They also continued to enjoy the allegiance of non-Aztecs and controlled the more powerful military weapons. He also discovered that the empire was riddled with conflict and turmoil, and he formed military alliances with local people who resented the Aztecs for their human sacrifices and forced tribute.The Spanish empire grew rapidly after the fall of the Aztecs. However, Muslim forces controlled key passageways to the east and forced European tradesmen to pay huge sums for their ways. In some cultures, control of the corn surplus was directly linked to power and authority.In what is now the northeastern United States, the Iroquois Confederacy—comprised of five Indian nations, the Seneca, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, and the Mohawk—also relied on agriculture to multiply and prosper. Montezuma was killed, probably by his own people, during this uprising.
They built huge stone structures without mortar and designed suspension bridges that crossed deep mountain valleys. Of course, the opportunity to acquire gold and riches greatly influenced their decision as well.Some of the first sedentary societies of North America were created by groups known as the Mound Builders, believed to be the ancestors of the Creeks, Choctaws, and Natchez. The British colonization of the Americas is the history of the establishment of control, settlement, and decolonization of the continents of the Americas by the England, Scotland and (after 1707) Great Britain. However, unlike the strong-handed rule of the Central American culture, the Incas allowed local groups to govern regions independently. In the 1530s, Francisco Pizarro led a group of Spanish soldiers through Panama and into Peru where they battled the Incas. Cortés and his men held Montezuma as a virtual prisoner, and plundered the vast wealth of the region. Although he was standing on an island in the Bahamas, Columbus was so positive that he had found the East Indies that he named the natives “Indians.” He then ventured on to Cuba, which he thought was China, and mistook Haiti (Hispaniola) for Japan. Each tribe gave its allegiance to the ruler, the Sapa Inca, whom they believed was the descendent of the sun-god. The first Americans came from Asia, beginning as early as thirty thousand years ago, over a land bridge that formed at the Bering Strait during the Ice Age. By his teenage years, he became a seaman and took part in voyages to England and Ireland with Portuguese mariners.Columbus, too, became caught up in the excitement and read many books on navigation and geography. The mound building societies formed enormous earthworks into various shapes and sizes. He spent years asking the rulers of various countries, including France and England, for assistance before Spain’s Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand finally agreed to help. Colonization efforts began in the 16th century with failed attempts by England to establish permanent colonies in North America. The largest known mound had a base that covered nearly fifteen acres and rose to a height of one hundred feet. Guns, swords, knives, and even horses amazed and frightened the Aztecs.The development of agriculture by Native Americans more than five thousand years ago sparked new cultures and innovations. During this era, as city-states and emerging nations fostered a new-found enthusiasm for expansion and exploration, Christopher Columbus was born in the Italian port of Genoa. Like that of the Aztec empire, the Inca empire was essentially a coalition of tribes. One of the more unique procedures, called “three-sister” farming, involved a high-yielding strain of bean that grew on the corn stalks while squash grew at the base of the plant to help retain moisture in the soil. The king and queen were impressed with his findings and agreed to fund more excursions to the New World. Though apprehensive, Montezuma welcomed Cortés into the capital because he believed that he was the legendary god Quetzalcoatl, whose return was predicted to signal final days of Tenochtitlan.
In 1520, the Aztec people, weary of their servile status and angry at Montezuma for his failure to protect them, attacked the Spaniards and drove them out of the city. Perhaps more than 12 million people contributed to the creation of sprawling cities, terraced farmlands, extended roadways, and golden palaces.