The conquest of the Aztec Empire and the Inca Empire were led by which two Spanish conquistadors respectively?

The conquest of the Aztec Empire and the Inca Empire were led by which two Spanish conquistadors respectively?

• A. Hernando Cortez and Francisco Pizarro
• B. Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama
• C. Ferdinand Magellan and Hernando Cortez
• D. Ponce de Leon and Balboa

Answer: (A)

Conquests of two vast empires in the Americas were led by two Spanish conquistadors: Hernán Cortés, who toppled the Aztec Empire in central Mexico, and Francisco Pizarro, who brought down the Inca Empire in the Andes. Cortés arrived around 1519, formed crucial alliances with Indigenous groups hostile to the Aztecs, and used a combination of siege tactics, better weaponry, horses, and disease to sack Tenochtitlán, ending Aztec rule in 1521 and establishing New Spain. Pizarro arrived a bit later, exploited internal Inca conflicts, captured the emperor Atahualpa at Cajamarca in 1532, and then captured key centers like Cusco, paving the way for Spanish control over Peru. The other explorers listed did important and different things: Columbus and da Gama opened new ocean routes and expanded European reach but did not conquer these empires; Magellan circumnavigated the globe; Ponce de Leon and Balboa explored and claimed other regions.

Conquests of two vast empires in the Americas were led by two Spanish conquistadors: Hernán Cortés, who toppled the Aztec Empire in central Mexico, and Francisco Pizarro, who brought down the Inca Empire in the Andes.

Cortés arrived around 1519, formed crucial alliances with Indigenous groups hostile to the Aztecs, and used a combination of siege tactics, better weaponry, horses, and disease to sack Tenochtitlán, ending Aztec rule in 1521 and establishing New Spain. Pizarro arrived a bit later, exploited internal Inca conflicts, captured the emperor Atahualpa at Cajamarca in 1532, and then captured key centers like Cusco, paving the way for Spanish control over Peru.

The other explorers listed did important and different things: Columbus and da Gama opened new ocean routes and expanded European reach but did not conquer these empires; Magellan circumnavigated the globe; Ponce de Leon and Balboa explored and claimed other regions.