What most helped Spain defeat the Aztec and Inca people?

The Spanish were able to defeat the Aztec and the Inca not only because they had horses, dogs, guns, and swords, but also because they brought with them germs that made many native Americans sick. Diseases like smallpox and measles were unknown among the natives; therefore, they had no immunity to them.

What helped the Spanish defeat the Aztecs and the Incas?

Spanish weaponry was far superior to anything used by the Aztecs or Incas. Cortés and his men used over a dozen large portable guns, mainly for their shock value against the Aztecs. Pizarro's conquest of the Incas was also made possible by the use of gunpowder, a substance the Incas didn't have at their disposal.

What helped the Spanish defeat the Aztecs the most?

Cortés's army besieged Tenochtitlán for 93 days, and a combination of superior weaponry and a devastating smallpox outbreak enabled the Spanish to conquer the city. Cortés's victory destroyed the Aztec empire, and the Spanish began to consolidate control over what became the colony of New Spain.

How did the Spanish conquer the great Aztec and Inca empires?

The spanish conquered the great Aztec and Inca empires by bringing diseases to kill most of them off quickly, scaring them with the horses, and using their more advanced superior weapons to kill them.

How did Spain defeat the Incas?

On November 16, 1532, Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish explorer and conquistador, springs a trap on the Incan emperor, Atahualpa. With fewer than 200 men against several thousand, Pizarro lures Atahualpa to a feast in the emperor's honor and then opens fire on the unarmed Incans.

Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs | 3 Minute History

Why was it so easy for the Spanish to conquer the Aztecs?

The Aztecs no longer trusted Montezuma, they were short on food, and the smallpox epidemic was under way. More than 3 million Aztecs died from smallpox, and with such a severely weakened population, it was easy for the Spanish to take Tenochtitlán.

Why did the Spanish conquered the Aztecs?

Cortes wanted to conquer the aztecs for gold glory and god. Because of these things, many people in the Aztec Empire were unhappy. Some of them helped the Spanish conquistadors take over the Empire.

Why did the Inca lose to the Spanish?

While there were many reasons for the fall of the Incan Empire, including foreign epidemics and advanced weaponry, the Spaniards skilled manipulation of power played a key role in this great Empire's demise.

What killed the Aztecs and Incas?

In addition to North America's Native American populations, the Mayan and Incan civilizations were also nearly wiped out by smallpox. And other European diseases, such as measles and mumps, also took substantial tolls – altogether reducing some indigenous populations in the new world by 90 percent or more.

Why did the Spanish want to conquer the Aztec and Inca empires?

The Spanish wanted to convert the Aztecs to Christianity to control them. They went about destroying the Aztec religious symbols, temples, and they killed, tortured and kidnapped people. Aztecs were forced to convert. The same was done to other indigenous peoples and civilizations, including the Incas.

Why were Spanish conquistadors so successful?

The Spanish conquistadors had many military advantages over the New World natives. The Spanish had steel weapons and armor, which made them nearly unstoppable, as native weapons could not pierce Spanish armor nor could native armor defend against steel swords.

How did the Spanish succeed in conquering much of the Americas?

In addition to their strategic alliances with different indigenous groups, the Spanish had several advantages. First, their weaponry and armor were much more advanced. They also had horses, imposing animals the natives had never seen before.

How did the Aztec Empire fall?

Invaders led by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés overthrew the Aztec Empire by force and captured Tenochtitlan in 1521, bringing an end to Mesoamerica's last great native civilization.

How did Spain defeat the empires of the New World?

Spanish conquistadors, who were primarily poor nobles from the impoverished west and south of Spain, were able to conquer the huge empires of the New World with the help of superior military technology, disease (which weakened indigenous resistance), and military tactics including surprise attacks and powerful ...

What weapons did the Spanish use to conquer the Aztecs?

The conquistadors' weapons were rapiers and two-handed broadswords, pikes and halberds, crossbows and match- lock muskets, and a few cannons.

What did the Spanish do to the Aztecs?

They introduced the Aztecs to domestic animals, sugar, grains, and European farming practices. Most significantly, the Spanish ended the Aztec's practice of human sacrifice. The Aztecs sacrificed human victims on each of their 18 annual festivities, according to the New World Encyclopedia.

What tools helped give the Spanish an advantage over the Aztec?

Steel swords, muskets, cannons, and horses offered Cortés and his men some advantage over the forces they met and help to account for the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire.

Who conquered the Aztecs?

Tenochtitlán, the capital city of the Aztec Empire, flourished between A.D. 1325 and 1521—but was defeated less than two years after the arrival of Spanish invaders led by Cortés.

What were 3 major reasons for the fall of the Aztec Empire?

1 Answer. The overthrow of the Aztec Empire by Cortez and his expedition rests on three factors: The fragility of that empire, the tactical advantages of Spanish technology, and smallpox.

What advantages did the Spanish have over the Incas?

The Spanish were able to defeat the Aztec and the Inca not only because they had horses, dogs, guns, and swords, but also because they brought with them germs that made many native Americans sick. Diseases like smallpox and measles were unknown among the natives; therefore, they had no immunity to them.

What is one reason the Inca Empire was defeated by the Spanish conquistadors?

Civil War. The fall of the Incas came in part because they were at their weakest for at least a decade. Two factors had undermined their ability to fight, and one of these was civil war. For the past five years, Atahualpa and his half-brother Huascar had been fighting for control of the Incan Empire.

Who defeated the Incas?

At the time, the Inca Empire was one of the largest empires in the world, ruling over much of the Andean Mountains. The Spanish Conquest of the New World would occur over the next few decades: the Aztec and the Inca Empires were conquered by Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro, respectively.

How did Spain conquer South America?

Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish conquistadors. The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions of South America and the Caribbean.

Did Spain conquered the Incas and the Aztecs for their gold and silver?

By 1521, the Aztecs had been conquered and Mexico, with all its gold, became part of the Spanish Empire. Far to the south of Mexico, in the vertical landscape of Peru, lay the kingdom of the Incas. The Incas were the great gold hoarders of America.

Who did Spain conquer?

In the 16th century, it conquered and incorporated the Aztec (1519–1521) and Inca (1532–1572) empires, retaining indigenous elites loyal to the Spanish crown and converts to Christianity as intermediaries between their communities and royal government.