The Black Soldiers Who Conquered Tenochtitlan

While history remembers Hernán Cortés and his Spanish conquistadors, the true force that broke the siege of Tenochtitlan included a crucial contingent of African slaves who fought alongside their masters. This episode explores the lives of men like Juan de Jafa and Francisco de Morado, free-born Africans and enslaved soldiers who formed the backbone of the Spanish infantry. We examine how these men navigated the brutal hierarchy of New Spain, seeking freedom through martial service, and how their contributions were often erased from the official chronicles of Bernal Díaz del Castillo. From the streets of Seville to the canals of Lake Texcoco, we trace the journey of Afro-Mexicans who played an indispensable role in the fall of the Aztec Empire, challenging the traditional narrative of purely European conquest.

#AfroMexicanHistory #JuanDeJafa #FranciscoDeMorado #CortésArmy #TenochtitlanSiege #AfricanSlavery #NewSpain #SpanishConquest #AztecEmpire #BlackSoldiers #HistoricalErasure #BernalDíaz #LakeTexcoco #1521Conquest #Mesoamerica #ColonialMexico #FexingoHistory #History

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