The Role of Environmental and Geographical Factors in the Conquest of the Aztec Empire - Essay Example

?The Role of Environmental and Geographical Factors in the Conquest of the Aztec Empire Contrary to the popular notion of the Conquistadors’ superiority, having defeated the Aztec Empire, evidence from various studies conducted by different researchers suggest that the collapse of the empire was a result of far more natural causes. One among such researchers is Jared Diamond, a prominent scientist and author, who sheds light on this subject and asserts that the fall of the Aztecs, was due to prevalent environmental and geographical factors during that point of time. Similarly, Matthew Restall is a pioneering professor who has also discovered that history has been exaggerated in terms of how conquistadors actually captured the ancient settlement in Mexico. Therefore, it becomes abundantly clear that the downfall of the Aztec empire was not merely an outcome of the conquistador’s attack, but the compounded effect of other elements such as germs and epidemics, geographical conditions such as drought, famines, modern weaponry and the deployment of steel on weapons and armor as well as the hatred people had against the ruler Montezuma. Many people believed that the victory of the conquistadors was because of their better evolution than the Aztec population. Evidence from historical accounts also tended to support this theory. The Mesoamerican people were considered to be barbarians and, while this might arise out of their rituals such as human sacrifices and cannibalism, such religious acts do not necessarily measure the enlightenment of a particular race. Jared Diamond in “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” one of his most significant books, tried to set right such misconceptions regarding the fall of the great Aztec Empire. He professed that race and ethnicity do not determine one culture’s superiority over the other, and he used this theory to counter the general belief of how the conquistadors won. Matthew Restall was of the same opinion and he also emphasizes this philosophy in his most noteworthy book “Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest.” Diamond asserted it was the prevailing geographical and environmental factors that wrote the fate of the Aztecs rather than the strength and the physical annexation of the Spaniards. Therefore, both Diamond and Restall believe that the collapse of the Aztec Empire was a result of “Spanish germs, horses, literacy, political organization, and technology” (Diamond 28). The Aztec Empire was a flourishing civilization with its own food production methods, fertile lands, and was comprised of hard-working people including farmers. The population had evolved from hunter-gatherers and was now a full-fledged settlement backed with ample infrastructure. With the help of farming and cultivation the Aztecs were able to yield a lot of food surplus that could support non-farmers as well as women and children. Now food surplus meant more population and more population meant more risk of diseases and exposure to various types of disease causing germs. Furthermore, the population was also advanced in terms of domestication of various animals, which was again a primary source of spreading diseases. The natives spent much time with animals and further utilized animals to transport the food surpluses from one place to the other, which left more than sufficient chance for the germs to be transferred to humans as well as those food materials. However, throughout time, the indigenous people had developed some immunity against these germs. Despite such immunity, when the conquistadors arrived in Mesoamerica, they brought with them different germs that originated from foreign lands. These germs caused an incurable disease at the time, namely small-pox, to which the Aztecs had no resistance. Therefore, diseases caused through both indigenous germs as well as Eurasian germs resulted in the deaths of a lot of people, as there was significant contact among both exposed and unexposed individuals. Besides, this fact was evidenced by Diamond when he said that “99 percent of previously unexposed population was killed” (92). The author further asserts that germs acquired from different sources “played decisive roles in the European conquests of Native America” (92). The strength of any empire is basically marked by its population, and disunity among the people when they face threats from foreigners, paves way to the empire’s ultimate demise. One can see this to be a primary cause in the case of the Aztec Empire too. The conquistadors did not fight the natives with their own people, in fact, it is one of the myths Restall explored in his book. It was believed that the conquistadors comprised of only Spaniards and that the soldiers who went to combat were of Spanish origin. However, this was surprisingly not the reality. The troops that went against the Native Americans consisted of different races of people including Andalusians, Portuguese, Greek and even those who were of a half black descent. However, what actually contributed to the downfall of the empire were the alliances that the conquistadors had formed from people of the neighboring regions of the Aztec capital. This further broke the myth that the conquistadors were purely white people, as the actual attacks were carried out mostly by those of Moorish and African origin. But the conquest would not be a success without the help from indigenous tribes who were against Montezuma. Furthermore, the Aztecs had several feuds going on internally and this created disharmony among them, which prevented the natives from successfully facing the conquistadors with their whole strength and unity. Therefore, political organization, or rather lack of a proper political order was also among the main causes that led to the downfall of the empire. Technological advancement of the Europeans is also a determining factor that ultimately resulted in the defeat of the well established Aztec Empire. Where the natives had no hold over steel or modern weaponry, the conquistadors were fully armed and overloaded with sophisticated technology against which the Aztecs did not stand a chance. The foreign army was well equipped with various weapons such as swords, guns and furthermore protected under steel armors, whereas the Aztecs were yet to discover steel. Possessing such weapons not only contributed towards the offence of the conquistadors but also formed a great part of its defense as the Mesoamericans did not have such weapons. Another advantage that the conquistadors had over the Aztecs was that their battle troop was mounted on horses, a species of animal the natives were seeing for the first time. Being mounted on those fierce and powerful beasts presented the attackers with agility as well as increased strength, which instantly killed large proportions of the indigenous people. Therefore, the primitive Aztecs who were new to steel and modern weaponry as well as horses met their demise when they faced the same at the hands of the conquistadors. The paper primarily discusses the viewpoints of Jared Diamond and Matthew Restall with respect to the actual reasons why the Aztec Empire was overthrown. While popular belief points to the cause being the superiority of the conquistadors, fact is that the collapse was a result of different geographic and environmental conditions which prevailed at that time, according to various evidences presented by Jared and Restall. Therefore, it becomes lucid that it was not just the attacks carried out by the conquistadors that brought about the fall of the Aztec Empire, but also germs, both indigenous and Eurasian, discovery as well as the deployment of steel by the enemies, use of horses during battle, sophisticated weaponry etc. Jared Diamond contends that it was these factors that led to the defeat of the Aztecs and not the misguided theory of superiority. He believes that no race supersedes another and that such superiority is only a product of ethnocentrism. These are thoughts that Matthew Restall agrees with and it is further evidenced in his book, where he exposes various myths related to the Spaniards’ conquest of Mesoamerica. Therefore, it can be concluded that the various environmental and geographical factors played a crucial role in the success of the conquest of the Americas, ultimately resulting in the downfall of the Aztec Empire. Works Cited Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W. W. Norton & Company, 1999. Print. Read More