Jackie Schnitzer

Global Pd. 3

                                   The Breakdown of Mesoamerica

      The majority of Mesoamerica was taken over by others who wanted to kill the civilizations for the better of them. All civilizations (the Maya, Inca, and Aztec) died by homicide. Each civilization had its own destruction and each had their own troubles, as well.

      The Inca’s were taken over by the conquistadors. They gave the Inca’s blankets infected with smallpox. This was their way to weaken to Inca’s so that they could come in and kill them off easily. Inca team 6 proves this theory by telling us that the conquistadors came into the land of the Inca’s and gave out blankets and rags infected by smallpox. (This was the conquistadors’ way of killing off the Inca’s in a way where it harmed their immune systems, which weren’t too strong to begin with.) When the Inca’s were incredibly weak and sick, the conquistadors came in to attack. Inca team 9 tells us that the conquistadors only had an army of 180 people, when the Mayan’s had an army of 40,000 people. Outnumbered 223 to 1 the conquistadors were concerned that they would not have been able to take down the Inca’s, so they made themselves a head start, by spreading smallpox.

      The Mayans were taken over by the Spanish. The Spanish came into the area of the Mayans and began a Civil War. As said by Mayan team 5, the Spanish had advanced weapons and guns, while the Mayans didn’t have much. The Mayans were weak and had no other option then to surrender. The Spanish also forced the Mayans to become Christian and slaves so even if they killed of the majority of the civilization, the rest was turned into Christians and slaves.

      The Aztec civilization was taken over by the Spanish. In 1502, Aztec team 6 explains how they Aztecs had a new ruler by the name of Montezuma II. When he came to rule, the Aztecs started to weaken. He also lowered the amount of government officials which was bad for the civilization has a whole. The Spanish later, in 1522, came in and took all the gold of the Aztecs. The Spanish were sent in by a man named Hernando Cortez. Aztec team 1 states how the Spanish had advanced weapons, such as cannons and muskets. The Aztecs only had arrows. The Spanish also brought diseases such as measles, mumps, smallpox, and typhus.

      In conclusion, Mesoamerica was conquered and destroyed. In addition, the Spanish was the reason for the destruction of the three civilizations. The Mayas were conquered and forced to switch religions while the Aztecs and Incas were weakened by disease. Each civilization had its personal problems, yet in the end, the civilizations were all dominated.