what did vasco da gama hope to find in india quizlet

He left 80 Spanish soldiers and a few hundred Tlaxcaltecs under the command of Pedro de Alvarado to hold Tenochtitlan until he returned. When Cortés learned that a Spanish force from Cuba led by Pánfilo Narváez were arriving to strip him of his command and arrest him for disobeying orders, Cortés fled the city. Seizing his chance, Cortés took Montezuma hostage and his soldiers raided the city. Montezuma, thinking Cortés and his men were envoys from the god Quetzalcoatl who was prophesied to return that year in the Aztec calendar, treated him as an honored guest. Tenochtitlán, located near today’s Mexico City, had more than 140,000 inhabitants at its height, and was the most densely populated city ever to exist in Mesoamerica. He entered Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital home to ruler Montezuma II, on November 8, 1519. He used deadly force to conquer Mexico, fighting Tlaxacan and Cholula warriors before turning his attention on the ultimate prize: taking over the Aztec Empire. By the time he arrived in Mexico, the Aztecs had come to rule over 500 small states and some 5 to 6 million people. Cortés Defeats The AztecsĬortés used his new allies and united them against the Aztecs, who were resented by local groups for the high tributes they exacted. There would be no retreat for his men, only conquest. According to some accounts, he sunk all but one of his ships before sending the intact one back to Spain. One of them, Marina, became his interpreter and they had a son, Martín, together.Ĭortés landed in Veracruz next, where his men elected him chief justice. They also gave him gifts in the form of 20 women. They dropped anchor at Tabasco, where he gained intelligence from locals about the land he desired to conquer. Cortés and his crew reached Mexico in February of 1519.

What did vasco da gama hope to find in india quizlet