The Spanish landed upon the shores of Meso-America in February of the year
1519, in the area of Vera
Cruz. By November of that year, the Spanish fleet, commanded by Hernando
Cortez, entered into Tenochtitlan and simply arrested the Emperor of the Aztec,
Montezuma. Within the time span of two years, Cortez dismantled the Aztec
monarchy and gained control of all of Tenochtitlan, and many of it's
surrounding territories.
Why was the Aztec Empire taken so quickly by the Europeans led by Cortez? There are many factors to consider in answering such a question. Of the most important is the time in which Cortez entered into Tenochtitlan. Prior to his arrival, the Aztec had seen many astrological phenomena which seemed to portend the collapse of the empire itself. These portents of doom ranged from a comet seen in the day time, to the destruction of two temples. In addition to these omens of doom, Cortez arrived at harvest time, when the Aztec were generally not prepared for war, although there were battles. Also, the Tlaxcalans helped Cortez fight the Aztecs. Also, the Aztecs believed that the god Quetzalcoatl was going to return and destroy the Aztec empire. Quetzalcoatl was seen as a man with light hair, and light colored skin, and it was thought by the Aztec, that Cortez was the returning Quetzalcoatl. Outbreaks of epidemics also helped to weaken the Aztecs. As a result of all of these factors, the Aztec were ripe for an invasion, and Cortez succeeded in decimating the once great Aztec empire.
In 1527, Francisco Pizarro entered into Peru, where,
with his small band of 175 men armed with an ineffective cannon, took over
the entire Incan Empire.
Quickly after Pizarro landed on the shores of Thubes, on May 13, 1532, he began to advance toward the Empire's capitol. As Pizarro's group advanced, they were confronted by roughly fifty-thousand Incan warriors within the town square of the capitol city, Cajamarca, who were bent on destroying Pizarro's band. However, the Inca did not attack, rather, Pizarro asked the Inca's leader, Atahualpa, to meet with him and his body guards unarmed, and both the Inca and Pizarro's men stood at a standstill. Accepting Pizarro's offer was the Inca's worst mistake. Pizarro knew that if he had the Emperor he would have the entire Incan Empire, and all the gold which it held (Pizarro had originally set off from Spain for the city of gold). Shortly after meeting with Pizarro, Atahualpa's gold headband was torn form his head, and with the blast of a cannon, Pizarro's men slaughtered all of the Inca's within the square of Cajamarca. Atahualpa attempted to bargain with Pizarro for his life, offering him a room filled with gold (roughly 17 feet by 22 feet by 9 feet), but shortly after Atahualpa showed Pizarro the room he was murdered.
During the late 16th century, 200,000 Spaniards immigrated into South America. Quickly the landscape of South America began to change, with imported plants, large sugar plantations, vast estates, and imported animals over-taking the native landscape. Bureaucracy and government also took hold quickly in South America. The Spanish established the encomiendas, where the government granted conquerors the right to employ groups of Indians. The encomiendas, in truth were a form of legalized slavery. Relegated to practical slave labor within sugar cane plantations and mining caves, the native population of Peru declined from 1.3 million in 1570, to 600,000 in 1620. In Meso-America the circumstances were no different. The population of Indians went from 25.3 million in 1519, to a scant 1 million in 1605. Though forced labor played the largest part in the decimation of the Incan and Aztec, disease is by no means minor within this time frame. Widespread epidemics of small pox and other diseases were not uncommon, and claimed the lives of millions. On the psychological front, historians and psychologists have offered another reason for the decimation of the Incan and Aztec populations, namely the Indians had lost the will to survive. With the extreme and quick loss of culture, accompanied by the pressure of Christian missionaries and laws preventing the practice of any form of native religion (if they did there were strong repercussions even death), the Indians were, by all means, slaves to the Spaniard immigrants.
McKay, Hill, and Buckler. A History of World Societies. Houghton Mifflin Company:Toronto, 1992.