The Aztecs ruled a large empire in Mexico until the arrival of Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes in 1519. Cortes led a small expedition that was received peacefully by the Aztec ruler Montezuma, but Cortes then launched a surprise attack, killing many Aztecs and capturing Montezuma. Without Montezuma to lead them, the Aztec empire quickly collapsed. European diseases also devastated the native population. Cortes declared himself ruler of Mexico and the surrounding lands, and he lived a life of great wealth while most native people were enslaved or died from disease.

1. PERSPECTIVES IN
HISTORY
The Aztecs of Central America and the Spanish Conquistadores

2. MEET THE AZTECS!
• Say “hi” everyone.
• Rulers of the largest empire in
the Americas at the time of first
contact. (1420s-1520s CE)
• Population: ~8 million, or the
same as New York City
• Empire size= 25 million

3. The Aztecs ruled over the
land with bountiful harvests,
intelligent warfare with rival
clans, massive cities, and
human sacrifices to keep the
gods happy.
(“A happy god is a pleasant
god” –Mr. Terry)
It’s cool, dude, you can have
the last slice…

4. MEET MONTEZUMA Say “hello” (don’t be rude.)
The leader of the Aztec Empire.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited
to:
• Establishing justice (laws) for his
people
• Keeping the Kool-Aid filled
• Punishing those who break laws
• Keeping the rival tribes in check
• Planning military tactics to win wars.
• Expanding his empire to new and
greater heights.
• Eating whole, live chickens.

5. IN ADDITION
Montezuma is also responsible for keeping the
gods happy. He does this by:
• Conducting human sacrifices
• Making fancy speeches
• Making offerings to the gods of gold,
food, slaves, clothing, tools.
Whenever anything goes wrong…:
• failed harvest, loss in war, dead babies, too
much wind, too little hunting, someone
spilled Kool-Aid on their Auntie’s rug, etc.
…It is Montezuma's fault for not keeping the
Gods happy.“A good king needs a good
loincloth.” -Montezuma

6. WHAT A JOB!!!

7.  Natives very spiritual
• Gods control everything from life,
death, food supply, animal
movements, wind, humans,
everything!
• When good or bad things happen,
the Gods did it.
• Gods are both good and bad and
need to be constantly tricked into
helping out humans.
 Montezuma's job is to trick the
Gods into helping the Aztecs.
WHAT GIVES???

8. WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT THIS
JOB??? EVERYTHING in the
empire is yours
PS4 and Ribs every night
That includes Beyoncé and
Alicia Keyes.
Infinite power
Everyone does what you
say because you are like a
god.

9. BUT GUESS WHAT???
Aztec Empire not doing so well
lately…
Weak harvests, weak hunting,
nearby tribes are fighting back an
awful lot.
Sad face
Montezuma tries his best to keep
the Gods happy by sacrificing
MORE people, dozens at a time,
but nothing improves.“Neeeeuuurrrrghaaaabuuuurg” –
man being sacrificed

10.  Reads about Aztec gods
 Finds out about Quetzacoatl
• KEHT-suh-quat-uhl
• Created the Aztec tribe,
gave them their land, and
left.
• Giant bird with big white
wings.
• Will return one day and
bring about heaven on
earth.
MONTEZUMA GOES ON WIKIPEDIA

11. FAITH = RESTORED
Montezuma gets on Twitter and
tells everyone about the return of
Quetzacoatl AND!!!! HE THINKS
HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHEN
THE GOD WILL RETURN!!!
ZOMG!!!
People are psyched! Like $5
Footlong psyched!
Since things are so bad, the god
must be returning!!!! Good News!!!
The Aztecs march down to the
ocean to wait for Quetzacoatl...
“#heavenonearth lololol” -
taken from Montezuma's
Twitter page

12. AND
THE GOD
SHOWS
UP

13.  “On giant wings of white”
 The god is accompanied by a bunch of
slaves clad in shiny metals.
 Brought demon-like animals
• Ride one giant demon into battle,
4-legged.
• The other lives in groups and
eats men whole!!!
 Superpowers!!!
• Destroy things from far away
with a puff of smoke
• Explosions, death, destruction.
 Montezuma invites Quetzacoatl into
the empire and gives him a tour “Buck-AW” -Quetzacoatl

14. THE GOLDEN CITY
• Quetzacoatl and his men are very
curious about their capital city at
Tenochtitlan.
• Holy city is an island in the center of a
lake
• Bridges extended to allow people to
enter and exit.
• Made of gold
• Jewels in the cities, golden houses,
golden objects
• Quetzacoatl and his servants interested
in the local women too...
• Hmmmm....
• Insists on staying inside the city at night

15.  Quetzacoatl and his servants use
their superpowers and demons to
slaughter the Aztecs in their sleep.
 Collect as much gold and valuables
as possible, make a quick escape.
 Enslave the Aztec people,
Moctezuma kidnapped and murdered.
!!!SURPRISE!!!
“Haduuuuken” –Montezuma's last words

16. THE NEW RULER
Quetzacoatl and his
servants rule the Americas
for years, forcing Aztecs
and other native tribes to
mine for gold in gold
mines, work on
plantations... But then
they almost all die of
disease.
“If you ever felt that YOU were ugly, just
take a look at Quetzacoatl here!“ –Mr. Terry
while ordering new pants online with no one
else in the room.

17. THE END
And they lived happily ever after

18. CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING
① What was America’s largest Native empire?
② Who was the Aztec ruler and what were some of his
responsibilities? What kinds of things would he be blamed for?
③ What are the Aztecs waiting for? What’s his name?
④ What does Quetzalcoatl bring with him when he lands?
⑤ What does Quetzalcoatl end up doing to the Aztec civilization?

19. MEET HERNAN CORTES
Sup!
Born in Spain 1485.
Wealthy life as a kid:
• Went to best schools
• Ate the finest foods
• Had servants
• Broke the law and never got in trouble.
• Dated Kim Kardashian (so that’s good)
But haven’t you ever thought to yourself, “Man,
harming people is cool and all, but isn’t there a
way to harm MILLIONS?”

20. HERNAN THE GREAT Was a teenager when heard of Columbus’
voyages to the New World and all the
riches, resources, people, and land.
Decided to himself that he would go and
see what this New World was all about.
Trained as a soldier for years.
Stole a ton of money from dad.
Jumped on the nearest boat.
Sailed to the Caribbean Islands held by
Spain (where Columbus landed, foo!)
“Bring plenty of turtlenecks!” –
Cortes to his servants

21. BRAVE NEW WORLD
Not much happening in the
Caribbean (Cuba)
Became treasurer for the voyage
through his connections (AKA
his Dad)
Worked his way up to “the guy
that assigns slave laborers to the
mines” (comes with a Bentley)
…but haven’t you ever thought
“I just KNOW there are millions
of pesos around here”?
somewhere!”
“Ouch” – Cortes after stabbing
himself in the foot for this picture

22. Kidnaps some Native boys and girls.
Tortures them.
Teaches them Spanish (his language).
Asks them over and over “where all tha
gold’s at”
Rumors of a “golden city” off to the
west, just over “that water” (points)
Told “NO” by governor but leads an
expedition into the mainland anyway
“in the name of Spain and God!”
“When your plan sounds like a Mr. Burns
plan, you are going to be successful!” Rule
#2 of Life.

23. MR. TERRY’S 5 RULES OF
LIFE
5. Unless you are Jay-Z, women are responsible for your problems.
4. If someone approaches you and says “hey, smell this” the answer is
always “no”
3. Being louder than someone means that you are right and they are
wrong.
2. When your plan sounds like a Mr. Burns plan, the you are going to be
successful.
1. Don’t drink urine(or if you are currently drinking urine, stop)

24. • 11 ships, 500 men, horses, war dogs
• Men that accompany him are mostly criminals and hardened
soldiers looking for riches.
• Crashes into the Mexican coast (full steam ahead)
• Attacked by local natives, fights them off easily with his guns and
warhorses
• Lets the dogs eat the surviving natives alive.
• Tears apart his ships to keep his soldiers from fleeing.
• Led his men inland in the direction of “all the gold”

25. Conquering America

26. MEET MOCTEZUMA
Encounters a great civilization called
the Aztec.
Aztecs observed their landing and
treated Cortes and Co. like GODS.
Amazed by their guns, armor, horses,
and dogs.
Lead them into their massive empire
and show them around.
“Of course I’m God! How else
would I follow you on Instagram?”

27. Escorted right into a city of
gold
Tenochtitlan- 8 million
people
“Can we crash on your
couch tonight INSIDE this
place?”
But haven’t you ever
thought, “Being a God is
great, but can’t I also own
everything?”
Cortes entering Tenochtitlan and
shaking hands with a broom.

28. SNEAK ATTACK
Conquistadores sleep in their armor,
wake up, murder everyone, kidnap
Montezuma
Steal everything that isn’t tied down or
made out of poop.
Escape and laugh like crazy.
Aztec Empire crumbles almost
overnight before 500 men with armor
and guns, natives die of smallpox
shortly after.
Never seen a horse before, never seen a
dog.
Huge advantages for the Spanish.“Should I kill this cat too?” -a soldier
confused about the rules

29. BUT THE GOOD GUYS
ALWAYS WIN, RIGHT?
Cortes and his men declare themselves
rulers of the Americas.
Enslave the entire population, send Natives
off to dig gold in mines.
Most die horribly.
Diseases from the Spanish kill nearly all the
Aztecs and up to 200 million people in the
Americas.
Cortes lives happily with more money than
anyone could ever count, hundreds of male
slaves and female “consorts”, and dies at the
ripe old age of 62 (like living to 150 today).
“All the money in the world is great and all… but
haven’t you ever wanted MORE?” –Cortes after
counting his bajillion gold pieces

30. “Don’t Drink the Water in Mexico”
The Mexican water is…unclean.
Lots of bacteria
Causes severe diarrhea to people who are not
used to it.
All the conquistadores were billionaires, but
ended up living with horrible diarrhea the rest of
their lives.
Locals call this “Montezuma's Revenge” since the
Spanish fooled and murdered him, and thought
that he was having his revenge from beyond the
grave.

31. CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING
1. What was Cortes’ childhood like?
2. Why did he want to go to the New World? What kind of jobs did he
have when in Cuba?
3. How does he find out about a golden city? What is his plan?
4. How is Cortes’ arrival different from the Montezuma perspective? In
what ways did Cortes seem to have perfect circumstances for invasion?
5. What does Cortes do to the Aztecs? What major advancements do
the Spanish have?
6. What happens to the Natives in America? How does this story end?