On November 8, 1519, Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes, arrived in the sophisticated and advanced Aztec Empire, accompanied by 500 Spaniards and a great amount of native allies. Cortes's arrival in Tenochtitlan was welcomed by the congenial Aztec people, who mistakenly believed that Cortes was one of their gods, Quetzalcoatl, who was characterized by light skin, red hair, and light eyes (Marder). The Aztecs were willing to share all their wealth and happiness with the Spaniards. However, the Spaniards wanted the opposite of the Aztecs' desires of worshipping them and showering them with valuable offerings; they wanted to obliterate their beautiful land. After three years of brutal battles between the two contrasting cultures, Cortes successfully achieved victory because of the Aztecs' savage tribute system, the Spaniards' superior military and innovative weapons, as well as a widely spread disease. Because of the Aztecs' regular routine of a harsh tribute system, Cortes was able to victoriously defeat the Aztecs. To the Aztec people, the procedure of human sacrifice was extremely common. A historian in the field of the Aztec culture claims, "...the horror of human sacrifice highly motivated the Spaniards to conquer what they considered an evil culture"  (Cottrill). The Aztecs' brutal killings of innocent people made other surrounding people, such as the people of the powerful city of Tlaxcalan to join the Spaniards. Many of the Tlaxcalans were being sacrificed, therefore, desperately, wanting to stop this cruel ritual, the Tlaxcalans united with the Spanish, thus leading to a larger army which would help the Spanish significantly, to successfully conquer the Aztec Empire. Cortes himself was also disgusted at the idea of human sacrifice. "...Cortes would also have heard about other equally gruesome ritual practices, including the slashing open of the throats of infants, the beheading of young women, and the dressing of teenagers in recently flayed human skins" (p. 118, Levy), Levy describes. This culture shock that Cortes experienced allowed him to gain Indian allies as well as become respected among other Indian tribes that feared and opposed the Aztecs; many followed Cortes as they shared the same views on the concept of human sacrifice. Having more support on his side contrib