2. Mesoamerican Conquistadors in the 16thcentury Hernancortes led the conquistadors into the Aztec empire. Aztecs were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico. Montezuma (their king) believed Cortez was the reincarnation of their god Quetzalcoatl. Quetzalcoatl (also Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli) (quetzal-feathered serpent) was the creator god and patron of rulership, priests and merchants. Associated with Ehecatl as the divine wind Cortes’ conquests were only as successful as they came to be because of the help from disease, more advanced weaponry, and because he obtained very large armies. The natives also worked in the Spaniards favor greatly.
3. Native Help and support The native people also helped conquer their own people. The conquistadors made the conquest possible but indiantribes contributed warriors to the Spanish armies. Up to 40,000 indigenous warriors took part in battle for the Spanish. The natives served the Spanish by guiding them around, translating, scouting, spying,cooking, porting and they were used as messengers. Porters were the ones that carried sick and wounded from the battle field and during marches. The Spanish took all the credit for the conquest but it would have never been possible without the support and help from the native Indians. The natives took care of all the sick and wounded. The Spaniard’s native allies outnumbered their main force at about 5:1 or more. The Spanish also took some native soldiers to other countries to help conquer.
4. Cortes’s Pattern of Conquest Cortez’s conquest strategy composed of repeating the same thing over and over. When Cortez conquered a new city he would use it as a spring board for his next attack. He would then pray on the local people and intimidate them to keep them under his control.
5. Fading of Believes The idea of the Spanish conquest in America was that the Spaniards had completely overpowered the natives without help from anyone. This idea was popular but it began to fade when questions were asked and there were no satisfactory answers. The new idea is that it was from disease, native disunity, and metal weapons that helped the Spaniards conquer the Americas.
