tL
Erplorers and
Conquerors
LessonOutline
VOCABULARY
tribute
conquistador
PEOPLE
ll
lMoctezuma
Hernando
Cortes
DoRaiMarina
C ua u h te m o c
Pizarro
Francisco
Atahualpa
Howdidtheo ival of theSponish
explorcrschange
life in theAmeri.as?
'.
. The Azlie( Empire
. CDrt6strieaelieslfe!'ioc htit l6!'i
, Conqrlast of itlneAziiea
. Pizarro{onqLn rs the lnca
. : i 'i : i r
soldierswho cameafter
Someof the Spanish
lt
reacheda placecalledTenochtitliin.
Columbus
theytell of in . . .
seemed"likethe enchantment
t we r s. . . a r isin gfr o mth e
l e g e n d...[with Jg r e a to
askedwhetherthe things
water. . . somelsoldiers]
that we sawwerenot
a dream."
rulerwore
TheAzte(
offeathers
acrown
fromthequetzal
bird,muchlike
thisone.
YouAreHere
'i-,.0?"t154&
.. : AZTECEMPIRE
-e Aztec city of Tenochtitldn
'j -rch te T]-AHN) had been the capital
, -: empire since the early 1300s.The
r:.i::.ror Moctezuma I, who ruled frQm
--. ro 1468,led the Aztec as they con.:r- :d their neighbors to the south and
:i,,. The three emperors r'tho followed
',: :rpanded the empire to include
-. :.: ofpresent-dayMexico.
::,rllenges to the Empire
::e great-grandsonof Moctezuma I
, :hosen as emperor in 1502,He was
llbctezuma II, or Moctezuma the
: -:ger. The new emperor faced chal: -:.s to his power fuom the very begin: - . ofhis rule. Conqueredpeople within
: . :mpire were beginning to rebel.They
[: :rot want to give pdsoners to the
: :: or pay tribute, or ta-xes,to them.
. ::iezuma also had enemiesoutside his
. :ire. The Tla-{calan(tlahs KAH lahn),
, ' : lived lessthan 100miles eastof
.:nochtitl6n, hated the Aztec.For
years,the Tlaxcalanhad fought
againstAztec conquest.In spite
of these challenges,
spiedon the Spanishand
messengers
reportedall their movementsto
Moctezuma.
Moctezumadid not knowwho the
strangerswere.He thoughtthey might be
friends.He sentthem two disks,one of
gold and one of silver.Thiswashis first
mistake.Now the Spanishweredetermined to rcachTenochtidan.
6rNG -
ifeme
f,y'o
to
Whatwerethe challenges
power?
Moctezuma's
EHt"
Moctezumawas firmly in
controlof his empire.
The StrangersArrive
More than 500Spanish troopslandedon
the eastcoastof MexicQ
in spdng of 1519.They wefe
following rumors ofgold. Aztec
ln what directionwasTenochtitldn
from the Gulf of Mexico?
129
-- t:,"'ffiespee*
Bfl had beeneducatedat a religious
l\lloctez.zulnnat
school.Hewasdeeplyrespectfulof the Aztecreligious
traditions.OneAzteclegendpredictedthat a blond,
beardedgod would returnto Mexicoone dayfrom the
east.Moctezumathoughtthat Cortds,who wasblond,
might be this god.
Moctezumawelcomedthe Spanishinto
hisown palace.Hetreatedthem
ashonoredguests.His
beliefswere shattered
when the Spanishrepaid
his hospitalityby arresting
him and killingmanyof
i,f
his people.
1r
tu, ,{
Thinkofa
political ruler today.
Researchthi5 leader.write
a paragraph(omparing
the lead€rto Mo(tezuma,
TENOCHTITLAN
RTESREACHES
Eernando Cortes cameftom
to the Cadbbeanisland"*
i Cubaat the ageof 19.
6rII6s was given land to
&m, but he had other
ideas."I dont want land,"
h ilTote. "I came for
The Spanishgover6o,Ld."
mi of CubaaskedCort6s
u leadan expeditionto
lft1ico to seeif the rumorc
abilut gold were true. The
Eong adventurerjumped at
ohechance,The govemor,aftaid
&;r Cort6swastoo eaget took back
frr. order.However,Cort6shad aheady
H secrctly.
tll€ Roadto Tenochtitliin
Cortesdid not want his troopsto con$cer reteat, so he burnedthe boatsthat
hadbroughtthem to Mexico.Then he led
hrsuoops inland from the coast.The
-{o€rishcame to Indian cities where the
peoplewereenemiesofthe Aztec.At one
Er,-.Cort6smet an Indian womanwho
r-..s calledMalinche (mah LEENchay)
:.; rhe Indians and Dofla Marina
IOHN yah mah REEnah) by the
:oanish,
DonaMadna wasthe daughterofa
dief. Shewassoldas a captiveafterher
i.-ller died.Shehad learnedseverallanrjages,includingthoseofthe Aztecand
:treMaya.Dofla Marinapersuadedmany
,ldians to join Cort6s.Soonhis armywas
]ig enoughto challengethe Aztec.
In November1519,Cortesand his followersreachedTenochtiddn.They
weregreetedwith giftsoffood
(beans,meat,fish,maize
cakes,turkeys),cloaks,and
platesofcopper and silvet Moctezumasent
someoneto meetCortds.
I He broughtenoughfood
' to last the whole group
severaldaysand even
broughtjewels.Hutswere
built for the visitorc.Cortds
was given2,000servants.
Amonghis crew and all his
gifts,Cort6swaitedfor a meeting
with Moctezuma.
ffi
How did DofraMarinahelp
Cort6s?
(right)aded
asinterpreter
between
loia Marina
(above)
r"lemando
C0rt6s
andModezuma.
l3l
CONQUESTOF THE AZTEC
Moctezumadid not understandthe
Cort€seasilytook the emperor
Spaniards.
pdsonerand gainedcontrol ofhis capital
The Aztec roseup in fury They attacked
the empero/spalaceand drovethe Spanish out of thet city. Dudng the fighting,
Moctezumawaskilled.
Cortesretreatedto tlle eastand gatheredmore troops.In 1521,his new army
atracked$e ciry A youngman named
I
Cuauhtemoc (kwahTAYmahk) had been
electedruler ofthe Aztec.He led them in
a desperatebattlefor the city ofTenochtitldn.Themanyenemiesof fie Aztec
and their
TheSpaniards
helpedCort6s.
Indian alliesclosedoff all the entrances
to the city.No food or watercould reach
The sufferinginside
the Aztecdefenders.
the city wasterrible,OneAztecremembered:
[m]anydiedof hunger.. . The
peopleqte canything-lizards, bar n
swallows,corn leaues,sqltgrass.They
gnawed.. . leathera.ndbuckskin,
cookedor toasted;or . . . adobebricks.
Neverhad suchsuffering beenseen.
The End of Tenochtitliin
After75 days,the city couldhold out
no longer,Cuauhtemocwas capturedand
Iaterkilled.The Spanishconquerors,or
conquistadors (kahn KEEStuh dohrz),
destroyedthe greatAztectemplesand
smashedthe statuesof their gods.They
alsoburnedall the Aztecsacredbooks.
Mexicoa colonyof Spain,
Theydecla-red
called New Spain.
The SecretAlly
How was a small a-rmyof Spaniards
ableto conquerthe mightyAztecempire?
Oneimportant reasonwastechnology.
The Spaniardshad steelweaponsand
gunpowder.The Aztecwarriorsfought
with woodenspearsand arows tipped
with shaJpstones,Theywereno match
for the Spanishweapons.
The SpaniardswerealsohelPedbY
their Indian allieswho supportedthe
Spanishagainstthe hatedAztec.
AnotherSpanishallywasinvisible.The
Spanishhf;b uknowingly brought new
to Mexicowith them.TheAztec
diseases
132
t,
t.
l,
'1,
1,
t.
.t lj. Whatadvantagewould fighting on
horsebackhaveoverfighting on foot?
I
:-: lto resistanceto these diseases.Many
:c \rrafiiors\ /ere too sick to fight.
, :cchtitldn could not be defeirded.
::l l o f t h e M a y a
r.iroutfive years after Tenochtitldn tell,
,nish soldiers headed southeastto
. Yucati4npeninsula to find Mayan
You read about the Maya in
-l:ures.
rpter 1. B]' this time the great Maya
lization had ended. However,Malra
-: ups still lived throughout theYucaten
.:rinsula.Their determined lighters and
.-krain forest envilonment helped
them defend parts of their land for 20
years.But by 1546the surviving Maya
feJ)under Spanishrule.
'lb the Maya'shoror the Spanish
burned their valuable collection of
books books that contained their
knoi{'ledgeofhistory, math, and science.
In one act much of Maya civilization
went up in smoke. Only three Mayan
books suNive today.
;{ t*
r
UtJ."
141i:
"r -
,
r'
i'
. r. r :
:.- .
:e
133
PIZARROCONQUERSTHE INCA
In 1531,a conquistadornamed FranciscoPizarro led 180Spanishsoldiers
againstanotherpowerfulIndianempire
This empirewaslocatedin SouthAmerica.It wasnamedfor its people,the Inca.
The Inca lived high in the Andes
Mountainsand ruled an empirethat
extendedftom present-dayColombia
to Chile.Their leaderwasnamed
Atahualpa (ah tuh HWAI Puh); he had
just won a war againsthis brotherwhen
the Spanishtroopsarrived,
PizarroreachedCajamarcain 1532.
Herehe metAtahualpain a greatsquare.
The Inca ruler wassurroundedby nobility and soldiers.However,the Spanish
werereadyfor them.In a surpdse
ambush,they massacred1,500of
Atahualpa'sfollowers and took the Inca
rr er prisoner.
Pi(du,
! TheIn(acityofMachu
was
in
the
Andes,
hioh
I
intgtl.
I diicovered
Atahualpa realizedthat the Spanish
desired gold. He reachedas high as he
could on the wall of a room. He offercd to
fill the room to that height with gold if
Pizarro would then releasehim. It was a
fatal mistake.Astonishingamounts of
gold poured into Atahualpa'spdson The
Spanishwatched greedily as golden
objects filled the room.
In the end, Pizarro broke his word and
murdered the Inca ruler, Then he and his
followers conquered Cuzco, the Inca
capitaland fie restof LheTncaEmpire.
Pizalfo'stroops had the same advantages
that Cortdshad in Mexico-steel
weapons,horses,and germs.
ffi
Why did Pizarrotravelto the
IncaEmpire?
PUTTINGIT TOGETHER
By 1535,Spainhad built one ofthe
world'slargestempires.It stretchedfrom
n of South
M e x jc olo t h es o u t h e r lip
America.Inca and Aztecgold and silver
pouredinto Spain.The Spanishauthorities organizedtheir new coloniesto make
Spainrich.Thi5causedmanychangesin
the way the peopleof the Americaslived.
@
lico Empn€
r, Alongwhichbody ofwater wasthe
lnca EmDirelocated?
how longwasthe
2. Approximately
lncaEmDirefrom northto south?
oftheland
thegoldandsilver
used
I TheSpanish
to
Mexi(o
andSouth
America
I ofpresent-day
I make
coins
andchains.
wor,
foreachvocabulary
1. Writea sentence
d[@
conquistadortribute
to defeat
2. Howdid Doia MarinahelpCortds
the Aztec?
Spanish
change ,.]
3. Howdidthearrivalofthe
I lifefor NativeAmericans?
4. WhydidAzteccultureandSpanish
culture
comeinto conflict?
ofthe Spanish
expe5. Whatwerethe<auses
Whatwerethe
ditionsto theAmericas?
effe<tsof theseexpeditions?
Lookat the mapon page129.Writea
whythe locaexplaining
fewsenLences
made
tionofTenochtitl6n it diffcultto
capture.
&.
Y. Suppose
thatyouareDonaMarina.
persuading
otherIndians
write a speech
again5t
theAztec.
tojoin Cort6s
135