Title: Consequences of the Conquest of the Aztecs
Headings: Consequences of the Conquest of the Aztecs
Consequences of the Conquest of the Aztecs
It Sparked a Wave of Conquests
The Population of the New World was Decimated
It Led to Cultural Genocide
It Brought Forth the Vile Encomienda System
It Made Spain a World Power
Sources
Watch Now: Profile of Hernan Cortes

Content: Consequences of the Conquest of the Aztecs
Humanities › History & Culture
Consequences of the Conquest of the Aztecs
Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez, (1485-1547), circa 1500. Kean Collection/Getty Images
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By
Christopher Minster
Professor of History and Literature
Ph.D., Spanish, Ohio State University
M.A., Spanish, University of Montana
B.A., Spanish, Penn State University
Christopher Minster, Ph.D., is a professor at the ​Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. He is a former head writer at VIVA Travel Guides. our editorial process
Christopher Minster
Updated May 30, 2019
In 1519, conquistador Hernan Cortes landed on Mexico's Gulf coast and began an audacious conquest of the mighty Aztec Empire. By August of 1521, the glorious city of Tenochtitlan was in ruins. The Aztec lands were renamed "New Spain" and the colonization process began. Conquistadors were replaced by bureaucrats and colonial officials, and Mexico would be a Spanish colony until it began its fight for independence in 1810. Cortes' defeat of the Aztec Empire had many ramifications, not the least of which was the eventual creation of the nation we know as Mexico. Here are some of the many consequences of the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs and their lands. It Sparked a Wave of Conquests
Cortes sent his first shipment of Aztec gold back to Spain in 1520, and from that moment, the gold rush was on.