Section 3
The Fall of the Aztec and Inca Empires
1.) This section describes how the Spanish conquerors who followed in the wake of Columbus managed to defeat the Aztec and Inca Empires.
2.) Western Europeans wanted to find a ______to ______without having to deal with the ______countries between the two areas. The ______financed an exploration trip by an______sea captain named ______. Columbus left for his voyage in August of ______.
3.) He landed in what he thought was ______in October of that year, but he had actually landed on an island in the Caribbean Sea. Columbus continued to explore and landed on the island of ______, which is today ______and the ______. The riches Columbus returned to Spain, convinced leaders to send him on another voyage.
4.) He left Spain for Hispaniola with soldiers called ______. The soldiers claimed Hispaniola for Spain and ______the native people, the ______.
5.) ______was a poor Spanish noble who became a soldier. 1511, Cortés participated in the Spanish invasion of ______. Later, he was given control over several Native American villages. The people in the villages were put to work for Spain.
6.) After ______(a disease brought over by the Europeans) killed millions of Native Americans in Cuba, the Spanish commander asked Cortés to find new people to work for the Spanish. Cortés left for ______. At the time Cortés arrived in Mexico, the Aztec emperor was ______II. Cortés had a small army, but the Spanish ______and ______shocked the Native Americans.
7.) The ______people fell to Cortés and gave him ______, a Mayan woman who spoke the language of the Aztec. She gave Cortés information he needed to attack the Aztéc. The Aztec feared that Cortés was ______(a god they were looking for), so they did not attack the Spaniards immediately. The Spanish invaded Tenochtitlán, and Cortés took Montezuma hostage.
8.) Fighting began, and ______was killed. The Spaniards fled to plan a second attack, and smallpox broke out in Tenochtitlán. The weakened Aztec could no longer fight the Spanish.
9.) Vasco Nuñez de ______was a Spanish explorer who found the ______while looking for an empire filled with gold. ______was a conquistador who served with Balboa. He became a rich landowner after exploring ______. After Balboa’s death, Pizarro set out to find the empire of gold.
10.) He began attacking Incan villages. Atahualpa, the ______emperor, thought Pizarro was crazy or foolish and tried to ignore him. Pizarro’s men invited ______to a meeting, and Atahualpa agreed, leaving his army behind. At the meeting, Pizarro’s men took Atahualpa ______.
11.) To buy his freedom, Atahualpa promised Pizarro silver and gold. Atahualpa gave Pizarro the gold, but Pizarro ______free Atahualpa, and the Spanish tried and killed him. Pizarro was named ______of ______as a reward. The conquest of Peru gave Spain vast territory and about 7 million people to rule.
Chapter 16 Section 3 Discussion Questions
A.) Why did Spain send soldiers on Columbus’s second trip to the Americas?
B.) How did Malintzin help Cortés?
C.) What was Atahualpa’s first impression of Pizarro?
D.) How did Christopher Columbus convince Spanish rulers to pay for a second trip?
E.) Why did Cortés sail from Cuba to Mexico in search of the Aztec?
F.) How would Aztec history be different without the legend of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl?
G.) Why were the Aztec and the Inca so easily defeated by smaller Spanish forces?