Geographic features influencing Spanish conquests

Learning focus

* describe how geographic features influenced Spanish conquest of the Aztecs.

PART A

Key points

* The Aztec Empire in Mexico was far from Europe. Spanish ships allowed them to travel the vast distance to the Americas.

* Tenochtitlan was located in the middle of Lake Texcoco. This made it difficult for the Spanish to storm the city but also made it easy to put the city under siege.

* The Aztec empire was vast - it's total area was 2,072, 550 sq m. The small number of Spanish conquistadors needed allies to defeat an empire of this size. The Aztecs harsh treatment of conquered tribes meant the Spanish were able to form alliances with tribes who opposed human sacrifice and the tribute (tax) system of the Aztecs.

* Lake Texcoco comprised of dark, brackish (a large amount of salt in the water) water.

* Tenochtitlan was located in a mountain rimmed basin called the Valley of Mexico. It was located about 2240 m above sea level.

* The geographical features of the Aztec Empire included:

a. swamp

b. desert

c. tropical lowland jungle

d. high alpine vegetation in the mountains

SOURCE A

SOURCE B