The Conquest of the Americas
Chapter 19 - 2
The Spanish and Mexico
• Aztec Empire rumored to be
very rich.
• Conquistadors – explorers
and soldiers who conquered
territory
• Hernan Cortes + 600
soldiers
• Formed alliances with
unhappy city states
• Welcomed Cortes
• Captured Moctezuma
• War breaks out –
Moctezuma killed
• Not the soldiers who
defeated the Aztecs – small
pox
Spain and the Inca
• Rumors of another rich
Empire
• Inca had been
devastated by Small Pox
• When Francisco Pizarro
went to the Incas:
– Tricked Atahualpa
– Imprisoned him
– Ransomed him – largest
in history
– Killed him anyway
After the wars
• Mexico became “new
Spain”
• Inca Empire became “Peru”
• Both offered Spain great
wealth and gold
• Galleons transferred the
gold back to spain
• French, Dutch and English
Pirates robbed these
Galleons
• Other nations began to
settle in the Americas
What the Aztecs and Incans Lost
•
•
•
•
Art was lost – melted down
Destroyed native cities
Torn down temples
Spanish built their own
cities
• Destroyed native religions –
Catholicism
• Widespread loss of life
– Small pox
– Lack of immunity
– Spanish had built up
immunity so they survived.