Hernan Cortes

– Reasons For Success Essay, Research Paper

Why was Cortes with 508 soldiers able to conquer the Aztec Empire with millions of people.Cortes was able to conquer the Aztecs for several very different reasons. In combination these reasons allowed him to have the upper hand in the conquest of Mexico. Arguably these reasons can be sorted into six different categories. The various causes for Cortes. success will be assessed in a climax pattern. To begin with the Aztecs had a harsh tribute system that was not popular among the people of Mexico. This cruel tribute system allowed Cortes to act as a liberator. Furthermore, with the Spanish brought several diseases into Mexico in witch they were immune to but the Aztecs were not. The spread of diseases such as small pox reduced the Aztec population and furthered Cortes. success unintentionally Also Marina was a tribal girl given as a gift to Cortes, she proved invaluable in translating local dialects in combination with Geronimo de Aguilar. Also an important aspect of his success was due to Montezuma.s belief that Cortes was Quetzakoatl. A predominant reason for the Spanish success was due to their weaponry especially their armour and firepower. Perhaps the most important reason of all was that of Cortes. Indian allies such as the Tlaxcalans who made up the majority of his combined army. All these reasons worked together to allow Cortes, originally with 508 men to conquer the Aztec Empire of millions of people.

To begin with, the Aztec.s cruel tribute system allowed Cortes to act as a liberator. The process of human sacrifice was extremely common and was feared by the majority of the common people. The Aztecs as a nourishment for the Sun and all other gods needed human sacrifice. The Aztecs sacrificed between 10,000 and 50,000 victims per year. As the majority of those who were sacrificed were war captives who opposed the Aztecs, they obviously greatly feared the brutal tribute system. However not only war captives were sacrifices, common adults and children were also sacrificed at times. Cortes himself was disgusted at the thought of human sacrifice, this allowed him to gain Indian allies as well as gain respect among Mexican tribes that feared and opposed the Aztecs. The majority of the population feared the process therefore making Cortes, whom despised the process, an appealing alternative. Many followed Cortes as they shared the same views on the .human sacrifice. topic. Because Cortes posed to eliminate the Aztecs it allowed him to appear as a liberator of the tyranny of the Aztec rule.

Secondly, a relatively minor cause for Cortes. success was the issue of disease among the Aztecs. Although this was a fairly feeble reason it actually greatly benefited the Spanish in reducing the Aztec population. The Spanish brought smallpox to Mexico, said to be linked to an infected slave arriving from Spanish Cuba, which caused great suffering to the Aztecs. The Spanish were immune to the disease so it posed no threat to Cortes. own men. The Aztecs were demoralized by the mysterious illness that killed Indians and spared Spaniards, as if advertising the Spaniards. invincibility. One negative aspect for Cortes however was that his Indian allies suffered from the disease to the same extent as the Aztecs, resulting in considerable losses. Smallpox stopped the Aztecs from pursuing the Spanish around the lake after the Noche Triste. Another example where disease benefited the Spanish was the fact that when they landed in 1514, Mexico had a population of 25.2 million. Then 80 years later at the end of the sixteenth century the population of Mexico had dropped by 95% to just over one million. As we can see disease played a small yet unintentionally effective role in contributing to Cortes. success.

Thirdly, another reason that enabled him to conquer the empire was his translators, namely Marina and Geronimo de Aguilar. After a short warring period with the tabascans they exchanged gifts with one and other. One of these presents was a Mexican girl called Marina (or Malinche) who was a tremendous asset to the Spanish. Marina knew the language of Coatzacoalcos, which was the most common throughout Mexico. She also knew the language of the Tabascans, and perhaps the most useful of all she knew Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs themselves. Another important role was that of Geronimo de Aguilar who had been shipwrecked there in Mexico in 1511. He was intelligent and well educated and picked up on much of the local dialects. In combination Marina and Aguilar were extremely useful to Cortes. The translation process worked in two stages, firstly Marina translated the local language into a form that Aguilar could understand, then secondly Aguilar translated it into Spanish for Cortes. Marina was very intelligent later learning Spanish herself as well as bearing one of Cortes. children. Marina proved herself to be invaluable in helping Cortes recover from confrontations with the Aztecs and other opposing tribes. She also was important in helping Cortes gain Indian allies as she could explain what Cortes could do for them. Marina greatly helped Cortes in his conquest of the Mexican Empire.

Fourthly, Montezuma believed Cortes to be the great god Quetzakoatl who was returning to take back the Aztec empire. What benefited Cortes in this case was the confusion surrounding Montezuma whether or not Cortes was really the great god. Th