Aztec capital island8/4/2023 He got it in the form of a smallpox epidemic that gradually spread inward from the coast of Mexico and decimated the densely populated city of Tenochtitlan in 1520, reducing its population by 40 percent in a single year. Cortés’s microscopic secret weaponĪlthough Cortés was a skilled leader, he and his force of perhaps a thousand Spaniards and indigenous allies would not have been able to overcome a city of 200,000 without help. His ally in this fight was the European germs he and his men unwittingly brought with them. It took Cortés two years, but he finally conquered the Aztec capital in August 1521. Though vastly outnumbered, he and a small force marched on Tenochtitlan, where Montezuma received them with honor. Photo By Jan Karel Donatus Van Beecqĭiscovering widespread resentment toward the capital city and its ruler, Cortés formed alliances with many locals. Through a system of conquest and tribute, the Aztecs had established the great island city of Tenochtitlan in Lake Texcoco that ruled over an area of about 80,000 square miles.Ī 17th-century copper plate of Tenochtitlan. This region was home to the Aztec civilization, an empire of an estimated 16 million people at this time. When his small fleet landed, he ordered his ships scuttled, eliminating any possibility of retreat and conveying the depth of his resolve.Ĭortés with his 500 men then headed into the Mexican interior. Conquest of the Aztec empireĪfter helping conquer Cuba for the Spanish, Cortés was commissioned to lead an expedition to the mainland. Spanish weaponry and tactics played a role, but most of the destruction was wrought by epidemics of European diseases. Within just two years, Aztec ruler Montezuma was dead, the capital city of Tenochtitlan was captured and Cortés had claimed the Aztec empire for Spain. And some widespread infectious diseases have profoundly changed the course of human history.įive hundred years ago, in February of 1519, the Spaniard Hernán Cortés set sail from Cuba to explore and colonize Aztec civilization in the Mexican interior. The Democratic Republic of Congo is fighting a deadly outbreak of Ebola that has killed hundreds.Įpidemics are nothing new, of course. have drawn attention to the dangers of measles.
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