Notes:
Chapter 10 - A Deadly Meeting
1/ The following occurred in chronological order:
o The Aztecs hear rumors of strangers arriving on the coast and
so their immediate response was to welcome the Spanish into
their capital city
o Cortes and the Spanish march to Tenochtitlan or Aztec capital
city
o Emperor Moctezuma dies
o The city of Tenochtitlan is destroyed by the Spanish
2/ Conquistador’s Formula
The main aim of the formula was to ensure that Spain took over a region,
peacefully if possible but violently if necessary.
Step 1: An expedition sets out from a recent colony
Step 2: After landing in a new region, the Spanish would try to meet
peacefully with the first groups of Indigenous peoples they
encountered.
Step 3: The Spanish would invite the leader of the most powerful group to
a meeting to exchange gifts. Then the Spanish would seize the
leader and threaten to kill him unless his followers obeyed their
orders. ( example – Spanish troops capture Moctezuma and loot
gold from the royal places)
Step 4: If they did have to fight, the Spanish would try to do so on open
ground.
Step 5: The leader of the expedition would remain as governor of the new
colony and his second-in-command would organize the next
expedition.
3/ Figure 10-24 on Page 231
o the title of the image could be
First Contact: the “Old World” and the “New World”
o the armour and weapons of the Spanish were emphasized in the
image
o a majority of people in Spain would have viewed Cortes as
positive, because he gained wealth and territory for his king and
country. His motive for going to Mexico was to get gold.
4/ Aztec First Impressions of the Spanish
If you were an Aztec person, imagine what you would have noticed about
Cortes and his small Spanish army…….
o Clothing
o Ships
o Skin, hair, eye color
o Horses
o Weapons/ firearms
o Different language
o Keen interest in gold
5/ Factors that Explain the Spanish Victory over the Aztecs
How did 400 Spanish conquistadors defeat an Aztec army of hundreds of
thousands of warriors? The factors that were most important in
explaining the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs were:
o Spanish weapons and technology
o The role of disease
o Spanish and Aztec strategy
o Leadership
o Disunity of the Aztecs
o Role of other groups in helping the Spanish