Why did the Spanish invade Guatemala?
The Old World diseases brought with the Spanish and against which the indigenous New World peoples had no resistance were a deciding factor in the conquest; the diseases crippled armies and decimated populations before battles were even fought.
What did the Spanish discovered?
In 1493, during his second voyage, Columbus founded Isabela, the first permanent Spanish settlement in the New World, on Hispaniola. After finding gold in recoverable quantities nearby, the Spanish quickly overran the island and spread to Puerto Rico in 1508, to Jamaica in 1509, and to Cuba in 1511.
What did the Spanish bring to Central America?
Spain encouraged the mining of precious metals, but Central American deposits were thin, and agriculture came to dominate the economy of the colony. There were also small numbers of African slaves brought during the colonial period.
Did Spanish Kill Mayans?
The Itza Maya and other lowland groups in the Petén Basin were first contacted by Hernán Cortés in 1525, but remained independent and hostile to the encroaching Spanish until 1697, when a concerted Spanish assault led by Martín de Urzúa y Arizmendi finally defeated the last independent Maya kingdom.
Am I an Aztec or a Mayan?
The Aztecs were Nahuatl-speaking people who lived in central Mexico in the 14th to 16th centuries. The Maya people lived in southern Mexico and northern Central America — a wide territory that includes the entire Yucatán Peninsula — from as early as 2600 BC. The civilization’s height was between 250 and 900 AD.
Who is older Mayan or Aztecs?
The Mayans are an older people and were around a thousand years before the Aztecs even arrived in Central America. The Aztecs were the dominant culture in Mexico at the time of Cortez’s arrival in Mexico in the 1500s. The Mayans by then had deteriorated into a decadent and decrepit race living on past glory.
Are Aztecs Native American or Mexican?
Yes, Aztecs are Native Americans. Any peoples living in the Americas before 1492 or descended from Native peoples and are living today are Native Americans.