Aztecs:
Hernando Cortez landed on the Gulf of Mexico with 600 men, 17 horses, and 12 cannons. Cortez moved inland toward the Aztecs making allies with Aztecs’ enemies along the way. He fought against the Republic of Tlaxcala who were also enemies of the Aztecs. After the skirmishes they became allies.
Moctezuma, the king of the Aztecs, heard that Cortez was coming and prepared to welcome him and placate him with gifts. According to one of the myths, he believed that Cortez was an incarnation of the god Quetzalcoatl returning to claim his people. When the Spaniards arrived, the Aztecs showered them with gifts, giving them a castle. In turn Cortez took Moctezuma hostage. Cortez was offended by the human sacrifices and persuaded people to go against Aztec worships. The Spaniard started to put crosses and picture of the Virgin Mary on the sacrificing stones. To stop the Aztec religion they would kill the nobles. One of Cortez’s soldiers led and attack on a crowd to break up the religious celebration.
The Spaniards escaped from the angry mob of Aztecs. Cortez came back with a bigger army of men and enforced with the other tribes around. They cut off the Aztec’s outside supply. Cortez slowly killed off the Aztecs with the help of small pox. The surviving Aztecs abandoned the city, and left it to burn. The Aztecs slowly died out due to the small pox epidemic. The Spaniard couldn’t convert them, but made an attempt to convert.
Incas:
In South America the great Inca Empire, was becoming weaker due to the small pox that wiped out fifty to ninety percent of the population. The empire was broken up into two divided between the two sons of the fallen king. A quarrel between the two brothers broke up into a civil war. The brother who won the civil war was Atahuallpa. He held his brother prisoner. Another Spaniard discoverer, Francisco Pizarro, was one of the Spaniards who were encouraged by the conquest in Mexico. He arrived into the Inca territory in 1532. With him came 102 men, 62 horses and some interpreters.
Atahuallpa had been warned about Pizarro’s arrival, he heard about the Spanish and their horses. Atahuallpa agreed to meet Pizarro. Accompanying Atahuallpa were about six thousand armed men. Pizarro’s chaplain greeted the king and talked to him about the Christian Bible, giving him a copy of it. The chaplain asked the Inca king to accept the Christian god as the only god and Charles V of Spain as the only king. Atahuallpa did not accept any of it and took the Bible and threw it to the ground. The Spaniards had a prearranged signal that was shown and the Spanish soldiers that were hiding came into view and fired their harquebusiers and two light cannons. Pizarro’s cavalry that were standing by and charged in. With the loud noise and shock, Atahuallpa’s people ran. Pizarro conquered the Inca capital and used the second son of Huayna Capac as a puppet king. When the puppet king died the king was replaced by another son. But Pizarro’s power and wealth didn’t last long. The Inca people took revenge and assassinated Pizarro. The Incas were dying out due to the fast widespread of diseases, faster than the Spaniards moving. The Incas didn’t want to convert but were forced to. Unfortunately the Incas died out from the diseases that arrived to South America.
Both of these empires refused to convert to Christianity even though the Spanish conquerors tried to force all of them. The conversion failed because of the new diseases that were brought by the Spanish which wiped out most of the population.
