P
have been decimated by epidemics of non-Indian
diseases. One Aztec survivor will later remember, “Al-
most the whole population suffered from wracking
coughs and painful, burning sores.”
Armed with cannons, the Spanish begin a long
siege of Tenochtitlán. They methodically destroy
building after building, effectively leveling what Cor-
tés himself will call the “most beautiful city in the
world.” After three months the Aztec surrender, and
Cortés names himself the new leader of the region.
On the ruins of Tenochtitlán, the Spanish will begin
to build Mexico City as the capital of New Spain.
“Worms are swarming in the
streets and plazas,
and the walls are splattered
with gore.
The water has turned red, as if
it were dyed,
and when we drink it,
it has the taste of brine.”“We have pounded our hands
in despair
against the adobe walls,
for our inheritance, our city, is
lost and dead.
The shields of our warriors
were its defense,
but they could not save it.”
—an Aztec account of the
destruction of Tenochtitlán1523Soldiers led by Pedro de Alvarado attack
the Maya.
After conquering the Aztec (see entry for 1521),
Hernán Cortés sends his lieutenant Pedro de
Alvarado to take over the lands of the Maya (see
entry for ca. 300 TO 1500) in present-day Gua-
temala. Alvarado leads his soldiers in a bloody
campaign, leaving in its wake a path of carnage and
destruction. The invasion is the first in a series of
brutal attacks on the Maya, many of whom fight to
the death to defend their land and independence.
(See also entry for 1546.)1524Atlantic coast Indians encounter Giovanni
da Verrazano’s exploratory party.
Hired by the French king Francis I, the Italian naviga-
tor Giovanni da Verrazano explores the Atlantic coast
from what is now North Carolina to Newfoundland.
At several locations, Verrazano meets coastal Indians,
including members of the Wampanoag, Narragansett,
and Lenni Lenape (Delaware) tribes. The encounters
are generally friendly, with the exception of a meeting
in present-day Maine with Indians who are openly
hostile to Verrazano and his men, possibly because
they have been attacked by previous European visitors
to their shores.1528Karankawan Indians come to the rescue of
shipwrecked Spaniard Alvar Núñez Cabeza
de Vaca.
Intent on colonizing Florida for Spain, an expedi-
tion of 600 led by Pánfilo de Narváez sails to the
Gulf of Mexico. When the Spaniards go ashore and
leave the coast to explore inland areas, their ships
are destroyed in a storm, leaving the expedition
stranded. As disease and Timucua Indian attacks
begin to decimate their ranks, they craft their own
rafts and attempt to sail them to Cuba, but a second
storm nearly wipes them out. The four survivors in-
clude Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and Esteban, a
black Moorish slave.
Karankawan Indians of the Gulf coast find the
starving men and take them to live in their villages.