The Aztec War

Steel, Guns, Horses, and Disease

The Spanish defeated the Aztecs in 1521 with steel, guns, horses, and disease.

The Aztecs were the most powerful Native American group in North America.

After the war, the Spanish captured great wealth among the Aztecs.

The Aztecs lived in what is now Mexico.

Hernando Cortés

Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who landed in Mexico in 1519.

Cortés wanted to conquer the Aztecs and capture their riches.

Allies

Cortés made allies with the Tlaxcalan natives who were enemies of the Aztecs.

Tenochtitlan

When Cortés arrived on horseback at the capital of Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs welcomed them because the Aztecs thought the Spanish were gods.

Montezuma

Cortés and his men captured the Aztec emperor Montezuma the 2nd and ruled the city.

Spanish Rival

Cortés and some of his men left to fight a rival Spanish leader who they defeated.

While away, one of Cortés soldiers got sick with smallpox.

Rebellion

When the Spanish returned to Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs had a rebellion and Cortés and his men fled.

Returned

They returned with reinforcements and they easily defeated the Aztecs who were low on food and suffering from a smallpox epidemic.

Spanish Rule

Some reports say that Montezuma was killed by his own people and some say the Spanish killed him.

Cortés and his men leveled the Aztec capital and built Mexico city on top of its ruins.