Siege to Tenochtitlán (jun 30, 1520 – aug 15, 1521)

Description:

After being driven from Tenochtitlán, Cortés laid siege to the city for a little over a year, eventually conquering it on August 15th, 1521 because he wanted its riches. The European's superior firepower and alliance with surrounding tribes (whose common enemy was the Aztecs) made it possible, but a smallpox epidemic did far more damage than any weapon. After the fight, Aztec temples were destroyed and Christian ones were built in an attempt to Christianize them, and a precedent was set for the destruction of the Indians' way of life. However, not all results of this destruction were bad. Since Spanish women were scarce, Indian women were quickly baptized and married to conquistadores, whom had mestizo children that acted as a cultural and biological bridge between Latin America and Europe.