Document 2: The excerpt below comes from letters written by Hernan Cortes regarding the
Aztecs to King Charles I of Spain.
This great city of Tenochtitlan is situated in this salt lake, and from the mainland to the denser parts of it, by
whichever route one chooses to enter the distance is two leagues. There are four entrances to the city, all of
which are handmade causeways, two spears' length in width. The city is as large as Seville or Cordova; its
streets, I speak of the principal ones, are very wide and straight; some of these, and all the inferior ones are
half land and half water and are navigated by canoes. All the streets stretching from one side to the other are
open, through which the water flows, crossing from one street to another, and at these openings, some of
which are very wide, there are also very wide bridges, composed of large beams, of great strength and well put
together, on many of these bridges ten horses can go abreast...Foreseeing that if the inhabitants of this city
should prove treacherous, they would possess great advantages from the manner in which the city is
constructed, since by removing the bridges at the entrances, and abandoning the place, they could leave us to
die from starvation without us being able to reach the mainland.
Source: Hernan Cortes, "The Letters of Hernan Cortes, "October 30, 1520.
2. Using document 2, identify and explain Cortes' point of view regarding the
Aztecs. [1]
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