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Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs

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The Spanish were more advanced in terms of weapons which contributed to the success of the Spanish conquest on the Aztec Empire in the late 1500s. The trust the Aztecs gave to the Spanish conquistadors, the diseases brought to the Aztecs and understanding of Aztec culture also led to the Spanish conquistadors to a successful conquest. When Bernal Castillo and Cortes, along with their soldiers, first arrived to Mexico, they were greeted by Moctezuma (Document 4 and 6). Moctezuma told Cortes and Castillo that his people are good people and whatever they have heard should be considered as "jokes." (Document 4) Cortes answered "..enemies always tell lies about the people they hate . One can interpret that there is a distrustful relationship between the two parties. This document was written by Castillo and one of Cortes's soldier. You can interpret that they are suspicious with Moctezuma and his people. The document later explains how they plan to kidnap Moctezuma before he attacks them. This shows that Spanish conquistadors were able to act early. Document 5 depicts a meeting between Montezuma and Cortes, with Dona Marina as translator to help build a communication bridge. It seems as though they are trading goods in order to be kept on each others good side. The goods that the Spanish were receiving gave them an idea of what the Aztecs are reliant on. It may have given them ideas on how to conquer their empire. These two documents gave the Spanish an advantage to conquering the Aztec empire. An additional document that would be helpful to understand this is Montezuma's first personal reaction when the Spanish first arrived because we may learn if he personally thought that the Spanish were up to no good. I would like to learn if he saw the conquest coming and what plans he had, whether it be to destroy them or actually develop a friendly relationship with them. Another factor that contributed to the success of the Spanish conquest

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