In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered a new land that was called the New World. Spain was one of the first countries that come to the new world. They came to get gold, silver.
Conquistadors
In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered a new land that was called the New World. Spain was one of the first countries that came to the New World. The first Spanish that came were not farmers or craftsmen. They were adventurers, soldiers, and mercenaries.
They were all looking to get rich. They attacked the Natives and took their gold, silver, and pearls. They made slaves out of the Natives they captured. Between 1494 and 1514 the Spanish conquistadors devastated the Native villages in the Caribbean islands, Cuba and Hispaniola. In 1515 they moved to Central America and the Andes Mountains.
Hermon Cortez conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico and Francisco Pizarro was after the Incas of Peru. The Natives had very large armies but the Spanish armies were small. Pizarro had around 160 men and Cortez had around 600 men. These small armies were able to defeat the Natives who had thousand of men.
When the Battle of Teocajas was fought Sebastian de Benalcazar had 2oo Spanish conquistadors and around 3,000 Canan allies. With this small force, they were able to go against General Raminahui of the Incas whose army had 50,000 warriors. The battle was a draw. The Spanish Conquistadors were able to do this because their armor and weapons were far superior to those of the Natives.
The Spanish conquistadors had lances and swords. The lances were wooden poles that were long with iron or steel points at the end. The spears devastated the Native warriors. When the Spanish conquistadors were in close combat they used their swords. The conquistador’s swords were made of steel and were three feet long. They were narrow and sharp on both sides.
Toledo, Spain was famous for making great weapons and armor. Their swords were exceptional. A Toledo sword would not pass inspection unless it could be bent into a half-circle and survive a direct hit from a metal helmet.
The Spanish foot soldiers used many different types of weapons. The harquebus was used by the Spanish soldiers. It was very effective against one soldier. They were very slow to load, heavy, and complicated to fire. The process of firing one was slow because you used a wick that had to be kept lit. The harquebus was very good for terrorizing the Natives. The harquebus was so loud the native thought the Spanish made thunder.
Image Credits
- The conquistadors entered Tenochtitlan to the sounds of martial music. 1909. (This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1926.)
- Landing of Columbus. John Vanderlyn (1775–1852)
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