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You are here: Home / History / When did the Spanish start conquering Mexico and the mainland part of the Americas?

When did the Spanish start conquering Mexico and the mainland part of the Americas?

February 13, 2020 by Karen Hill

Cuba and Puerto Rico were nice islands, but the Spanish had greater things in mind. They wanted a vast hoard of treasure, especially gold. They found it in Mexico.

In 1519, Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes (1485-1547) sailed to Mexico, where he came upon a civilization grander than any yet seen in the New World. The Aztecs, or Mexicas, had dominated Mexico since the fourteenth century.

By the time of Cortes, they ruled over a society of millions. The capital city, Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), was built on an island. Causeways linked it to the mainland, and canals and aqueducts watered it. Impressive pyramids honored the Aztec gods.

Aztec astronomers studied the stars. Artists made sculptures and recorded history in pictographs, or picture writing. Large numbers of commoners served a small ruling class. Captives, especially prisoners of war, were sacrificed regularly to the gods.

By 1521, Cortes had conquered the Aztec civilization. He did it by superior arms and by playing rival groups of Native Americans against each other, especially against their emperor, Montezuma (or Montezuma) II (c. 1466-1520).

The Aztec calendar stone is a complicated representation of all of time, from the world’s beginning to its end. In the center is the Sun God, surrounded by jaguars, wind, fire, and flood, which the Aztecs believed had ended the four earlier stages of the world. A band of twenty rectangles surrounds these symbols, and represents the twenty days of the thirteen Aztec months.

Numerous other symbols represent north, east, west, and south; precious stones; and other elements of the world and time.

Related Facts

  • What was the European Age of Exploration?
  • How did Aztec emperor Montezuma lose his empire in the Spanish conquest of Mexico?
  • Why didn’t Aztec emperor Montezuma attack Hernan Cortes’s men when they arrived?
  • How Was Tenochtitlan Founded and How Did the Aztecs Find the Eagle Perched On a Prickly Pear Cactus?
  • Why was Mexico valuable to Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Americas?
  • Who Was the Bearded White God of Mexico?

Filed Under: History

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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