How Much Gold Did The Spanish Take From The Aztecs

How Much Gold Did The Spanish Take From The Aztecs?

At that point it is estimated that the Spanish had amassed some eight thousand pounds of gold and silver not to mention plenty of feathers cotton jewels and more.Feb 25 2019

How much gold did the Spanish take from Mexico?

Between 1500 and 1650 the Spanish imported 181 tons of gold and 16 000 tons of silver from the New World. In today’s money that much gold would be worth nearly $4 billion and the silver would be worth over $7 billion.

How much gold did the Cortes loot from the Aztecs?

Cortés valued it at ‘3 800 gold pesos [something close to “pieces of eight”]’. His companion Bernal Díaz de Castillo reckoned it was worth more like 10 000 pesos and was ‘as big as a cartwheel’.

Did Spain steal Mexico’s gold?

Spanish Conquistadors Stole This Gold Bar From Aztec Emperor Moctezuma’s Trove. A new chemical analysis of a large gold bar found under a Mexico City street in 1981 has shed light on its centuries-old origins. … The Noche Triste marked the end of conquistador Hernán Cortés’ first attempt to conquer Tenochtitlán.

What did the Spanish get from the Aztecs?

Cortés eventually had him executed. The Aztecs were severely weakened by diseases that the Spanish brought such as smallpox influenza and malaria. Over time around 80 percent of the people living in the Valley of Mexico died from these diseases. Cortés founded Mexico City on the ruins of Tenochtitlan.

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How did the Aztecs have so much gold?

The Source of Their Gold

The Aztec gold originated from parts of Oaxaca and Guerrero that were under Aztec control. The raw gold imported as dust and ingots to the Aztec kingdom. In addition the rulers of these areas gave gifts of gold items to the Aztec Emperor as a tribute.

Did Hernan Cortes find gold?

It is said that Cortés got the gold when he sought out Aztec emperor Moctezuma for his treasure. A year after being welcomed into the capitol city of Tenochtitlán now Mexico City he arrested the emperor and demanded all of his gold. Cortés and his men then melted the treasure down into bars.

How did the Spaniards get their gold?

Almost overnight Spain became very rich taking home unprecedented quantities of gold and silver. These were stolen from the Incas and the mines that the Spanish came to control. The gold was used by the Spanish monarchy to pay off its debts and also to fund its ‘religious’ wars.

Has the Aztec treasure been found?

After they buried the cache in the desert the warriors sacrificed their slaves to watch over it for eternity. Cortés and his men scoured the region but the treasure of Montezuma was—and remains—nowhere to be found.

Has any Aztec gold been found?

Nearly four decades ago a construction worker discovered a gigantic bar of gold while excavating ahead of construction of a new building in Mexico City. Now archaeologists have confirmed that this slab of gold was plundered from the Aztecs by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.

Who took Aztec gold?

Hernán Cortés

In 1981 a worker in Mexico City found a gold bar just north of Alameda Central—the oldest public park in the Americas—during the construction of a bank. Now researchers say the bar was part of the stolen treasure looted from the Aztec capital by Hernán Cortés and his Spanish conquistadors five centuries ago.

Where did the Aztecs hide their gold?

But later as the United States Army entered the mountains the Apache rose up against the Mexicans who had to hide their gold in a canyon near Montezuma’s Head.

Did the Aztecs value gold?

The Aztec empire’s extravagant use of precious metals gem stones and feathers beguiled the Spanish conquistadors when they arrived in the city. The Aztecs valued using gold for plates ornaments medals and other decorations. … Although Montezuma discouraged it violence inevitably broke out in the city.

Why did the Spanish destroy Tenochtitlan?

Spanish conquistadores commanded by Hernán Cortés allied with local tribes to conquer the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlán. Cortés’s army besieged Tenochtitlán for 93 days and a combination of superior weaponry and a devastating smallpox outbreak enabled the Spanish to conquer the city.

How many Aztecs were killed by the Spanish?

Fall of Tenochtitlan
Casualties and losses
450–860 Spanish 20 000 Tlaxcaltecs	100 000 killed in action 300 war canoes sunk At least 40 000 Aztecs civilians killed and captured other sources claim 100 000 to 240 000 were killed in the campaign overall including warriors and civilians

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What happened to the Aztecs after they were conquered?

By August of 1521 the glorious city of Tenochtitlan was in ruins. The Aztec lands were renamed “New Spain” and the colonization process began. Conquistadors were replaced by bureaucrats and colonial officials and Mexico would be a Spanish colony until it began its fight for independence in 1810.

Where did Mayans find gold?

The largest cache of gold and other precious metals found in the Maya territory were dredged from the sacred well at Chichén Itzá the former Mayan city and flagship archaeological site located on the Yucatán peninsula and dating from the ninth century AD.

Where is all the Aztec gold?

“Montezuma’s treasure is in some place in North America ” said Matt Brown a journalist and historian in southern Utah. Some believe it’s in Kanab and that it’s hidden at the pond of Three Lakes Ranch. “Archeologists believe that the Aztecs thought of this as their homeland ” Brown explained.

What is the Aztec curse?

The curse of the Aztec Gold also known as the Aztec curse was dark magic cast upon the treasure of Cortés consisting of a stone chest with 882 pieces of Aztec gold.

How much is Montezuma’s treasure worth?

Some scholars believe that the Aztec treasure also known as Montezuma’s treasure would be worth over 1 billion dollars in today’s money.

How do you think Montezuma died?

Enraged the people of Tenochtitlan threw stones and spears at Montezuma who was badly wounded before the Spanish were able to bring him back inside the palace. According to Spanish accounts two or three days later on June 29 Montezuma died of his wounds.

Did the Spanish ever find gold?

In the 1970s a treasure of silver and gold from a 1554 Spanish shipwreck was discovered off the coast of Texas. The wealth of the discovery speaks to Colonial Spain’s ambitions for gold and silver found in the Americas.

Why did the Aztecs surrender their gold?

In 1518 Cortes declared war on the Aztec king Montezuma in order to lay his hands on the vast stores of gold known to exist in the capital Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Gold was of little value to the Aztec’s except as decoration and thus Montezuma freely surrendered his empire’s treasures to the conquistadors.

How much Incan gold and silver is melted down by the Spanish?

The Spanish fearful of Atahualpa’s generals murdered him anyway in 1533. By then a staggering fortune had been brought right to the feet of the greedy conquistadors. When it was melted down and counted there were over 13 000 pounds of 22 karat gold and twice that much silver.

In what island that the Spaniards found the first signs of gold?

Marinduque an island near the center of the Philippines was the site of the first documented discoveries of precolonial gold in the Philippines that were similar to the objects recovered in the 1960s through 1981.

What color is Aztec gold?

Aztec Gold Color Codes

Hex Code	#C39953
Inverse Color	#3C66AC [Blue Yonder]
Closest Pantone®	7407 C
Closest RAL	1024 [Ochre yellow]
Complementary Color	#537DC3 [Cyan-Blue Azure]

What is the revenge of Montezuma?

Montezuma’s Revenge is diarrhea that is usually experienced by people traveling south of the U.S. border especially to Mexico and Central America – hence the dramatic name.

Where was gold bars found?

The surprise discovery of three jam jars filled with gold bars and hundreds of gold coins in an old building marked for renovation has left a mountain community in eastern France perplexed and celebrating.

When did Hernan Cortes find gold?

A four-pound gold bar found on a building site in downtown Mexico City last month is believed to be part of the treasure seized from the Aztec Emperor Montezuma II by the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes in 1520.

How did the Aztecs get rich?

The Aztecs gained the majority of their wealth through trade and taxation. Each land conquered by the Aztecs were charged taxes in the form of goods…

What gifts did Montezuma give Cortes?

On 8 November 1519 Moctezuma met Cortés on the causeway leading into Tenochtitlán and the two leaders exchanged gifts. Moctezuma gave Cortés the gift of an Aztec calendar one disc of crafted gold and another of silver.

Who is the Aztec god?

Huitzilopochtli
Huitzilopochtli also spelled Uitzilopochtli also called Xiuhpilli (“Turquoise Prince”) and Totec (“Our Lord”) Aztec sun and war god one of the two principal deities of Aztec religion often represented in art as either a hummingbird or an eagle.Oct 17 2021

What artifacts did the Aztecs leave behind?

And every ounce of their power pride and fearsomeness bursts through in their artifacts.

Xiuhtecuhtli God Of Fire Turquoise Mosaic Mask. …
Sacrificial Knife. …
Golden Serpent Lip Piercing From The Early 13th Century. …
Tezcatlipoca Smoking Mirror God Of Sorcery And The Night Sky Mask. …
Turquoise Mosiac Studded Skull.

Did any Aztecs survive?

By the 1500s they had not only survived but managed to prevail and they were taking no chances of being forced to go backwards. They used their brains and their brawn to defeat their neighbors — first the other ethnic groups in the central basic of Mexico and then much farther afield.

How Much Gold Did The Spanish Take From The Aztecs