1. A Deadly Meeting

2. Vocab! Nahuatl- Language spoken by the Aztecs
Mayan- Language spoken by the Maya People
Smallpox- epidemic that killed 25% of the Aztec population.
Epidemic- A disease that spreads rapidly and affects many individuals at the same time
Flower War- Ritual battles with neighbours that aimed at getting victims to sacrifice to the Aztec gods.

3. Totonacs- Invited Cortes to their capital city, and complained about the tribute the Aztecs collected. Cortes gave them protection in exchange for warriors
Tlaxcalans- Fought the Spanish, but the Spanish soldiers held them off and offered to make peace. Tlaxcalans agreed and added 1000 of their own soldiers to the Spanish forces.
Cholulans- Loyal allies to the Aztecs. Spanish conquered the Cholulan people

4. Moctezuma- Leader of the Aztec people. He was the Emperor
Conquistador- the word that the Spanish used to describe the leader of an expedition to colonize other lands
Malinche- Tabascan slave who was given to the Spanish. She gave Cortes the key he needed to overcome the Aztec Empire. She was Cortes’ advisor and spy.
Dona Marina- Name given to Malinche

5. Musket- long, rifle-like guns that were fired from the shoulder
Intermediary- someone who acts as a go-between or mediator between two people or groups of people
Indigenous- Someone born in a country, the first inhabitants of an area
Hernan Cortes- The man who lead the Spanish troops toward Moctezuma and the Aztecs. He embodied the Spanish worldview of his time.

6. Cortes, the Conquistador
Cortes was leading the Spanish troops toward Moctezuma and the Aztecs
Cortes was an adventurous and ambitious young man. He had heard people talking about Gold Columbus brought back from the Caribbean.
Cortes, intrigued by this, set sail for what was known as the “New World”
Cortes embodied the Spanish worldview, he wanted to confront and eventually conquer the Aztec peoples.

7. When Cortes arrived in the Caribbean, he was given a large farm by the governor.
His reply to this was “ But I came to get gold, not to till land like a peasant”
What does this comment reveal about his worldview?
Later on, Cortes joined an expedition to conquer Cuba. With 300 men, the Spanish conquered Cuba using their usual formula

8. Conquistador’s Formula
1. An expedition would set out from a recent colony
2. After landing in a new region, the Spanish would try to meet peacefully with the first groups of Indigenous people they encoutered. Their aim was to discover which group in the area was the most powerful
3. The Spanish would invite the leader of that powerful group to a meeting to exchange gifts. Then the Spanish would seize the leader and threaten to kill him unless his followers obeyed their orders.

9. 4. If they did have to fight, the Spanish would try to do so on open ground. Their horses, armour and weapons gave them a huge advantage
5. The leader of the expedition would remain as governor of the new colony and his second-command would organize the next expedition. The indigenous peoples would be forced into slavery

10. Cortes in Cuba
He remained in Cuba, second in command to Governor Velazquez. After eight years, he grew restless again.
He wanted to learn more about the Yucatan Peninsula
Expeditions were sent out by Velazquez to learn more about the area. This caused great intrigue.
Cortes got Velazquez to help finance the exploration. Cortes now had to rally his army.

11. Last Minute Change of Heart
Just as Cortes was setting sail, Velazquez arrived and tried to cancel the expedition. He was worried that Cortes would get all the glory for his discoveries and not recognize his authority over the new lands Cortes might conquer.
Cortes paid no attention to this and continued on his way.

12. Homework
Reading Guide A =) :D  (=

13. Unequal Fight
Spanish had a GREAT weaponry advantage over anyone they tried to conquer.
This would be no different with the Aztecs.
Many of the weapons the Spanish had were foreign to the Aztecs.
These weapons served as an important source for intimidation

14. The Role of Disease
In the conflict between the Aztecs and the Spanish, disease gave the Spanish the advantage.
A smallpox epidemic broke out in Tenochtitlan, killing vast numbers of Aztecs and weakening their ability to resist the Spanish assault.

15. Spanish Strategy
After establishing his colony on the coast, Cortes decided that it was time to march to the heart of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan.
On the way, he and his army encountered a number of other Indigenous peoples. Before Cortes could proceed, he needed to either befriend or conquer these people.

16. Using an Intermediary
When Cortes’ forces defeated the Tabascan people, they received gifts of food, clothing, gold, and slaves. One of the slaves was a young woman named Malinche
Cortes needed someone to act as an intermediary, that is, a link, between him and Moctezuma. Malinche coud speak both Mayan and Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. In a short period, she learned to speak Spanish as well.

17. Malinche
She converted to Christianity and afterward was known as Dona Marina. She became Cortes’s advisor and spy.
Without her, Cortes could not have succeeded.

18. The March to Tenochtitlan
Cortes continued on his march, each group he met viewed the arrival of the Spanish differently, so he was forced to constantly adapt his strategy.
The Totonacs invited Cortes to Zempoala, their capital city, and complained about the tribute the Aztecs collected. Cortes agreed to give them protection from the Aztecs in exchange for warriors.

19. The Tlaxcalans fought the Spanish, but the Spanish soldiers held them off and offered to make peace. The Tlaxcalans agreed, and added 1000 of their own soldiers to the Spanish Forces.
The Cholulans were loyal allies of the Aztecs. Malinche overheard a conspiracy to attack the Spanish and she alerted Cortes. As a result, the Spanish conquered the Cholulan people.

20. Battle for Tenochtitlan
Cortes and his forces were taken to live in the palace of Moctezuma’s late father. Then the Aztecs showed them the glories of their city.
The wealth in Tenochtitlan, along with the Spanish desire to lead this mighty society, finally caused Cortes to attack.
The Spanish placed Moctezuma under house arrest in his palace. They looted gold from the royal palaces and melted it down.

21. Velazquez sent troops to arrest Cortes which forces Cortes to leave Tenochtitlan to deal with this threat.
Cortes defeated Velazquez’s forces and convinced them to join him in the fight against the Aztecs. When Cortes came back to Tenochtitlan, it was in an uproar.
Cortes forced Moctezuma to speak to his people to calm them. However, they responded by throwing stones at their Emperor.
Shortly after Moctezuma died, either from injuries from the stones or from being strangled by the Spanish.

22. The Aztecs attacked the Spanish and their allies, killed many of them, and drove the rest out of Tenochtitlan
By the time Cortes returned to Tenochtitlan with a stronger force, the smallpox epidemic had killed off 25% of the Aztec population.
After a siege of about 80 days, the Spanish tore down the city as they captured it. The Aztec empire had ceased to exist, its it’s place, Cortes would lay the foundations for another Spanish colony in the Americas.