact that history is written by the victors.
The only documents that confirm the naïve Montezuma theory are ones either
written by Hernán Cortés himself or ones that were penned years after the
conquest by Spanish historians.
The Enemy of an Enemy was Cortes' Friend
Cortés' victory over the Aztecs was not brought about solely by the
Spanish sword. In fact, thousands of natives aided Cortés' conquest of
Mexico. The Aztecs dominion over
Mexico
came about by years of war, as a result, the Aztec had many enemies. This
was advantageous for Cortés being that he was able to win allies primarily
within the Tlaxcala of central Mexico and the Totonac of Veracruz.
Cortes and
Spain are
Victorious in Mexico
After three years of trying, in the summer of 1521, the Aztec
capital city of
Tenochtitlan
fell to the Spanish. Hernán Cortés and the conquerors built Mexico City on
the ruins of the once great Aztec capital. Whether or not the
Quetzalcoatl prophecy was instrumental in helping Cortés conquer Mexico
may never be known for certain.
What is known is that a once great empire met a sudden and violent end in
the 16th century and even though much evidence of the Aztec culture and
everyday way of life was destroyed by the conquerors and their Church,
scholars, archeologists and historians continue to uncover new facts about
the ancient civilization that was the Aztec Empire.
It took Cortes from 1519 to 1521 to subdue the Aztecs. He came
close to being killed on at least one occasion.There's only one problem with this story. There's no mention of Cortés' invisible ally: Smallpox.
A Smallpox epidemic in the
Aztec capital allowed Cortes to walk in almost unopposed...
The Aztecs — Mighty
Warriors of Mexico
All about us we saw cities and
villages built in the water, their great towers and buildings of masonry
rising out of it…When I beheld the scenes around me I thought within
myself, this was the garden of the world.
—Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Spanish conquistador
Introduction
When the Spanish
conquistador Hernan de Cortes and his army arrived in Tenochtitlan (ten-ohch-teet-LAHN),
capital of the mighty Aztec empire, they were amazed by what they saw. The
island city was built in the middle of Lake Texcoco, connected to the
surrounding land by three great causeways. Stone aqueducts delivered fresh
water to the city residents. A network of canals made up the city streets,
and farmers grew vegetables on ingeniously constructed “floating gardens”
(chinampas). There were palaces, parks, ball courts, a zoo, a
bustling market, and an awe-inspiring temple complex. Tenochtitlan was the
hub of a rich civilization that dominated the region of modern-day Mexico
at the time the Spanish forces arrived. In this lesson, students will
learn about the history and culture of the Aztecs and discover why their
civilization came to an abrupt end.
Guiding Questions:
Who were the Aztecs?
Where and when did they live? What was their culture like? What were their
major religious beliefs? What was their capital city like? What happened
to them?
Learning Objectives
After completing this
lesson, students will be able to:
- Identify the Aztecs as the builders of a
great city and rich civilization in what is now Mexico
- Locate the Aztec Empire and its capital
on a map
- Be able to place the Aztecs in the
chronology of American history
- Describe several aspects of Aztec
culture
- Tell the legend of the founding of the
capital city of Tenochtitlan and describe the way the city looked at its
peak
- Understand the causes of the Aztec
civilization's downfall
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
Read the entire
lesson to get a sense of the content. Review the websites embedded in the
activities. Bookmark them for easy reference. Access the basic
map of Mexico. Click off state borders. Download and print the map. Make
copies for each of your students for Activity One. Have colored pencils or
markers on hand for the map work. Establish five groups of students for
Activity Two. Download and print out the lists of questions for each group
provided in pdf format. Download the list of websites for this activity
provided in pdf format and make copies for the groups.
You can obtain
additional background information about the Aztecs at
Aztec Empire available through EDSITEment reviewed resource
Internet Public Library and
The Mexica/Aztecs,
also available through and Internet Public
Library. It would be useful to have on hand children's books about the
Aztecs from your school library as supplementary materials.
Ideally, two or three
students should work together at one computer in these activities. If
there are not enough computers in your classroom for this, you might wish
to have some of the students work on other projects while one group
completes the activities.
Suggested Activities
1.
Meet the Aztecs
2.
Aspects of Aztec Culture
3.
Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, Top Gods of the Aztecs
4.
Tenochtitlan, Glorious Capital City
5.
What Happened to the Aztecs?
Activity One — Meet the Aztecs
Explain to the
students that they will be learning about a Meso-American people, the
Aztecs, who established a rich civilization over five hundred years ago in
what is now Mexico. Begin by helping them discover where the Aztecs lived
on a world map. Go to
National
Geographic's Xpeditions map site. On the world map, click on North
America, then click on
Mexico. Have the students locate Mexico City, the country's capital,
which was built on the site of the old Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. Then
customize the map: click basic and turn state borders off for a clearer
view of the geographical shape of
Mexico. Now go to
HyperHistory Online available through
Conquistadors.
Click on Maps, then Regional Maps, then Medieval Maps, and finally, Maya
and Aztec. Point out that the Aztec empire extended entirely across
central Mexico, from ocean to ocean. Now go to
Aztec
Empire 1519 available through
LANIC for another view of the
empire.
Hand out the copies
of the blank map of Mexico you made while preparing this lesson. Using
colored pencils or markers, the students should mark the site of
Tenochtitlan and then designate the general area of the Aztec Empire.
Activity Two — Aspects of Aztec Culture
Tell the students
that they will now learn about how the Aztecs lived. Explain that they
will work in five groups, each group assigned to finding information about
a specific topic. The topics are the following: the local environment, the
Aztec social structure, food production and preparation; education and
writing; and warfare. Assign the students to the groups and then hand out
the appropriate sets of questions and websites provided in pdf format to
each group:
-
Local Environment: Describe the
geography of the Aztec territory - were there mountains? Deserts?
Grasslands? Lakes? Rivers? What was the climate like? Does this seem
like a good place for farming? Why or why not?
-
Social Structure: What were the
calpulli? What were the major classes of Aztec society? How did clothing
reflect a person's class? Which was the largest class? Which was the
smallest? Describe the life-style of the ruler.
-
Food Production and Preparation:
What were the major crops? How were fields prepared for growing the
crops? Who worked in the fields? What types of meat were eaten? How was
corn usually prepared for a meal?
-
Education and Writing: What
were the two kinds of schools? What was studied in each? Did girls go to
school? Describe the Aztec system of writing. What is a codex?
-
Warfare: How did Aztec boys
train for warfare? What were main weapons used in battle? Who were the
jaguars and eagles? Did the Aztec soldiers kill their enemies or take
prisoners? Why would they even consider taking prisoners?
Distribute the lists
of
useful websites provided in pdf format to each group.
Instruct your
students to read each web page carefully and look closely at graphics
before answering their questions. After gathering all the data required
and filling out the question forms, each group should prepare a
presentation of their findings. When everyone is ready, have the students
share what they have learned so far about the Aztecs.
Activity Three — Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc,
Top Gods of the Aztecs
Like most early
peoples, the Aztecs worshipped many nature gods. However, their main
deities were Huitzilopochtli (weetz-ill-oh-PACHT-lee), the war god, and
Tlaloc (til-AH-loc), the rain god. Tell the students that they will be
learning about these two gods. Divide the class in half. One group will
find information about Huitzilopochtli, the other will research Tlaloc.
The students should
consult the websites listed in Activity One. In addition to these, the
group working on Huitzilopochtli can find a picture of the god at
Huitzilopochtli available through EDSITEment reviewed resource
Internet Public Library. They can also
learn about human sacrifices made to the god of war by revisiting
Conquistadors-Mexico, going to
page three of
Aztec
Life and Times, and clicking on
"gods must be pleased."
The students should
take notes and download whatever graphics seem useful. Copies of these can
be made for other class members. Once the data have been gathered, have
the students share what they have learned the two gods. Then draw a
Venn Diagram on the board. Ask the students to name characteristics
the two gods had in common and then to come up with those that were unique
to each one. Write this information on the Venn Diagram. Then ask the
students what conclusions can be drawn about the religious ideas and
rituals of the Aztecs.
Activity Four — Tenochtitlan, Glorious Capital
City
This activity should
be done together as a large group. Study the legend of the founding of
Tenochtitlan by accessing
Conquistadors — Mexico available through
Conquistadors.
Go to
page 2 of
Aztec
Life and Times. Have a student read aloud the first paragraph, then
everyone should click on "an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a snake."
Ask your students what they think the bird, cactus, and snake symbolize.
(The Aztecs associated birds and feathers with the heavenly spirits,
plants with this world, and snakes with the frightening underworld.)
Inform the students that this image currently appears on the Mexican flag.
Now go to
Tenochtitlan available through Conquistadors to access a map and brief
description of the capital city. Read more about the Aztec capital at
The Great City of Tenochtitlan available through
Casa de Joanna.
Now return to
Aztec
Life and Times available through
Conquistadors,
access
page 4 and click onto "land
farmed communally" to learn more about the chinampas. Discuss
this ingenious means of land reclamation. Ask the students what possible
drawbacks might arise in this system. There is additional information and
a drawing of a chinampa at
Heidi S
available through EDSITEment reviewed resource
Internet Public Library.
The altars of the two
gods, Huizilopochtli and Tlaloc, were the focal point of the capital city.
To learn more about the pyramids upon which their shrines and altars were
built, go to
Aztec at the EDSITEment reviewed resource
ArchNet. Click on each image.
Encourage the students to comment upon each image and to explain the role
of the pyramid/temples in the lives of the Aztecs. You might ask your
students if they can think of ways in which the Aztec pyramids differ from
those of the ancient Egyptians. (The Egyptian pyramids were tombs, not
temples, and, unlike the Aztec structures, they were not flattened on top.
And no one would have thought of climbing them! Both types, however, were
immense and were built of stone.)
Activity Five — What Happened to the Aztecs?
Review the major
topics you have covered with the class in Activities Two, Three, and Four.
Then as a group make a list of ten major achievements of the Aztecs. Write
these on the board as the students offer suggestions. Ask the students to
rank these achievements in order of importance. Encourage debate about why
one might be considered more significant than another.
Now explain that,
despite the impressive accomplishments of the Aztecs, the city of
Tenochtitlan—and, in fact, the entire Aztec civilization—was destroyed by
about 200 Spanish soldiers. Brainstorm with the students about possible
explanations for this. Mention that the Aztecs were at a disadvantage when
the Spanish arrived on Mexican shores because of their mistaken belief
that Conquistador Hernan de Cortes was the much-awaited Aztec god
Quetzalcoatl (ket-zahl-co-AHT-ul). Read with your students about the
prediction that this god would come from the sea at
Omens of Doom available through the EDSITEment reviewed resource
Conquistadors. The Aztec
ruler, Montezuma, sent the newly arrived Cortes gifts as one would to a
returning god. Ask your students how Cortes might have responded to these
gifts. (Here's a hint: the Spanish were very greedy!)
Despite their high
hopes for a better future, the Aztecs were conquered by Spanish soldiers
bent on obtaining gold and other riches as well as personal glory. The
rich civilization was soon in shambles. Today, the ruins of Tenochtitlan
lie beneath modern Mexico City. For a view of the ruins of the city,
access
Mexico City: View of Tenochtitlan Sacred Precinct available through
EDSITEment reviewed resource LANIC
. Click larger image. There is another excellent image of the ruins at
The Mexica/Aztecs,
also available through Internet Public
Library. Over a million people in Mexico still speak Nahuatl, the
native language of the Aztecs, and there has been great interest in recent
years to learn more about this rich civilization of the past.
Extending the Lesson
The Spanish
conquistador Cortes was certainly nothing like the benevolent god the
Aztecs had been waiting for. Once the Spanish troops arrived in
Tenochtitlan, fighting soon broke out. The Spanish had the advantage of
guns (the Aztecs fought with arrows and spears). Eventually, most of those
natives who were not killed or captured in the fighting succumbed to the
European diseases for which their bodies had no immunity. Learn more about
the dramatic clash between native armies and Spanish might by further
exploring EDSITEment-reviewed website,
Conquistadors.
Selected Websites (Be aware that websites
come and websites go...just like ancient civilizations.)
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