What 2 two diseases did the Spanish bring to America that affected the Aztecs?

Earlier, the successful conquest of Mexican Aztec and Peruvian Inca empires by a handful of Spanish conquistadors led by Hernando Cortes and Francisco Pizarro, respectively, resulted in large part from epidemics of smallpox and measles virus infection that decimated the native defenders.

What disease killed many of the Aztecs making it easier for the Spanish to conquer them?

When Cortés and his conquistadors came to Tenochtitlan, they brought smallpox. This very contagious disease killed a huge number of Aztecs.

How many Mexicans died of smallpox?

The native people of Mexico experienced an epidemic disease in the wake of European conquest (Figure 1), beginning with the smallpox epidemic of 1519 to 1520 when 5 million to 8 million people perished.

How did diseases brought to them by the Spanish affect the Aztecs?

The Aztec had no immunity to European diseases. Smallpox spread among the indigenous people and crippled their ability to resist the Spanish. The disease devastated the Aztec people, greatly reducing their population and killing an estimated half of Tenochtitlán’s inhabitants.

How many Aztecs died from Spanish diseases?

The indigenous population gave the outbreak the name “cocoliztli”, a generic term meaning “pestilence” in the Aztec Nahuatl language. Although estimates vary, the epidemic likely wiped out between five and 15 million people – up to 80 per cent of the population.

How did Spain defeat the Aztecs?

Cortés’s army besieged Tenochtitlán for 93 days, and a combination of superior weaponry and a devastating smallpox outbreak enabled the Spanish to conquer the city. Cortés’s victory destroyed the Aztec empire, and the Spanish began to consolidate control over what became the colony of New Spain.

Why were the Aztecs so vulnerable to smallpox?

The native people of the Americas, including the Aztecs, were especially vulnerable to smallpox because they’d never been exposed to the virus and thus possessed no natural immunity. No effective anti-viral therapies were available. Recalling the epidemic, one victim reported:

How did the fall of the Aztec Empire affect the Spanish Empire?

The fall of the Aztec Empire was the key event in the formation of the Spanish Empire overseas, with New Spain, which later became Mexico.

Why didn’t 19 out of 20 Europeans die from Native American diseases?

While estimates vary, approximately 20-50 million people are believed to have lived in the Americas shortly before Europeans arrived. Around 95\% of them were killed by European diseases. So why didn’t 19 out of 20 Europeans die from Native American diseases? The short answer is that Europeans simply had more robust immune systems.

How many men did Hernan Cortes need to conquer the Aztecs?

Although the Spanish forces numbered some 500 men, they managed to capture Aztec Emperor Montezuma II. The city later revolted, forcing Cortés and his men to retreat. An artistic rendering of the retreat of Hernán Cortés from Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital, in 1520. The Spanish conquistador led an expedition to present-day Mexico, landing in 1519.