Spanish Age Of Exploration Essay
The Spanish age of Exploration was motivated by a desire for new territory, wealth and trading partners. The colonisation by the Spanish had a detrimental effect on the Aztec and the Inca civilisations.
The Aztecs and Incas were a very advanced civilisation that the Spanish had never seen before. When the Spanish first arrived in the Americas, they were surprised to see clean, ordered and well planned cities with temples and architecture that was unknown to the Spanish. The Aztec Empire particularly grabbed the Spanish’s attention with its capital, Tenochtitlan. The city was established in the 14th century in an area that is now known as Mexico City. In 1428, the ruler of Tenochtitlan, Itscoatl, established a triple alliance with Texococo …show more content…
The city was divided into quarters, punctuated by pyramids that rose above the skyline. With their relatively sophisticated system of agriculture, including irrigation methods and intensive cultivation of land, enabled the Aztecs to create a successful state and later an empire. Tenochtitlan was a highly developed city, socially, intellectually and artistically with a highly structured society. However, the valley of Mexico unfortunately did not have the resources to keep the size of Tenochtitlan running, therefore they invented a tribute system. Tributes were taxes that surrounding populations within the empire were forced to pay to the Aztecs. The population of Tenochtitlan grew to about 200 000 people. To put into perspective, the largest city in Spain at the time had only 70 000. By the early 16th century, the Aztecs had come to rule over five hundred small states and five to six million people. The Incan Empire was established in the 12th and 13th centuries and covered greater than one million square kilometres, stretching from modern-day Ecuador to the modern-day Argentina. Cuzco was the capital of the Empire, located high in
The Aztecs and Incas were a very advanced civilisation that the Spanish had never seen before. When the Spanish first arrived in the Americas, they were surprised to see clean, ordered and well planned cities with temples and architecture that was unknown to the Spanish. The Aztec Empire particularly grabbed the Spanish’s attention with its capital, Tenochtitlan. The city was established in the 14th century in an area that is now known as Mexico City. In 1428, the ruler of Tenochtitlan, Itscoatl, established a triple alliance with Texococo …show more content…
The city was divided into quarters, punctuated by pyramids that rose above the skyline. With their relatively sophisticated system of agriculture, including irrigation methods and intensive cultivation of land, enabled the Aztecs to create a successful state and later an empire. Tenochtitlan was a highly developed city, socially, intellectually and artistically with a highly structured society. However, the valley of Mexico unfortunately did not have the resources to keep the size of Tenochtitlan running, therefore they invented a tribute system. Tributes were taxes that surrounding populations within the empire were forced to pay to the Aztecs. The population of Tenochtitlan grew to about 200 000 people. To put into perspective, the largest city in Spain at the time had only 70 000. By the early 16th century, the Aztecs had come to rule over five hundred small states and five to six million people. The Incan Empire was established in the 12th and 13th centuries and covered greater than one million square kilometres, stretching from modern-day Ecuador to the modern-day Argentina. Cuzco was the capital of the Empire, located high in