History of the United States I / Unit 2 USH1 0159 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Why Tenochtitlán Fell
The idea
The traditional European account presents the fall of Tenochtitlán as the superiority of Europeans over savage Indians. The anchor answers that the reality is far more complex. Central Mexico was simmering with conflict, and many peoples were ready to rebel against Aztec rule. After fleeing the city, Cortés built alliances with exactly those peoples. It then took nearly a year for the Spanish and tens of thousands of native allies to retake the city by siege.
In practice
The Tlaxcalan alone providing as many as two hundred thousand fighters.
Where people slip
The Spanish also carried smallpox into the valley of Mexico, which the anchor says played a much greater role in the city's demise than Spanish force of arms. Only by playing on the disunity inside the Aztec Empire were the Spanish able to capture the city. An account resting on Spanish steel and Spanish courage omits the two things that decided it.
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