08 How Did the Spanish Conquer the Aztecs?

Hundreds of years ago, there was abeautiful city on an island in the middle of a lake.It had buildings,roads,and palaces. In many ways, it was like London, which was the biggest city in the world at the time. But this city was thousands of miles away from London.It was the capital of the Aztec empire,an empire that controlled about six million people. It was the seat of government, the religious center, and the cultural center of Aztec life.This beautiful city was Tenochtitlán. Today we call it Mexico City.

Hernán Cortés was a Spanish explorer.He left Spain when he was only nineteen to explore and settle the island of Cuba. But Cortés didn't want to live in Cuba. He wanted to explore and to be rich and famous. The Spanish government told him to explore what is today Mexico. Cortés was excited. He knew stories about the Aztecs. He heard the Aztecs had gold. In 1519, he and about 400 men sailed from Cuba to the coast of what is today Mexico. They were afraid. They heard stories that the Aztecs sacrificed people to their gods. And the Aztecs had an army of more than one million men. Cortés thought they didn't have a chance, but they got lucky—very lucky.

The Aztecs believed in many gods. One of the most terrible gods was Tezcatlipoca, or the Smoking Mirror. This god watched over the land and made the Aztecs powerful. Another of their gods was Quetzalcoatl, or the Feathered Serpent. They believed he lived in a strange land in the east across the sea. This god once came to earth as a white man with a black beard. He brought knowledge to the people, and the Aztecs liked him. This made the Smoking Mirror angry, so he forced the Feathered Serpent to go away. The Feathered Serpent promised to come back one day and become the ruler of the Aztecs. The Aztec priests predicted that the Feathered Serpent would come back during a special year on their calendar. That year was 1519.

In 1519, many strange things happened, like earthquakes. There was also a comet, which is a bright object that moves around the sun. People were waiting to see what would happen next. The emperor of the Aztecs was worried. He thought the Feathered Serpent would come and he would not be emperor anymore. Then his men saw Cortés. He had white skin and a black beard, just like the Feathered Serpent, and he came from the east in the Feathered Serpent's special year. The biggest coincidence was that Cortés came to the Aztec empire on April 21. This was the day dedicated to the Feathered Serpent. This persuaded the Aztec emperor that Cortés was the Feathered Serpent. He sent his men to greet him and welcomed him to the city. He gave Cortés gifts of gold and jewels and gave him and his men a palace for their home.

Cortés and his men could not believe their luck. They didn't know about the many coincidences working in their favor. They took everything the Aztecs gave them. Soon they became arrogant and decided to take the city and the empire for Spain. They made the emperor their prisoner.Meanwhile, one of Cortés's men killed a group of Aztecs at a religious ceremony. All of this made the Aztecs very angry. Cortés tried to calm them down. He showed them their emperor, but this didn't help. The emperor got hurt and later died. Nobody knows who killed him. Then the Aztecs threw Cortés and his men out of the capital.

Cortés still wanted to conquer the city, so he came back two years later with his men. It was his second trip there. They and many natives who didn't like the Aztec government destroyed the palace and other buildings and killed many people. They took over the city and settled there. Cortés made the Aztec empire a colony of Spain. In 1820, that same land, Mexico, became an independent country.

Today, Mexico City is one of the biggest cities in the world. Many Mexicans are descendants of the Aztecs. More than one million Mexicans speak the Aztec native language, Nahuatl, as their first language. The old buildings and statues of the Aztecs mix with the modern buildings of Mexico City so that everyone remembers the city's rich history.