Scene of the Conquest. Codice Durán, Edición privada de Cartón y Papel de México, S.A., México 1975.		2 of 7   The Encounter
	THE CONQUEST ow could a handful of conquistadores in Mexico and the Andes conquer the Aztec and Inca empires? The Aztec king, Moctezuma, was paralyzed by his belief that Hernán Cortés was a returning Toltec god and so did not initially mount resistance. The conquistadores had the advantage of horses and firearms, and the support of subjugated peoples who resented their Aztec overlords. The Inca empire had been weakened by recent civil war. Even more devastating was a smallpox epidemic that spread south from Mexico and killed millions before Francisco Pizarro ever arrived in Peru. Smallpox entered Mexico in 1520, transmitted by an infected Spanish slave, and killed at least two-thirds of the indigenous population within a hundred years. Native peoples did not have immunity to European infectious diseases; even the common cold could be deadly. The Spanish imported West African slaves to replace the indigenous labor force.