Spanish conquest · 1524-1697

The long Maya resistance, 1524-1697

The Aztec capital fell in two years, but the conquest of the Maya took more than 170. Students explore why many small Maya kingdoms were so hard to conquer, from the highlands of Guatemala to the last free Maya city on Lake Petén Itzá.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1492 to AD 1697
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

The Aztec capital fell in two years, but the conquest of the Maya took more than 170. Students explore why many small Maya kingdoms were so hard to conquer, from the highlands of Guatemala to the last free Maya city on Lake Petén Itzá.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why the Maya resisted far longer than the Aztec or Inca empires.
  • Locate Iximche, Mérida and Nojpetén on the map.
  • Describe how Maya people kept their languages, books and traditions under Spanish rule.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1492

Highland kingdoms

Open the map in 1492 over the highlands of Guatemala. Find the labels K'iche' and Kaqchikel, two Maya peoples with their own kingdoms. In 1524 Pedro de Alvarado invaded here. Why might rival kingdoms not unite against him?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1530

Yucatán holds out

Jump to 1530 and look at the Yucatán peninsula. The map still shows the Mayas here, while New Spain covers central Mexico. The Spaniards needed until about 1546 to conquer the north. Why did it take so long?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1697

The last free city

Jump to 1697 and zoom in on Lake Petén Itzá. The map draws New Spain over this area, but the Itza kingdom ruled here from its island capital Nojpetén until March 1697. Why can borders on maps run ahead of reality?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Aztecs and the Inca each had one capital. The Maya had many independent kingdoms. Why did that make conquest slower?
  2. The Kaqchikel first allied with the Spaniards and then rebelled. What might have changed their minds?
  3. In 1542 the Spaniards founded Mérida on top of the Maya city of T'Hó, reusing its stones. What message did that send?
  4. The Popol Vuh, a K'iche' book of creation and history, was written down in the 1500s in Latin letters. Why would Maya writers preserve it this way?
  5. Millions of Maya people live in Guatemala and Mexico today and speak Mayan languages. Did the Maya world end with the conquest?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Moctezuma II. Afterwards, compare: when Moctezuma was captured, his whole empire was shaken, but when one Maya kingdom fell, others fought on. Discuss: is a land with one strong ruler easier or harder to conquer than a land of many small kingdoms?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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