Topic:

What were the Factors Responsible for the Conquest of the Aztecs and Inca Societies by the
Spanish in the Sixteenth Century.

Objectives:

Give a general overview of the Aztec and Inca Societies

Examine the factors responsible for the conquest of the Aztecs by the Spanish in 1521
Examine the factors responsible for the conquest of the Incas by the Spanish in 1533

Thesis Statement: The Spaniards were able to defeat the Aztec and Inca Societies in 1521
and 1533 respectively, due to favorable circumstances or factors including superior technology,
diseases and the support of Indian allies

An Introduction to the Aztec and Inca Societies

The Aztec and Inca tribes both sprang around the 12th century AD. The Aztecs, by the fifteenth
century was considered as being the most prevailing tribe in Mesoamerica. They were a
civilization with a rich cultural heritage and built a mighty and powerful kingdom that occupied
vast amounts of land in Mexico. The Aztecs were a fierce and warlike people and conquered
their neighbors through fear and cruelty resulting in their vast expansion. The Incas however,
were a more tranquil group of people. Like the Aztecs, they were polytheistic. They occupied
lands in Peru, with Cuzco as their capital. Their empire included many tribes ruled by their local
leaders all under the control of the capital, Cuzco. They were a very rich tribe and were rumored
to have vast amounts of gold, silver and other precious stones. Like the Aztecs, the Incas had
great architects and built marvelous pyramids mostly out of large boulders and stone and mud.

What were the Factors Responsible for the Conquest of the Aztecs
and Inca Societies by the Spanish in the Sixteenth Century.

The Spanish after the discovery by Christopher Columbus in 1492, continued to sail to the
Americas to settle, and to search for gold and other precious stones and gems. There were
frequent altercations between the Spaniards and the inhabitants. The Spaniards had heard rumors
of vast amounts of gold possessed by the inhabitants. They were greedy, and so desirous for gold
that they fought with the Aztecs and Incas in an effort to conquer their lands and obtain the gold
that they owned. The Spaniards were able to defeat the Aztec and Inca Societies in 1521 and
1533 respectively, due to favorable circumstances or factors including superior technology,
diseases and the support of Indian allies.
Conquistador Hernan Cortez was responsible for the conquest of the Aztecs. He arrived in
Mexico with an army consisting of about 550 men and 16 horses. For the conquest of the Inca,
another brave conquistador by the name of Francisco Pizarro led the cohort of about 180 men to
Peru. With such a small force, how were Cortes and Pizarro able to defeat thousands of the Aztec
and Inca people respectively, in such short time periods? One leading factor accounting for the
downfall of the Aztecs and Incas by the Spanish was due to their superior technology. The
wooden shields, bows and arrows and machetes that they used to fight were no match for the
heavy artillery possessed by the Spanish. They fought with steel weapons, guns, horses, canons
and were shielded by steel armor. This gave them an advantage over the Aztecs, who were
fighting on the ground, on foot with wooden weapons. With such advanced weaponry it was

easier for the Spanish to overthrow the Aztecs and Incas as the steel weapons proved more
effective in battle.
The Spanish sailed to the Americas, not only carrying guns and other materials, but also tagging
along lethal diseases and viruses. They brought diseases such as small pox, measles and typhoid
which spread like wild fire throughout the Americas. The Aztecs and Incas had acquired no
immunity to such deadly diseases and their local remedies did not do the trick. They died in great
numbers, weakening their force and making it easier for the Spanish to win the ongoing battle.
Diseases killed as many as 90 percent of the Inca, which also devastated the Aztec population.
This continues to show the devastating effect of diseases on the Native Americans greatly
contributing to their loss to the Spanish.
The Aztecs were considered as the most powerful and callous tribe in Mesoamerica at the time.
Such great power associates itself with much hatred and animosity towards the Aztecs by other
native tribes. They were a fierce and warlike people and conquered their neighbors through fear
and cruelty resulting in their vast expansion. As a result, many Indians allied with the Spanish in
the conquest of defeating the Aztecs thus the increase in man power meant that the Spanish had
an upper hand in overpowering the Aztec tribe. It goes without saying that the Spaniards would
not have survived their ordeal without the help of their Indian (Tlaxcalan) allies as the author
John P. Schmal wrote.. This shows that the Indian allies were of superior importance to the
Spaniards who helped them to defeat the much hated Aztecs.
For the Inca, it was not a matter of Indian allies which contributed to their demise, but instead it
was as a result of the civil war in 1527 which took place just before Pizarro had sailed down to
Peru in 1530. The civil war was fought between two brothers, Huascar and Atahualpa, sons of

Huayna Capac, over the succession to the Inca throne, after the death of Huayna Capac's death in
1527. Huascar declared war because he thought that he was more eligible to lead as rightful heir
to the kingdom of all the Incas instead of his brother Atahualpa. However, Atahualpa proved
himself to be tactically superior to his brother in war thus he defeated is brothers armies and was
pronounced as the new Inca. By the time Pizarro had arrived in Peru, many natives had died the
remaining injured and weakened and the population decimated. Pizarro had Atahualpa murdered
while the Spanish troops easily defeated the natives as they were already weakened by the civil
war.