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: 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. Thousands of adventurous young Europeans - not only Spanish - heard tales of the great riches of the Aztec Empire and they set out to make their fortune just like Cortes had. Some of them arrived in time to join Cortes, but most of them did not. Mexico and the Caribbean soon filled with desperate, ruthless soldiers looking to take part in the next great conquest. Conquistador armies scoured the New World for wealthy cities to loot. Some were successful, like Francisco Pizarro 's conquest of the Inca Empire in western South America, but most were failures, like Panfilo de Narvaez ' disastrous expedition to Florida in which all but four men out of over three hundred died.