In my last post about the Columbian Exchange, I mentioned in passing what happened to the Incas and Aztecs when they met with Europeans after 1492. Today, it is time to flesh out that story and how it relates to the Columbian Exchange by describing the importance of smallpox.
You might have heard a version of this story at some point, but possibly not. In 1492, the Aztec Empire flourished in the Central Valley of Mexico. Technically, the Aztecs were the dominant partner in a three-way alliance, but we’ll call everyone Aztecs for convenience. They were the classic conquering empire—using military force to project their rule over tributary cities. Central Mexico was an urban place by the standards of 1492. The Aztecs were just the latest in a series of empires to rise and fall in the region.
Aztecs rulers had millions of subjects. From their capital at Tenochtitlan, they commanded vast resources. And what a city Tenochtitlan was. The Aztecs built their capital in the middle of a lake. Three causeways connected it to the shore, and the city boasted numerous temples. Canals linked the suburbs to the city center. The population of the city was almost certainly above 150,000. Think of Tenochtitlan as being like Venice, just far bigger.
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The Story Without Smallpox
In 1519, a band of Spaniards under the command of Hernan Cortez landed on Mexico’s eastern coastline, burned their ships, and proceeded inland. They numbered fewer than 1,000 souls. Within two years, the Aztec emperor was dead. The Spanish had captured Tenochtitlan, stolen the vast wealth of the Aztecs, and established Mexico as Spanish territory.
If we didn’t know better, we’d see this as one of the most shocking military victories of all time. A small force numbering in the hundreds had defeated an empire with a population in the millions. The military campaigns of Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar pale in comparison. How did Cortez and the Spanish pull off the greatest military coup in history?
The story I heard when I was young tried to use Spanish military technology to explain what happened. The Spanish, so the story went, possessed firearms, metal armor, and horses. The shock value, mobility, and protection offered by these items proved decisive because Aztec technology could not compare.
What’s Wrong With that Story?
Until about 30 years ago, this was the standard way to describe Spanish success in 1519. Some reasons exist for this. People of the mid-20th century grew up in a world dominated by the US and Europe. They knew the US and Europe had a technological advantage over the rest of humanity, especially militarily. Why not, then, just project this idea backward in time a few hundred years? Add in a dash of cultural superiority that could verge on racism, and it seemed convincing enough. Why is that not so today?
Partly, it’s because closer examination reveals flaws in the technology explanation. Let’s examine firearms. The premier firearm of the early 16th century was the arquebus. These were not great weapons. An experienced arquebusier had a fire rate of one shot per one to two minutes. Very slow.
Not only that, arquebus barrels were smooth, rather than rifled. The lead balls they fired were correspondingly inaccurate at anything but the shortest distance. These weapons had shock value, certainly, but that’s about it. Also consider the problem of resupply. Where would a few hundred Spaniards acquire the gunpowder and lead to mow down thousands of Aztecs at a time? Spanish accounts, such as we have, tend to dwell on the superior swordsmanship of the Spanish, rather than arquebuses, to explain their success in combat.
Add Smallpox to the Story
So, if it wasn’t technology, what does explain the Spanish victory? Two things, above all. One was the nature of the Aztec Empire. They conquered other cities, then exacted tribute from them. As one would imagine, these conquered cities did not like paying tribute. Especially when tribute sometimes meant human beings destined for religious sacrifice. Therefore, when the Spanish appeared, some of these cities allied themselves with the Spanish, attempting to free themselves from Aztec rule. This helped even out the numerical disadvantage faced by Cortez and his men.
Then smallpox struck. When the Spanish visited Tenochtitlan in 1519, they brought smallpox with them. Soon, the city was aflame with the illness. Contagious disease spreads fast in urban areas. The Aztecs, with contagious disease virtually unknown to them, tended to gather around sick people. The goal was companionship to encourage their recovery. This, however humane, simply spread the disease faster.
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Even still, the outcome of the fighting for the fate of the Aztec Empire remained in doubt. The Spanish did not defeat the Aztecs until 1521, after they had constructed a fleet to assail Tenochtitlan by land and water.
Consequences
Thus, we see just one example of how the Columbian Exchange altered history substantially. Without smallpox, Spanish success against the Aztecs looks unlikely. Without that, Spain never acquires a New World empire. It therefore lacks the gold and silver it used to pay for its almost continual wars in Europe during the 1500s and 1600s. This alters European history. Perhaps France expands more quickly. Certainly, European attempts at colonization in the Americas would look different.
But smallpox did happen. Spain did gain an enormous empire, fight centuries of wars for domination of Europe, and then suffer decline when American gold and silver began to run out. The native people of the Americas, sad to say, went into an era of massive population decline that lasted nearly four centuries.
Things were similar in the Inca Empire. I won’t elaborate on the details but suffice it to say that disease once again helped Francisco Pizzaro and the Spanish carry the day. Some of them, including Pizzaro’s brother Pedro, admitted as much. I find this fascinating. It seems that the Spanish who fought for control of the Americas knew why they were successful. But historians of the mid-20th century refused to take them at their word and assigned other reasons that fit what they wanted to be true.
In my next blog entry, I’ll look at another aspect of the Columbian Exchange. Please keep reading and join me.
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