The Collapse of The Aztecs
In 1521 a small force of Spanish soldiers, along with their Native American allies, overthrew the vast empire of the Aztecs in central Mexico. The collapse of the Aztec Empire has often been viewed as the opening chapter in the rise of Europeans on the world stage. However, the victory of the Spanish in central Mexico was not typical of the European encounters with civilized peoples in the 16th century. Indeed the victory of Spanish arms may have had less to do with Spanish power and technology than with the weakness of the Aztecs themselves.
In the description that follows, you should look for clues that help to explain the sudden collapse of this apparently mighty people.
Aztec Society
The pre-Columbian societies of Mexico ranged from simple tribal systems to fully urban civilizations like the Aztecs. The Aztecs originally came from northern Mexico, or from what is now Arizona or New Mexico, and moved south to central Mexico. There they constructed their capital city of Tenochtitlan.
As it developed, Aztec society became more rigidly divided into social classes. Political power and control over the land came to rest in a relatively few ruling families. Most of the people were farmers. Although their produce supported the aristocrats, priests and rulers, these common people had little to say about affairs of state. Indeed, by 1519 the farmers had declined in status to the level of serfs in medieval Europe.
Aztec Technology
When Hernando Cortes and his men entered Mexico it was almost as if they had stepped back in time to ancient Egypt. In technological terms, the people of Mexico were in the earliest stages of the Bronze Age. Although artisans knew how to use gold, silver, and copper, these metals were used only for ornaments. All tools were made of stone, wood, and bone.
By the 16th century, the Mexican peoples had developed a sophisticated agricultural technology. But they only had a few domesticated animals, including dogs and turkeys. There were no horses in the Americas at all, and the people of Mexico had no other beast of burden.
While the Aztecs and their predecessors in Central America had constructed brilliant and complex civilizations, they had done so with virtually no mechanical help. The Aztecs did not use the wheel for transport. They had no labor-saving devices such as cranes, watermills, windmills, and pulleys or the like. They generally relied on human muscle power to do work and to transport people and goods.
The Aztec Empire
The Aztec Empire covered much of central Mexico. Around 1427 AD, the Aztecs began to conquer the peoples around them. By 1502 their empire stretched throughout central Mexico south to the border of present-day Guatemala. Thus, when Europeans entered the scene, the Aztec Empire was relatively young. Many of Mexico’s peoples accepted its rule only reluctantly.
Perhaps because it was relatively young, the empire of the Aztecs had only the most basic administrative structure. The emperor, called “Great Speaker,” was a semi-divine ruler who lived in an elaborate palace complex surrounded by extraordinary wealth. The palace housed the emperor’s servants and the people who managed the everyday functions of the state.
The functions of the state included the collection of tribute, or payments, from subject peoples. Once conquered, subject peoples had to pay tribute or suffer military reprisal. Garrisons with governors were set up to insure the prompt collection of goods and their safe transport to the capital. But that was the extent of imperial administration. There were no standard laws, no concept of citizenship. People simply paid tribute to a godlike Aztec emperor.
Tribute and warfare
The Aztecs collected such things as cacao beans, deer hides, conch shells, feathers and bolts of cotton cloth as tribute from subject peoples. Some of the tribute was kept by the imperial court. The rest was used to pay the emperor’s artisans and warriors. It was this tribute that kept the empire operating.
But the Aztecs demanded another form of tribute from subject people as well: victims for their human sacrifices. The chief Aztec god, Huitzilopochtli (literally “Humming-bird-of-the-south”) was a sun deity who needed fresh human hearts to insure that he rose every day. In a gruesome ritual, victims were taken to the top of temple pyramids and stretched out on a stone altar. Their chests were cut open by priests. Their living hearts were torn out and burnt for the gods while the body was flayed and decapitated. When Cortes and his men entered Tenochtitlan they saw a huge skull rack in the city center holding the skulls of as many as 100,000 victims. Yet, the victims believed their deaths were glorious because their souls went directly to the sun god’s paradise.
The key to keeping the tribute flowing into the Aztec capital was the army. Aztec warriors gloried in war. Splendidly costumed and armed with spears, darts, and clubs set with razor-sharp stone blades, Aztec troops were the terror of ancient Mexico.
While awesome and powerful, Aztec armies and warfare were not designed to kill the enemy. Because of the need for human sacrifices, Aztec soldiers routinely tried to capture their opponents. This view of war and battle contrasted sharply with the Spanish soldiers who accompanied Cortes. They were hardened by long years of fighting in Europe. For them warfare was not a ritual event but a deadly affair.
Other Aztec Religious Ideas
The Aztecs had a rich religious life and mythology. The Aztecs, like other Central American peoples, kept careful observations and records of the calendar. It was believed that critical events occurred on certain days and in certain cycles of years. By keeping track of the calendar, the Aztec priests could foretell the future.
Similarly, a key figure in Aztec myths was the god of life and death, Quetzalcoatl (literally the “Feathered Serpent”). According to one Aztec myth, the white-skinned Quetzalcoatl was to appear on a certain day in the east. When he did, he would destroy the Aztec civilization.
On the day that Aztec legend predicted Quetzalcoatl’s return, Cortés and his army landed at Vera Cruz on the eastern coast of Mexico.
The Spanish Conquest of Mexico
Hernando Cortés was a soldier of fortune who had taken part in the conquest of Cuba. A clever and resourceful leader, Cortés was chosen to lead an expedition to Mexico to investigate stories of a rich civilization there.
Cortés landed in Mexico in March, 1519 with some 600 men, thirteen horses, and a few cannon and muskets. The sailing ships, iron tools, horses, body armor and gun-powder weapons of the Spanish immediately impressed the local people around Vera Cruz. They saw the Spaniards as a way to break free from the hated Aztec rule. For his part, Cortés realized that these people could be useful allies. He relied on them throughout his campaign. It was an allied force of Spaniards and native Mexicans which set out for the Aztec capital.
Meanwhile, messengers arrived at Tenochtilán with news of strange events in the east. A mountain was said to have moved on the water. From it there emerged men with white faces and long beards. The emperor, Montezuma, unlike any of his predecessors, was more interested in religion than in war. In dreams he had seen the return of Quetzalcoatl. He had dreamed of strange men riding on the backs of deer. The emperor clearly believed Cortés to be the god returned to destroy Mexico.
When Cortés and his men first saw the Aztec capital they were amazed by the sight. The city that lay before them contained about a quarter of a million people, more than double the largest city of Europe. Built on artificial islands in Lake Texcoco, the city covered almost five square miles. In the city, the Spanish could see huge markets into which goods from all over Mexico flowed. Even more impressive were the massive stone pyramid-temples, the largest of which was 120 feet tall. Temples, palaces, ceremonial ballcourts, and other public buildings, each covered with elaborate carvings of gods and heroes, dominated the city’s center.
When the Spanish arrived outside his capital, Montezuma welcomed them. He showered Cortés with rich gifts. The semi-divine ruler of the Aztec Empire did nothing to prevent Cortés from taking him hostage.
It did not take other Aztec leaders long, however, to realize that the Spaniards were greedy men, not mighty gods. Gathering their forces the Aztecs assaulted the Spanish, killing about one-third of them. Cortés and the rest of his force barely escaped from the city with their lives, although they managed to drag away eight tons of gold. Montezuma was killed in the fighting.
In the summer of 1521 Cortés returned to the Aztec capital with a force of 800 Spaniards newly arrived from Cuba and about 25,000 native Mexicans. Cortés built small ships, mounted cannon on them, and sent them out into the lake to surround the city. With no escape, the starving defenders fought their final battle on August 13, 1521. More than 15,000 Aztec defenders lost their lives on that day. The conquerors tore down what remained of the broken city.
Today Mexico City stands upon the ruins of the Aztec capital. The city’s main cathedral is located right next to the site of the Aztec pyramid temple where so many sacrificial victims perished.
Directions: Respond to the following questions using complete sentences.
1. Explain the social class structure of the Aztecs.
2. Compare the level of technology that existed between the Aztecs and the Spanish.
3. Describe the Aztec administrative and legal system for ruling their empire?
4. Describe Aztec relations with their subject peoples.
5. What was the Quetzalcoatl myth? How did it influence events in Mexico’s history?
6. Why was warfare a “ritual event” for the Aztecs?
7. How did Montezuma treat Cortés and the Spaniards when they appeared at the Aztec capital?
8. Decide the extent to which each factor contributed to the collapse of the Aztecs. Do this by reordering the list below from 1 to 7 with 1 being the factor that contributed most to the collapse and 7 being the factor that contributed the least. Be prepared to defend your ranking in class.
a. Social Inequality 1.
b. Level of Technology 2.
c. Limited Imperial Government 3.
d. Relations with Subject Peoples 4.
e. Quetzalcoatl Myth 5.
f. Approach to War 6.
g. Montezuma’s Attitude Toward Cortés 7.