FREE ESSAY ON THE FALL OF THE AZTEC AND INCA EMPIRES

THE FALL OF THE AZTEC AND INCA EMPIRES

In this essay I will tell how the Aztec and Inca empires ended, and also I will compare
the fall of both empires, using for a point of departure the arrival of the Spanish
conquistadors in the land of Mexico. Wherever the Spanish went always the same thing
happened, from my point of view. Innocent people were killed for no good reason, cities
were massacred, civilizations were destroyed or forced to convert to Christianity. And
so, I think now is the time to reevaluate the actions of the European explorers who
subjugated the native American peoples and their civilizations. Undoubtedly the most
glorified and heroically portrayed of these figures of the European conquest of the New
World were the conquistadors, the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16-th
century. These men, under leaders such as Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizzaro nearly
eliminated the Aztec and Inca peoples. Surely many of these soldiers were extremely cruel
and intolerant of the native populations. But it is important to consider, with the push
of both sides toward territorial expansion, how these groups (European and American)
could remain isolated from each other. Furthermore, with meeting of these two imperialist
cultures, it must be considered whether it would be possible for the two to peacefully
coexist. 
From the point of view of what we know today it seems impossible that Europe could have
remained completely ignorant until the XVI century with respect a civilization that by
then had existed in Mexico for more than one thousand five hundred years. Equally
astonishing is the indifference that the conquerors showed towards the universe that by
pure luck crossed their path. Nothing shows the attitude Cortes had - attitude that he
kept util the end of the conquest - better than the gift he made to the Aztec chiefs:
even though his wonder upon discovering signs of a great cultural refinement, he did not
doubt for even one moment that he was in the presence of a barbarian people, interesting
only because it was amazingly rich. None of his written memoirs show the slightest wish
to understand the Indians; in reality, he condemned them before having known them even in
the most superficial manner. 
By the time when Moctezuma II, the last Aztec emperor (also known as Montezuma or
Motecuhzoma), became king in 1502 the city of Tenochtitlan, together with its neighbor
Tlatelolco, counted with more than 60 000 houses and had a population over 300 000
inhabitants; in other words it had a size 5 times than London in the times of Henry VIII.
Throughout the first seventeen years of Moctezuma's reign, the empire was plagued with
constant uprisings of peoples who had been harshly subjugated by the Aztecs and wished to
escape the tributes required of them. Moctezuma had left the consolidation of the empire
up to his generals while he devoted his time to wordily pleasures and religious duties in
Tenochtitlan. 
Across the Atlantic Ocean, another great empire had recently accomplished s consolidation
of its own. Spain had successfully completed the Reconquista. I think that to better
understand the reasons for the conquest of Mexico and the elimination of its
civilizations we should mention the process of the settlement of New Spain. Finding a
solid Muslim wall to the south, in Northern Africa and the powerful French kingdom to the
north, the only direction that the Spanish saw in which to expand was to the west. The
popes had intentionally given sovereignity over any new lands discovered to Portuguese;
but with advent of Columbus' discovery, the Spanish wished to end this legacy of
Portuguese favoritism in the Vatican. The new pope, Alexander VI, issued a series of four
bulls that established the papacy as an adamantly pro-Spanish power. These bulls gave the
Spanish title to Columbus' discoveries and any non-Christian western lands discovered as
long as the native populations were converted to Christianity. 
With Spanish control of the Carribean and Gulf of Mexico assured, Spain proceeded to
colonize the islands in the area, converting the islanders as they went and often
massacring whole populations purposely or accidentally killing them by transmitting
European diseases. The main goals in the expansion were to Christianize the Indians (as
dictated by the pope), to gain trading power, and of course, to acquire the great mineral
wealth of the Americas. This mineral wealth included vast amounts of gold and silver ore.
The Spanish nation, mostly catholic and very much expansionist, looked with great greed
towards the new discovered lands. 
In the year of 1511, the Spaniards invaded and subjugated the island of Cuba. Cortes was
among the conquerors. When Fernando and Isabel died, the throne of Spain passed on to
Carlos V, who later reigned also as emperor of Austria, Germany, Luxemburg, the
Netherlands, and part of Borgona. With great precaution, he authorized Cortes to explore
but not to conquest. The instructions of the king, though, included a clause by which
Cortes, in cases of trouble, could take the actions that would best suit to the service
of Our Lord God. The clever Cortes later interpreted these words in his own way, adapting
them to his own purpose.
Cortes's fleet landed at what is now Vera Cruz on April 21, 1519. Eight months later he
had already he had already reached the heart of the Aztec world - the great city of
Tenochtitlan - where he had been received as a guest of honor. In the mean time he was
informed that many vassal kings, who owed allegiance to the emperor Moctezuma, secretly
detested him, and would readily support anyone who might help them throw off the hated
Aztec yoke. 
The march of Cortes through Mexican lands can be explained mainly, according to Laurette
Sejourne, by the undoubted talent that Cortes had for intrigue and betrayal, what allowed
him to rapidly orient himself in the laberint of Mexican politics , little after his
arrival after his arrival, he discovered that resentment and rebellion were very present
among the tribes that were subjugated to the domination of Moctezuma, and immediately
formed military alliances that made possible his astonishing victories. And an
unbreakable will, that did not stop before murders or mass killings, he accomplished
everything else. (Burning Water). 
After months of fighting Cortes ordered a full-scale assault of the city. At the same
time in the Aztec capital, a smallpox epidemic began that killed or immobilized much of
the population. The captain-general appealed to the emperor (who was Cuahtemoc by this
time) to surrender. Everywhere he went with his army they left a trail of destruction -
burned or pulled-down homes and temples - regardless of whether or not there were wounded
men, women, or children inside. But the Aztec king refused to leave the city in the hands
of the Spaniards. He asked to be killed, and Cortes pardoned him. This lack of
understanding for each other's culture is one sign that there would have been no way for
the two empires to have an equal existence. The Spaniards' disgust with the barbaric
rites of the Aztecs gave them an excuse to force the Aztecs (and later the rest of the
Mexicans) down into the lowest echelons of the new Hispanic society. But it should be
considered that while human sacrifice is surely barbaric, enslaving peoples is hardly a
sign of being civilized. He had the advantage of his fanatic catholic missionary zeal
that served him as a justification to exploit the Mexicans, supported mainly the Aztec
customs of performing human sacrifices and practicing cannibalism. These customs offend
the sensibilities of the 20-th century but have different impact when they were committed
in Europe at the time when Cortes invaded Mexico. 
The conquerors banished the Aztecs from their city and began to clear it. Around half
million people were killed. The Aztec homes were torn down and new homes for the
conquistadors were built by reluctant Mexican laborers. It is ironic that very little
gold was found in the city as compared to what was expected. And so, in the year of 1525,
the Aztec world had its end. 
The Inca history, from their mythical beginning ca. 1200 AD, was dominated by constant
territorial expansion. As told in the origin stories, the founder of the Inca dynasty and
its capital Cuzco, was Manco Capac. For centuries after his reign the kingdom was
expanding by conquering more territory. But in the early 1500's something unusual
happened. The current Inca emperor Huayna Capac, who extended Inca control of the lands
as far as present-day Argentina, died suddenly in 1527 AD. It is likely that he died of
smallpox or another such disease. And his sudden death left the question of succession
unsettled, leading to a struggle between two of his sons, that later became a civil war.

Unfortunately for Atahuallpa Inca, who seemed to have gained the advantage over his
brother Huascar in the struggle to become emperor, the Spaniards arrived at exactly the
wrong time. Francisco Pizzaro, fuelled by Cortes's success in conquering the Aztecs and
acquiring riches in Mexico, determined to go south to a land where stories told of a
great kingdom of a fabulous wealth. After two preliminary excursions, Francisco Pizzaro,
with 168 Spaniards and a number of horses, arrived in Inca territory in May, 1532.
Atahuallpa was informed that some strangers were waiting to meet him, but he was more
concerned about consolidating his power. This leaded to his capture by Pizzaro a few
months later. In return for his life he offered Pizzaro gold, but after receiving the
gold Pizzaro executed him in July 26, 1533. 
By being in the right place at exactly the right time, and by being ruthless and
deceitful, Francisco Pizzaro was able to quickly capture the ruler of the Incas, throw
the empire into disarray, and rapidly gain wealth through Atahuallpa's ransom. With the
fall of the Inca empire, Pizzaro and his associates brought to end the most powerful
native state in the New World, whose institutions represented thousands of years of
indigenous cultural developments. The Incas cannot be considered to have been benevolent
masters by any means, but the abuses and exploration suffered by the native peoples under
Spanish rule were far worse.
The key to the Spanish conquest of Mexico was the dissension among the different peoples
in both empires. The Indian overlords made no attempts to assimilate the other cultures
to their own and thus provided the basis for a full scale revolt against them. With
diligent work by missionaries, the Spaniards tried to bring together the people of
present-day Mexico and the southwestern United States by converting them to Christianity.
The resulting extension of the Spanish empire, New Spain, was the most strongly united of
the American empires for years to come. 
Works Cited:
Sejourne, Laurette. Burning Water.
Kishlansky, Mark A. Sources of World History. An Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico
(1528).
Kishlansky, Mark A. Sources of World History. Cobo, Bernabe. History of the Inca Empire
(1653). 
Palfrey, Dale Hoyte. The Settlement of New Spain. Mexico's Colonial Era - part I.
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/dpalfrey/dpcolonial1.html