Beginning in the early fifteen hundreds, Spain sent more men to explore and make claims in the Americas.  These conquistadors or conquerors soon defeated the Aztecs and Inca empires and took control of their lands and resources.

Cortes and the Aztecs

Conquistador Hernando Cortes and over 500 soldiers arrived in 1519 in the area that is now Mexico.  Cortes has already lived in Spain's Caribbean colonies.  He had heard stories of a powerful inland empire  This was the Aztec empire. 

With the help of translators who knew both Spanish and the Aztec language, Cortes soon learned about the Aztec people.  He was especially interested to learn that the Aztec empire had a great amount of gold. 

After Cortes landed on the coast of Mexico, messengers of the Aztec ruler, Moctezuma watched his movements.  These messengers told the emperor that Cortes and his men were coming to the capital of the empire, Tenochititlan.  

When the Spaniards arrived in the city, Moctezuma welcomed them as guests.  That welcome evenually proved the downfall of both Moctezuma and the Aztec empire.  With the help of indians who turned against the Aztec, the conquistadors kidnapped and killed Moctezuma.  After a war that ended in 1521, Cortes destroyed Tenochtitlan and conquered the Aztec empire.  

Pizarro and the Incas

Ten years after Cortes conquered the Aztec, another conquistador prepared to invade Inca lands.  Recall that these lands were located to the south, in the Andes Mountains.  Francisco Pizarro like Cortes was a military leader who had spent some time in the Americas.  He too had heard stories of a kingdom filled with treasure.  

Pizarro began his conquest of the Inca empire in 1531.  The Inca were just ending a civil war that left Atahualpa emperor.  As Atahualpa  and his army traveled to the Inca capital of Cuzco, they heard news of some 160 strangers marching along a nearby coast road.   Meanwhile, Pizarro learned that Atahualpa was nearby.  The conquistadors made their way to Atahualpa's camp.  There they were amazed to see the large number of tents that housed the new emperor's army.  

The Death of Atahualpa

That night, Pizarro and his men talked about what they should do when they met with Atahualpa the next day.  One soldier later wrote the following:
Few slept, and we kept watch in the square, from which the camp fires of the indian army could be seen.  It was a fearful sight.  Most of them were on a hillside and close to one another.  It looked like a brilliantly star studded sky. 

Pizarro chose to set a trap for the emperor and the thousands of Inca who would come with him to the meeting.   During the meeting, the conquistadors captured Atahulapa.  In exchange for his freedom, the emperor offered to fill the room in which he was held prisoner once with gold and twice with silver. 
The Inca honored Atahualpa's part of the bargain.  Pizarro, nevertheless ordered the emperor's death.
Many bloody battles between the Spanish and Inca followed.  By 1535 much of the three thousand mile long Inca empire had fallen to the conquistadors.