Europeans Explore the World

As you sit there, reading this paper, do you ever wonder what events brought you here? By here I do not mean in the room you are in nor the chair you are sitting in, but as in your location. How did you get on the North American continent? You didn’t just appear here, there is a story to it. It goes as far as the 16th century during the Aztec Empire.

The Aztecs were the native American people who dominated Central America at the time of the Spanish Conquest, led by Hernando Cortés in the 16th century. According to legends, the Aztec people originated from a place called Aztlan. In their beginnings, they were small, nomadic people. Over time, they multiplied to 250,000 people. The Aztecs were great believers in sacrifice brought the sun up in the morning; they believed the gods made it rain and crops grow. When they sacrificed, they would skin the deceased. They would also consume the corpses. They this to spark fear into their enemies and surrounding tribes. For awhile, the Aztecs ruled all of present-day Mexico and everyone in the area. Until Hernando Cortés, the first of the Spanish conquistadors, arrived on their terrain. He overthrew the Aztec Empire by conquering its capital, Tenochtitlán, with only 2,000 Spaniards. How could an infantry of 250,000 solely be defeated by 2,000 men? Cortés and his men defeated the glorious Aztec Empire with the help of the Legend of Quetzalcoatl. The legends inwardly defeated the Aztecs. Then Cortés deposed of their emperor, Montezuma. With this deed, he destroyed Tenochtitlán completely. Thus bringing the rein of the Aztecs to an end. With that, the European influence began.

In the second half of the 16th century, European sailors began to plan voyages that would take them beyond the limit...

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...e Americas was new lethal illnesses. These illnesses —like HIV, measles, and smallpox—killed many natives. This occurred because the uncontacted peoples had had no reason to build a resistance to these viruses. These explorations brought both negative and positive results, not only to the corresponding locations and people, but to the entire world.

The story of European exploration of the Americas lasts about half a millennium. Every event form the Aztec settlement over Lake Texcoco to the introduction of new foods and animals to each side of the world partook in molding the world we live in today. If it weren’t for the European exploration, we may have not known what a banana was, or even an everyday animal like a horse. Many events gave us what today we consider everyday life. Those explorations gave us many bad impacts, but where there is bad, there must be good.