The Fall of the Aztecs - Essay Example

The Fall of the Aztecs Introduction It is indeed amazing, mind-boggling and quite confusing why just a few hundred of the Spaniards who came to America in the sixteenth century were able to conquer a vast empire. It is the purpose of this paper to offer a viable explanation why this was so when the native Indians or today's Mexicans consisted of several millions with an advanced civilization. The few Spaniards who first came to America did it because of superior technology rather than better intelligence. It is also not true that the natives gave way to the newcomers because of the mistaken belief that a white man came back to them as a god prophesied by their high priests. This had been the main narrative in several history books but a closer examination of all extant documents did not show a belief among natives that Hernando Cortes was their god Quetzalcoatl. A credible explanation how a few intrepid men were able to conquer an empire was by duplicity and guile. Discussion The most common or popular explanation among historians as to why the Spaniards did successfully conquer a vast and advanced empire of the Aztecs was a main narrative the natives did not offer much resistance because of their supposedly mistaken belief that Hernando Cortes is a god who went to the east and vowed to come back as Quetzalcoatl. It was just a coincidence that he arrived on the same year the god was expected to come back. On the contrary, another white explorer named Juan de Grijalva was the one believed to be a god a year earlier in 1518.1 This “white god” explanation seems overly simplistic but this was given preference by most historians who based their studies and conclusions from recovered documents before and after the conquest. Incidentally, most of the writings were written by the heirs of nobles and the priests whose duties at that time were to foresee the future and so this explanation gained some prominence because these writers tried to protect the reputation of their forebears who cannot be portrayed as not being able to tell the future, hence this explanation acquired credence. Moreover the god Quetzalcoatl is a relatively minor god in the pantheon of gods among the natives, and so ascribing Cortes as Quetzalcoatl does not make much sense. The “white god” belief is not a very viable explanation in this regard. Most of the writers were descendants of priests and seers who were being blamed for not knowing the existence of the Spaniards prior to their arrival.2 The most logical and credible explanation of why a few Spaniards overcame an empire is simply their superior weaponry. What they possessed at that time in military technology was a vast superiority such that a few hundred men can fight off against several thousand ill-equipped native warriors. There was simply a huge discrepancy in the military capabilities between those two combatants, with the Spaniards equipped with swords, helmets, body armor and their horses. In particular, the use of war horses was particularly effective; just three horses can turn around a hopeless dire situation into a victorious rout if used correctly against the hordes of mass warriors. Additionally, harquebus and crossbows could inflict casualties at a great distance; the mounted lances and cannons further provide a long-range military advantage against the natives. Diseases like smallpox did the rest in decimating the Aztecs, described by them as a pestilence.3 The Spaniards used superior technology in conjunction with guile and duplicity in their divide-and-conquer strategy by exploiting the hatred of vassal tribes against the Aztecs who had demanded tribute from the surrounding tribes or otherwise face a massacre themselves. Political reality at that time indicated these vassals were only too happy to get back at the Aztecs in siding with the new Spanish arrivals. Thousands of indigenous allies such as the Tlaxcalans helped the Spaniards tremendously in their campaigns by providing essential back-up forces. In essence, the conquest of the Aztec empire was more of a massive rebellion against Aztec rule which had been implemented through a series of intimidations, conquests and loose alliances.4 An example of a Spanish guile was when Cortes suddenly put the emperor Moctezuma under house arrest using a European tactic of war during negotiations for friendship and another was using old animosities among the various tribes and turn them against each other and the hated Aztec overlords. One of its oldest allies, the Tezcoco, sided with the Spaniards on seeing their new weaponry. Conclusion Superiority in military technology made the Spaniards victorious as long as they do not fight in close quarters; they were almost invincible in open-ground battles. Moreover, they used the various tribes against each to gain information and military intelligence against the Aztecs. In another twist, the natives were also considerably weakened by European diseases like smallpox. The natives had not developed immunity to these diseases. In the end, just the Aztecs themselves were responsible for their fallen empire because their administration of a vast array of colonies was loose; they were not interested in fully subjugating conquered states but only in tributes.5 Reference List Adams, Stasy. Reasons for the Fall of the Aztec Empire. Germany: GRIN Verlag, 2011. Aguilar-Moreno, Manuel. Handbook to Life in the Aztec World. NY, USA: Infobase Publishing, 2006. Carrasco, David and Scott Sessions. Daily Life of the Aztecs. CA, USA: ABC-CLIO, 2011. Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization: A Brief History. MA, USA: Wadsworth, 2010. Townsend, Camilla. “Burying the White Gods: New Perspectives on the Conquest of Mexico.” The American Historical Review 108, no. 3 (2003): 1-27. http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/108.3/townsend.html (accessed September 4, 2011). Read More