The cmaterial conquest of New Spain It is the term by which the process by which Spain controlled the territory, wealth and the inhabitants of the area that would later be known as New Spain is known. The way to carry out this conquest was through war, taking refuge in the military superiority of the Europeans.
From the very arrival of Christopher Columbus to the new continent, the Spanish kings gave powers to the expeditionaries to appropriate the newly discovered lands. As for New Spain, the fundamental character was Hernán Cortés.
This came from Cuba to the continental coasts and founded the Villa Rica de Vera Cruz. Later he faced not only the natives, but also other Spaniards to seize the rights of conquest. Historiographically speaking of four different stages of conquest, which ended when, in 1521, the city of Tenochtitlan fell..
The consequences of this entire process were the establishment of a colonial power in the area, the death of many indigenous people and the loss of their culture, among others..
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Since the first Spanish navigators arrived in the New World, it was clear that their intention was to conquer. They first settled in the islands of the Caribbean and, shortly after, began sending expeditions to the mainland..
At the beginning of the 16th century, several expeditions had already taken place, but none had reached far beyond the coast and established a small advance. It was Hernán Cortés who undertook the occupation task with the greatest determination.
The beginning of the first stage is usually placed when Hernán Cortés left Cuba for what is now Mexico. It was February 18, 1519, the day chosen to leave the Caribbean island with 11 ships, 600 men and numerous weapons..
Along with the Spanish conqueror were men who later developed an important role in the conquest of the territory. Among them are Pedro de Alvarado (who participated in the occupation of Guatemala and Peru), Francisco de Montejo (future conqueror of Yucatán) and Bernal Díaz del Castillo.
On the coasts of Yucatán, Cortés came across the remains of one of the outposts that had been established long ago. Jerónimo de Aguilar was the one in command of that post and, together with his men, he joined the expedition. Their presence was important due to their knowledge of the Mayan language and indigenous customs..
In his advance, in front of the Grijalva River, Cortés received the gift of several indigenous slaves from Moctezuma's envoys. Among these slaves, Malinche stands out, who would play an important role in subsequent events..
On Good Friday, 1519 (April 22), the expedition members planted themselves on the coasts of Veracruz.
The events did not only occur in the American continent. In Spain the Crown realized that it could not pay the expenses of the Conquest. For this, he promulgated a series of agreements called Capitulations; Through these it obtained financing from individuals to complete its objective.
Meanwhile, the expedition members of Cortés arrived in Tlaxcala. There, for the first time they encountered strong indigenous resistance. However, the armament technical superiority decided the battles in favor of the conquerors.
From that victory an alliance with the Tlaxcalans emerged. These tried to get rid of the Mexica dominion, reason why they were united to the Spanish troops. Once the agreement was formed, they continued their advance towards the capital of the empire.
Before reaching the capital, one of the great massacres of the Conquest took place. In Cholula, more than five thousand indigenous people were murdered, remaining in history as the Cholula Massacre.
According to many historians, the scale of the massacre should serve as a warning to the Mexica. After that, the conquerors had a clear path to reach Tenochtitlan.
This third stage saw the arrival of the Spanish and their allies to the Valley of Mexico. There, at first they were received as guests by Moctezuma, in part taking advantage of their belief that they represented Quetzalcóatl.
However, events changed this good reception and, finally, the conquerors had to flee from Tenochtitlan. The most famous battle was called Noche Triste and it was a great Hispanic defeat.
The last stage of the material conquest meant, in the end, the conquest of Tenochtitlan and the subsequent Spanish expansion through the territories of the interior of the country..
Cortes, who continued to lead the expedition, had quite a few enemies among his own. At one point he had to leave the Valley of Mexico to confront Pánfilo de Narváez. This soldier had been sent by the governor of Cuba, eager to remove command from Cortés to assume it..
It was the year 1520 and it was Pedro de Alvarado who was in command after the departure of Cortés. Alvarado, less patient than his leader, ordered the Aztecs to be attacked while they were celebrating a religious festival.
Upon the return of a victorious Cortés, he tried to appease the angry Aztecs. Eventually, he had no choice but to flee, losing half his men. This maneuver is known as the Sad Night.
It was not until a year later that the conquerors returned to their Tlaxcala allies. On May 30, 1521, the siege of Mexico-Tenochtitlan began, with more than 80,000 soldiers.
Cuauhtemoc had taken over from Moctezuma and led the indigenous resistance. However, he could not resist the superior forces in technique and the city fell into Spanish hands..
The first consequence was the creation of a colony led by the Spanish Crown. After incorporating other territories, it was baptized as New Spain. Administratively, it was a viceroyalty with obedience to the metropolis.
At the arrival of the Spanish, Tenochtitlán had a population of 200,000 inhabitants. The population of the Aztec Empire was nearly five million. This shows how powerful he was.
Its defeat caused the disappearance of the dominant empire, despite the fact that its governing structures were maintained..
Despite the casualties caused by the different battles between the natives and the Spanish conquerors, the truth is that there were more deaths for other reasons.
The most prominent cause were diseases brought from Europe and for which the indigenous people did not have adequate defenses..
The mixture between Europeans and indigenous people, usually due to rapes or relations with maids, led to the appearance of many mestizos in the area..
To this must be added the arrival of African slaves, who also contributed their dose of mixture to the resulting population..
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