der their new masters (White 305-306).
The conquest of the Aztecs clearly brought great changes to the people of Mexico. First, the equilibrium of resources and population changed abruptly. The conquerors were not careful about how they treated the environment, and they began by cutting down huge quantities of timber for building material and fuel. The plows that the Spaniards used cut more deeply into the soil than those of the natives with their digging sticks. The Spaniards had cattle and sheep, which cropped the land bare. New irrigation systems and gristmills concentrated or redistributed the water flows. None of the new developments can be seen as disastrous in itself, but the combined effect over the years was an accelerated depletion of agricultural land. In the rainy season, the topsoil would be washed into the bottom of the Valley. Gulleys were created through erosion, and slopes that had once been capable of cultivation became barren.
There were other areas of the Americas that suffered from
Spanish exploitation, but this was aggravated in the Valley of Mex
...