2. Hernan Cortes
• The first decade of the 16th Century, the
emperor Moctezuma II of the Aztecs thought
he was the master of the world. But the arrival
of Hernan Cortes changed everything because
the Spanish wanted a lot of what the Aztec
land had to offer. When the Spanish arrived,
Moctezuma sent his best sorcerers to bewitch
them. Moctezuma was unsure of what he was
supposed to do, greet the Spanish or attack
them. The Aztec enemies greeted the Spanish
with open arms because they say they had
strong firepower and soldiers. Cortez took the
offer and joined the angry Aztec enemies who
were ready for revenge.
3. Moctezuma
• Moctezuma, the Aztec Emperor of
Tenochtitlan for a long time did not know how
to welcome the Spanish, but after time he
welcome the new masters, and was betrayed.
Cortes was allowed in the Palace of Axayacatl,
and then Moctezuma and other lords were
immediately arrested and placed under guard.
Once they were arrested, the Aztecs were
going to celebrate a feast for their god, and
the Spanish saw it as an opportunity to
assemble the Aztec nobility and murder them.
It is said they killed ten thousand Aztecs,
including Moctezuma which is unsure who
killed him. The surviving Aztecs fought back
and eventually pushed them out, but not
forever. Eventually Cortes got help from other
tribes who hated the Aztecs, but they
wouldn’t have helped if they knew Cortes
would be planning on eliminating them too.
