West Coast Colonization

Hernan Cortez

Military Technology

• Cortes and his men had cannons and horses which was a huge advantage during warfare

- The Aztecs had never seen cannons or horses before

- The weapons and animals frightened them- Cortes’ men used their horses to kill many Aztecs

who fought on foot

Ideological

• The Aztecs believed that Cortes and his men were gods which gave the Spaniards a psychological advantage

• The Aztecs were polytheistic• Every 52 years was called a read year in their

culture. During this year the Aztecs believed the gods would destroy them

• Cortes arrived in Mexico during a read year

Political

• Cortes made allies with Natives who were the Aztec’s enemies. This gave Cortes more men to fight with.

• The enemies of the Aztec were tired of the cruel treatment they received from the Aztec. The Aztecs used the prisoners of war as slaves and human sacrifice victims

• When Cortes landed in Mexico he only had about 500 men vs. an estimated 20,000,000 Aztec.

• With the help of other tribes Cortes had enough men to defeat the Aztecs.

Social

• Cortes had Dona Marina to translate for him, and he was able to communicate with the Natives of Mexico

• She was able to translate the Aztec language, Nahuatl, into Spanish.

Serendipity

• The Spaniards brought disease with them to Mexico which decimated the Native population.

• One of Cortes’ men had smallpox.• The Aztecs had never been exposed to European

diseases, so they had no immunity to the diseases.• Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, was surrounded by water

that the people used for drinking and bathing• Smallpox spread through water.

How did the Spanish govern their new American Colonies?

Spanish Colonial ModelColonies

Spanish King: Created the power structure to help him rule over the colonies

Council of the Indies: Governed the American colonies from Spain

Viceroy a.k.a Vice King: Ruled in place of the Spanish King in the colonies.

Audiencia a.k.a. Judges: Checked and balanced the Viceroy’s power

The People in the Colonies:

Order of Power:

Peninsulares, Creoles, Mestizos, Mulattoes,

Africans, Native Americans

The Encomienda* System• The Council of the Indies granted the Spaniards the right

to demand labor from the Native Americans. • The Spaniards enslaved the natives under brutal

conditions. • The Spanish felt the encomienda was the easiest way to

control the natives, and spread Christianity to them.• Those who resisted were hunted down and beaten or

killed.• Disease, starvation, and cruel treatment caused major

declines in the native population due to this system of labor.

• With the dramatic decline of Native American workers, the Europeans turned to importing African slaves to meet their cheap labor needs

*encomendar-to entrust,to commit, to recommend

Role of Class in the Spanish Colonies

• As you may have already inferred the actual everyday people in the Spanish colonies had the least amount of power.

• A person’s ethnic background determined just how much or how little power and rights you had.

PeninsularesCreolesMestizosMulattoesAfricans

Native Americans

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