The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire saw the Catholic army of Spain decimate 15 million Aztec people. During the campaign, Cortés rallied many rivals of the Aztecs, to join him. These forces arrived in Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519, where Cortez was welcomed by Moctezuma, leader of the Aztec people.
Trust between the two leaders was precarious. Fear and anger eventually led Cortez to take Moctezuma captive in his own palace and use him as a puppet ruler. The people eventually realized what was happening and stoned their own leader as a traitor. This resulted in a massacre at the Main Temple of Tenochtitlan. Cortés and his men had to fight their way out of the capital city, however, the Spanish later returned with reinforcements and laid siege to the city, leading to the fall of Tenochtitlan a year later in 1521.
In class activities 3/25/14:
- Learned about the fall of the Aztecs to Cortez
- Built Aztec temples out of clay
- Made clay hearts to remind us of the religious practices of the Aztecs
- Built wooden bridges for our Tenochtitlan models
- Played telephone to discover the difficulties that Cortez faced when using multiple translators
- Added to our history notebooks
Optional lesson extension activities:
Horrible Histories - Angry Aztecs is a funny way to review all that we have learned about the Aztecs. I couldn't find a single link to the entire show, so forgive the long list of links. Each video is only a few minutes long.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JVmv_aXjsQ
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBQ-O3cy-fQ
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33aCE3T8jEQ
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oarNOjHHMjc
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN6-Mwp-oIE
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5-GLDwfb-o
Assignment:
- Draw a picture of Cortez setting fire to his own ships. Write a sentence or two explaining why he would do such a thing. (Additional information available here)
- Review your timeline
