Page 372 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

The Spanish Empire in the New World
The Spanish conquerors known as conquistadors were hardy individuals motivated by a typical sixteenth- century blend of glory, greed, and religious zeal. Although authorized by the Castilian crown, these groups were financed and outfitted privately, not by the government. Their superior weapons, organizational skills, and deter- mination brought the conquistadors incredible success. They also benefited from rivalries among the native peo- ples and the decimation of the native populations by European diseases.
south, and west, linking the many islands to the main- land.
The Aztecs were outstanding warriors, and while they were building their capital city, they also set out to bring the entire area around the city under their control. By the early fifteenth century, they had become the leading city-state in the lake region. For the remainder of the fifteenth century, the Aztecs con- solidated their rule over much of what is modern Mex- ico, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and as far south as the Guatemalan border. The new kingdom
was not a centralized state but a col- lection of semi-independent territo- ries governed by local lords.
SPANISH CONQUEST OF THE AZTEC EMPIRE In 1519, a Spanish expedition under the command of Hern􏰁an Cort􏰁es (1485–1547) landed at Vera- cruz, on the Gulf of Mexico. He marched to the city of Tenochtitl􏰁an (see the box on p. 335) at the head of a small contingent of troops (550 soldiers and 16 horses), on the way making alliances with city-states that had tired of the oppressive rule of the Aztecs. Especially important was Tlaxcala (tuh-lah-SKAH-lah), a state that the Aztecs had not been able to conquer. In November, Cort􏰁es arrived at Tenochtitl􏰁an, where he received a friendly welcome from the Aztec monarch Moctezuma (mahk- tuh-ZOO-muh) (often called Monte- zuma). At first, Moctezuma believed that his visitor was a representative of Quetzalcoatl (KWET-sul-koh-AHT- ul), the god who had departed from his homeland centuries before and had promised someday to return.
But the Spaniards quickly wore out their welcome. They took Mocte- zuma hostage and proceeded to pillage the city. In the fall of 1520, one year after Cort􏰁es had arrived, the local population revolted and drove the invaders from the city. Many of the Spaniards were killed, but the Aztecs soon experienced new disasters. As one Aztec related, “At about the time that the Spaniards
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Lands of the Maya
EARLY CIVILIZATIONS IN MESOAMERICA
Before the Spaniards arrived in the New World, Mesoamerica (modern Mexico and Central America) had al- ready hosted a number of flourish- ing civilizations. Beginning around 300C.E.ontheYucat􏰁anpeninsula, a people known as the Maya (MY- uh) had developed one of the most sophisticated civilizations in the Americas. The Maya built splendid temples and pyramids, were accom- plished artists, and developed a so- phisticated calendar, as accurate as any in existence in the world at that time. The Maya were an agrarian people who cleared the dense rain forests, developed farming, and built a patchwork of city-states. Mayan civilization came to include much of Central America and southern Mex- ico. For unknown reasons, Maya civ- ilization began to decline around 800 and collapsed less than a hun- dred years later.
Sometime during the early twelfth century C.E., a people known as the Aztecs began a long migration that brought them to the Valley of Mex- ico. They established their capital at Tenochtitl􏰁an (tay-nawch-teet-LAHN), on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco (now the location of Mexico City). For the next hundred years, the Aztecs built their city, construct- ing temples, other public buildings, houses, and causeways of stone across Lake Texcoco to the north,
400 Kilometers 200 Miles
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Gulf of Mexico
La Venta Palenque
Chichén Itzá YUCA TÁN
Tikal BELIZE
GUATEMALA
HONDURAS Copan
EL Pacific SALVADOR
Ocean
Tula
Tenochtitlán
Capital of Aztec Empire
Gulf of Mexico
Texcoco Tlaxcala
Cholula
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Pacific Ocean
The Aztec Empire
334 Chapter 14 Europe and the World: New Encounters, 1500–1800
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