The Fall of
the Aztecs
Presentation by Robert Martinez
Primary Content: America’s History, James Henretta, David Brody & Lynn Dumenil
Images as cited.
http://www.klett-verlag.de/sixcms_upload/media/100/cortez.jpg
Hernan Cortes conquered an empire and
destroyed a civilization. Cortes came from a
family of minor status in Spain, and, seeking
military adventure and material gain, sailed
to Santo Domingo in 1506.
http://www.mexique-fr.com/perso/cortes.jpg
Ambitious and charismatic, he
distinguished himself in battle, putting
down a revolt and serving in the conquest
of Cuba.
http://mexiko-lexikon.de/mexiko/index.php?title=Cort%C3%A9s
Eager to increase his fortune, Cortes
jumped at the chance in 1519 to lead an
expedition to the mainland. He landed with
six-hundred men near the Mayan
settlement of Potonchan (Mexican coast),
which he quickly overpowered.
http://www.hernancortes-vs-hernancortes.com/IMAGES/HERNANCORTES.JPG
Then Cortes got lucky. The defeated
Mayans presented him with 20 slave
women to act as servants and concubines,
among them Malinali, a young woman of
noble birth.
http://www.searchusa.com/magicalrain/perfmalinche%20small2.jpg
Not only was she “of pleasing appearance
and sharp-witted and outward-going,” the
words of a Spanish soldier, she also spoke
Nahuatl, the Aztec’s language.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aihibed/2533223060/
Cortes took her as his mistress and
interpreter, and soon she became his
guide. When the Spanish leader learned
from Malinali the extent of the Aztec
empire, his goal became power rather than
plunder.
http://www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/historia/jpg/AMH10478.jpg
Cortes would overthrow its king,
Montezuma, and take over his empire.
http://www.bertsgeschiedenissite.nl/nieuwe%20geschiedenis/16e%20eeuw/tenochtitlan2.jpg
Of Malinali’s motives for helping Cortes
there is no record. Like his Spanish
followers, she may have been dazzled by
his powerful personality.
http://faculty.nmu.edu/kkendall/HS%20101/Cortes%20Malinche2.jpg
Or, more likely, she may have calculated
that Cortes was her best hope for escaping
slavery and reclaiming her noble status.
Whatever her reasons, her loyalty to her
new master was complete.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs/malinche.jpg
As the Spanish marched on the Aztec
capital of Tenochtitlan in 1519, she risked
her life by warning Cortes of a surprise
attack in the city of Cholula and served as
his translator as he negotiated his way into
the Aztec capital.
http://www.8thfire.net/images/conquistadors.jpg
“Without her,” concluded Bernal Diaz del
Castillo, the Spanish chronicler of the
conquest, we would “have been unable to
surmount many difficulties.”
http://www.marcnorton.us/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_85722/conquistadors$26priest.jpg
Awed by the military prowess of the Spanish
invaders, Montezuma received Cortes with
great ceremony, only to become his captive.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9343366@N06/1318329088/
Montezuma may have believed that the
Conquistadors were returning gods from
ancient Aztec legend. Maybe Cortes was
the powerful Quetzalcoatl?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Quetzalcoatl_1.jpg
The sight of the Spaniards in full metal
armor, with guns that shook the heavens
and inflicted devastating wounds, made a
deep impression on the Aztecs, who knew
how to purify gold but not how to produce
iron tools or weapons.
http://www.marcnorton.us/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_85722/conquistadors.jpg
Moreover, the Aztec warriors, fighting on
foot with flint-tipped spears and arrows,
were no match for mounted Spanish
conquistadors wielding steel swords and
aided by vicious attack dogs.
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/xoconostle/webgraphics/jaguar.jpg
Nevertheless, the Aztecs attacked
Cortes’s forces and killed Montezuma,
whom they felt betrayed his people.
http://chsweb.lr.k12.nj.us/gbyrne/Worldgeo/notes/chapter10/Chapter10/aztecsiege.jpg
Although heavily outnumbered and
suffering great losses, Cortes and his men
were able to fight their way out of the Aztec
capital.
http://www.bibliotecasvirtuales.com/biblioteca/LiteraturaEspanola/HernanCortes/HernandoCortesvictoryOtumbaoverAztecsbattlebyManuelIbanez.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/familiabraga/1470639528
/
The Aztec emperor could easily have
crushed the Spanish invaders if he had
ruled a united empire. But many Indian
peoples hated the Aztecs, and Cortes
exploited that anger.
http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/images/tenochtitlan.jpg
http://www.veltd.net/valmin/imgvalmin_10/images/9888%20_%209889.jpg
With the help of Malinali, now known by the
honorific Nahuatl name Malinche, he
formed military alliances with tribes whose
wealth had been taken by Aztec nobles….
http://www.medellin.es/IMAGES/grabadoCortes.JPG
….and whose people had been sacrificed to
the Aztec sun god.
http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/images/tenochtitlan.jpg
The Aztec empire collapsed, the victim not
of superior military technology but of a vast
internal rebellion instigated by the sly
Cortes.
http://libweb.hawaii.edu/libdept/charlotcoll/posada/images/posada/posbib12.gif
http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/explorers_history/aztec_pyramid_gathering.jpg
Roman Catholic Cathedral in Mexico City today.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rodvictoria/3422524911/