Decline of the Aztec Empire

In 1519 Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived in Tabasco with 11 ships, 100 sailors, and some 500 soldiers. The Spaniards quickly gained the favor of the local Indians. Cortés created a base at La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz (now Veracruz, Mexico) and then moved west toward the Aztec capital. Initially, the Spaniards were welcomed and met with gifts from Montezuma II, but Cortés was intent on taking over Tenochtitlán. He made the emperor his prisoner, taking control of the city and forcing Montezuma into the role of a puppet king. Montezuma later died in captivity.

The Aztec Empire grew as it conquered neighboring states, but that growth came at a cost. The Aztec military gained power in numbers by adding men supplied from allied and conquered states. With such large numbers the Aztec were able to defeat their rivals, gaining new territory. With each victory Aztec rulers demanded tribute from defeated populations and took captives back to Tenochtitlán to be used as human sacrificial offerings. In the Aztec religion the belief was that the gods had given their lives to create this world and humans had to repay that debt in blood. The religious sacrifices angered other tribes. During the time of Montezuma II’s reign the empire was at its peak, but so was the resentment of the subject tribes. Constant rebellions were waged. Although Montezuma defeated the rebellions, they weakened the empire. This instability enabled Cortés to form alliances with other native peoples, most notably the Tlaxcalans, who were old rivals of the Aztec, and the Totonac. The Tlaxcalans’ army considerably enhanced the conquistador’s’ numbers and were critical to Cortés’s later successes.

When the Spanish arrived, they brought with them smallpox. The Aztec had no immunity to European diseases. Smallpox spread among the indigenous people and crippled their ability to resist the Spanish. The disease devastated the Aztec people, greatly reducing their population and killing an estimated half of Tenochtitlán’s inhabitants. One of those who died was the Aztec emperor Cuitláhuac.

While the Aztec outnumbered the Spaniards, their weapons were no match for Spanish arms. The Spaniards had guns and cannons and wore metal armor. The Aztec warriors carried wooden shields covered in animal hides and fought with macuahuitl (bladed clubs), bows, and spears. The gap in technological advancement greatly disadvantaged the Aztec.

In May 1521 Cortés and his army mounted an attack, known as the Battle of Tenochtitlán, on the Aztec capital. With a force numbering more than 800 conquistadors and tens of thousands of indigenous warriors, they were able to launch assault after assault against the Aztecs. They eventually wore the Aztec warriors down and broke through the city’s defenses, slaughtering the Aztecs and destroying the city. Cortés claimed the city on August 13. Over the next three years the conquistadors brought the whole of Mesoamerica under Spanish rule.