y. In social circles as well, the commoner was able to achieve a higher position through his military exploits (Dibble 7-8).
This world of the Aztecs was one of the great regional civil- izations of the Mesoamerican tradition. This civilization was probably founded soon after the time of Christ and had no known local antecedents, and it would lay the foundation for the Aztecs and the Toltecs to come. The Aztecs therefore had an ancient tradition and were not at all an uncivilized people (Chard 278-279).
The Spaniards who destroyed this civilization were in a period of exploration and expansion in the sixteenth century. It was in 1519 that Ferdinand Magellan began his great voyage around the world. The Spanish settled the islands of the West Indies before moving against the American mainland. Under the leadership of Cortes, the Spanish destroyed the Aztec Empire and created the Empire of New Spain in 1521 (Easton 136).
The Aztec civilization, which Cortes found in Mexico, was one of the largest, most highly-developed and rigid military states the world has ever known. When Cortes defeated the capital city, the entire civilization vanished almost overnight. The various Mexican peoples saw that their gods had not only abandoned them but had been defeated, and because of this they were seen as inferior to the gods of the victors. The Mexicans dropped their own ethical and religious system and adopted that of the Spaniards. The Spaniards thoroughly destroyed the ancient life-style of the Mexicans and introduced a life-style of their own. Mexico would become the first and most systematically colonized
of all the Spanish overseas possessions. There were geographical problems in South America, which the Spaniards never overcame, but Mexico was easily accessible from Hispaniola and Cuba, which had long been settled. Mexico City was made the seat of government. The Mexicans, after the revolution, settled down to a peaceful life un...