How Did The Fall Of The Aztec Empire

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The Aztec empire was one of the most sophisticated and advanced civilisations of its time, emerging in 1325 AD. Hernan Cortez arrived in Mexico in 1519 AD while on his quest for glory, to obtain more Christian converts, and to find gold for the Spanish monarch. The demise of the advanced society would only take place in one year when it surfaced in 1520 AD. Slave Francisco Eguia transferred the lethal and foreign disease to the mortal Aztecs on the compact island of Tenochtitlan. This ultimately led to the collapse of the Aztec empire. Disease was a significant factor in the collapse of the sophisticated civilisation because smallpox was an unknown disease in the new world that ultimately led to the sudden downfall of such an advanced civilisation. …show more content…

A native account describes the impact that the unknown diseases had on the mortal Aztecs in Tenochtitlan during their conquest of the Aztecs. This perspective comes from a native quote. “It began to spread, striking everywhere in the city and killing a vast number of our people. Sores erupted on our faces, our breasts, our bellies. The sick were so utterly helpless that they could only lie on their beds like corpses. A great many died from this plague, and many others died of hunger.” (Barton, 2018). This quote clearly states that smallpox had a major effect on the Aztecs who had not encountered a disease as lethal as smallpox which caused the Aztecs to die in masses and be unable to farm which led to starvation or defend their land from the modern invaders. Due to the lack of immunity that the Aztecs had, the Aztecs ultimately were not able to continue farming or defending, which led to mass starvation and a rapid depletion in population. Therefore, historical sources prove that smallpox played a critical role in the collapse of the advanced civilization being an advantage for the Spanish to conquer the

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